Catherine Deneuve

Born: 22 October 1943
Where: Paris, France

This acclaimed French actress entered films as a teenager and has never looked back.

Her parents were also in showbiz, and her talents were encouraged from a young age.

Her film acting debut came in 1959 in Les Petits Chats, and she soon became a stalwart of the French big screen.

In 1964 Catherine Starred in Jacques Demy's award-winning musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and her English language debut came in the same year in Roman Polanski's Repulsion.

In 1967 she was cast as a bored housewife who becomes a call girl in Luis Bunuel's Belle de Jour, and this became one of Catherine's most famous roles.

Her first Hollywood experience came two years later, when she was cast in The April Fools, and in 1971 she worked on her first of five films with Marcello Mastroianni, It Only Happens to Others.

It was a further four years before Catherine returned to Hollywood to co-star opposite Burt Reynolds in Hustle.

In 1980 Catherine worked on her first of six films with Gerard Depardieu - The Last Metro.

Five years later her profile was chosen as the model for the symbol of the French Republic, Marianne, a statuette of which is displayed in every city and town hall in the country.

In 1992 Catherine received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Indochine, and her 90's success continued with high praise for her performance as a jeweler's widow in Place Vendome.

More recently Catherine appeared in the award-winning drama Dancer in the Dark starring Bjork, and had a featured role in the ensemble comedy 8 Women.