Martine Carol
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Martine Carol (May 16, 1920 – February 6, 1967) was a French film actress.
Born Marie-Louise Jeanne Nicolle Mourer in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne (France), she studied acting under René Simon (1898-1966), making her stage debut in 1940 and her first motion picture in 1943. One of the most beautiful women in film, she was frequently cast as an elegant blonde seductress. During the late 1940s and early 1950s she was the leading sex symbol and a top box office draw of French cinema.
Despite her fame and fortune, Martine Carol's personal life was filled with turmoil that included a suicide attempt, drug abuse, and four marriages. She was also kidnapped by French gangster Pierre Loutrel (aka "Pierrot le Fou" or "Crazy Pete"), albeit briefly and received roses the next day as an apology.
She unexpectedly died of a reported heart attack in a Monte Carlo hotel room at the age of only forty-four years.
[edit] Four weddings and two funerals
Martine Carol was married four times, to:
- Steve Crane (Josef Stephen Crane, aka), American actor and restaurant manager, previously Lana Turner's husband. Married in 1948, divorced in 1953.
- Christian-Jaque, French film director. Married July 15, 1954, divorced in 1959.
- Dr. André Rouveix, a young French doctor she met in Fort-de-France. Married August 3, 1959, divorced in 1962.
- Mike Eland, English businessman. Married in 1966, until her death.
She was initially buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery cemetery, Paris. But her grave was violated (some media reported that she had been interred with her jewels). Martine Carol was then buried in the Grand Jas cemetery (la cimetière "du Grand Jas") of Cannes (square n°3).
[edit] Partial filmography
- Love and the Frenchwoman (1961)
- Ten Seconds to Hell (1959)
- Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
- Lola Montes (1955)
- Nana (1955)
- Les Belles de nuit (1952)
- Caroline chérie (1950)
