20th-century French actresses

Yvonne Printemps (French: [ivɔn pʁɛ̃tɑ̃]; born Yvonne Wigniolle; 25 July 1894 – 19 January 1977) was a French singer and actress who achieved stardom on stage and screen in France and internationally.
Printemps went on the stage in Paris at the age of 12, and at 21 she was singled out by the actor, director and playwright Sacha Guitry as a leading lady. In 1919 they were married, and worked closely together until 1932, when they divorced. Printemps never remarried, but had a personal and professional partnership with the actor Pierre Fresnay which lasted until his death in 1975.
As a performer, Printemps was famed for the quality of her singing voice and for her personal charm. Among those who composed for her were André Messager, Reynaldo Hahn, Noël Coward and Francis Poulenc. Her voice could have led her to an operatic career, but guided by Guitry she concentrated on operette and other types of musical show, along with non-musical plays and films. In addition to her many successes in Paris she appeared to great acclaim in the West End of London, and on Broadway in New York.

Madeleine Sologne (12 October 1912 – 31 March 1995) was a French film actress.
Sologne was born Madeleine Simone Vouillon in La Ferté-Imbault, Loir-et-Cher. She was married to the art director Jean Douarinou. According to the art historian Michael Peppiatt, she had an affair with Marlene Dietrich.>

France Nuyen (born France Nguyễn Vân Nga on 31 July 1939) is a French-American actress, model, and psychological counselor. She is known to film audiences for playing romantic leads in South Pacific (1958), Satan Never Sleeps (1962), and A Girl Named Tamiko (also 1962), and for playing Ying-Ying St. Clair in The Joy Luck Club (1993). She also originated the title role in the Broadway play The World of Suzie Wong, based on the novel of the same name. She is a Theatre World Award winner and Golden Globe Award nominee.

Viviane Romance (born Pauline Ronacher Ortmanns; 4 July 1912 – 25 September 1991) was a French actress.Viviane Romance was born in Roubaix, France. She began her career as a dancer at the Moulin Rouge in Paris. She was elected Miss Paris of 1930, and she made her film debut in 1931 with a cameo role in La Chienne. Romance caused a small scandal winning Miss Paris because she had a child. She appeared in several films over the next few years, and she made a strong impression in La belle équipe (1936). From this time to the late 1950s, she was regarded as one of France's leading cinematic actresses and played dozens of femme fatales, fallen women (with hearts of gold) and vamps. Her acting roles after 1956 were few, and she retired in 1974.
Romance was offered, and rejected, a Hollywood film contract in the 1930s. She preferred to make films in her native France. However, she also resided for many years in Italy where she made several Italian language films.
She was married three times, including to the actor Georges Flamant and the film director Jean Josipovici, who directed her in three films.
She died in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France.

Léonie Marie Julie Bathiat (15 May 1898 – 23 July 1992), known professionally as Arletty, was a French actress, singer, and fashion model. As an actress she is particularly known for classics directed by Marcel Carné, including Hotel du Nord (1938), Le jour se lève (1939) and Children of Paradise (1945). She was found guilty of treason for an affair with a German officer during World War II.

Françoise Paulette Louise Dorléac (21 March 1942 – 26 June 1967) was a French actress. She was the elder sister of Catherine Deneuve, with whom she starred in the 1967 musical, The Young Girls of Rochefort. Her other films include Philippe de Broca's movie That Man from Rio, François Truffaut's The Soft Skin, Roman Polanski's Cul-de-sac, and Val Guest's Where the Spies Are.

Simone Thérèse Fernande Simon (23 April 1910 or 1911 – 22 February 2005) was a French film actress who began her film career in 1931. She is perhaps best remembered for her role in the American horror film Cat People, and its sequel The Curse of the Cat People.

Catherine Allégret (born 16 April 1946) is a French actress. She is the daughter of Simone Signoret and Yves Allégret.In 2007, she portrayed Édith Piaf's grandmother Louise Gassion in Olivier Dahan's biopic La Vie En Rose (La Môme in French).

Lucie Madeleine Renaud (French: [ʁəno]; 21 February 1900 – 23 September 1994) was a French actress best remembered for her work in the theatre. She did though appear in several films directed by Jean Grémillon including Remorques (Stormy Waters, 1941) and Lumière d'été (Summer Light, 1943).