In the collective memory of several generations, the name Geneviève Grad is immediately associated with that of Nicole Cruchot, the daughter of Louis de Funès in The Gendarme of Saint-Tropez, The gendarme is getting marriedand The Constable in New Yorkincluding Madelen invites you to discover or rediscover a report made during the filming of the second episode in the USA. The young actress, who in this sequence manages, not without difficulty, to interrupt Louis de Funès and Michel Galabru, was then on the rise. Her performance as Douliou douliou Saint-Tropezoften misspelled Do you do you Saint-Tropez was one of the highlights of the first part of the series. The melody, played every night in discotheques, has stood the test of time. Today, it remains a backdrop to images evoking the history of this fishing port, when it became a rendezvous for the stars.

Throughout the 60s, Geneviève Grad made numerous film appearances. She worked under the direction of Jean-Pierre Mocky in Les dragueursand then Edouard Molinaro and Pierre Grimblat, who were also beginners. In 1961, Pierre Gaspard-Huit offered her her first major role, alongside Jean Marais in Le Capitaine Fracasse. Until the end of the decade, she would also regularly tour Italy, particularly in adventure films, and make a few theater appearances.

Unfortunately, the proposals then became increasingly rare. The screen appearances of those hitherto considered to be the star in the wind until the early 80s, were limited to a few scenes in feature films or mini-series. Meanwhile, while visiting friends in the Gers, she crossed paths with Igor Bogdanoff. They were to spend the next 11 years together. She worked with him backstage on Temps Xwhile raising Dimitri, the son born of their love affair. She went on to lead a discreet life with her husband, Jean Guillaume, and to pursue other professional passions, becoming an antique dealer and, a few years later, in charge of cultural life in the town of Vendôme.

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Actress Geneviève Grad, originator of the famous “Douliou douliou Saint-Tropez”, has died

She never showed the slightest hint of nostalgia when recalling her years in the spotlight, where television was always present. Her first appearances on the small screens show that the roles she was originally destined for were far removed from the one that made her famous. In the early 60s, as a shy teenager, she recounted her auditions in front of Carlo Ponti and then Claude Autant-Lara, the first to believe in her acting potential. Her vocation was different, however, as she entered the Paris Opera after passing the exam that would enable her to realize her dream of becoming a prima ballerina. Trials with the first two directors were not to prove fruitful. However, Michel Boisrond, who had also spotted her, gave her her big-screen debut in An Evening on the Beachwhere she played the daughter of Martine Carol, then at the height of her fame.

At the same time, she took her first steps on a theater stage, in Lyon, at Les Célestins, playing a cover girl who lives with her parents, in L’invitation au château by Jean Anouilh. Throughout the 60s, she was to feature prominently in the credits of a number of now-forgotten soap operas that marked the history of a small screen still in black and white: A Room to Let, Frédéric the gardian, When freedom came from the sky, Interim agency and That devil of a man. It was during this period that she recorded a song Just a year old . She performed it, among other things, on a variety show live from Chaville, on the occasion of the Lily of the Valley festival. An opportunity to see that she also had a lovely voice.