Arielle Dombasle

Arielle Dombasle

Arielle Dombasle at the 2000 César Awards ceremony
Born Arielle Laure Maxime Sonnery de Fromental
April 27, 1958
Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation Actress, singer
Years active 1978present
Spouse(s) Paul Albou (19761985)
Bernard-Henri Lévy (1993present)
Website
Official website

Arielle Dombasle born April 27, 1958[1] is a French-American singer, actress, director and model. Her breakthrough roles were in Éric Rohmer's Pauline at the Beach (1983) and Alain Robbe-Grillet's The Blue Villa (1995). She is best known to American audiences for her appearances on Miami Vice and the 1984 miniseries Lace. She has released eight singles between 1978 and 2011 and seven albums.

Early years

She was born Arielle Laure Maxime Sonnery de Fromental in Hartford, Connecticut, the daughter of Jean-Louis Melchior Sonnery de Fromental, a silk manufacturer, and Francion Garreau-Dombasle. She descends from French-American immigrants in Mexico under her grandfather's diplomatic tenure. The family's surname was created in 1912, when Dombasle's grandfather René Sonnery (18871925), an industrialist from Lyon, married Anne-Marie Berthon du Fromental. Arielle took the pseudonym Arielle Dombasle in memory of her mother who died at the age of 36.

She and her brother Gilbert were raised in Mexico by their maternal grandparents after their mother's death in 1964. She was also raised at Château de Chaintré , the Sonnery family estate near Saumur, Maine et Loire. Her maternal grandfather, Maurice Garreau-Dombasle, was a close friend of and advisor to Charles de Gaulle and served as the French ambassador to Mexico. Her maternal grandmother was Manha Dombasle (née Germaine Massenet, 18981999), a writer and poet who translated Rabindranath Tagore's works into French and was a longtime friend of the science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, who dedicated his 1972 novel The Halloween Tree to her.

Career

Claude Lelouch and Arielle Dombasle

Dombasle embarked on a career as an actress and singer after attending the Conservatoire international de musique de Paris[2] and further studies in Mexico.[3] Dombasle has appeared in several Hollywood productions, but most of her acting work has been in French, as are her albums. She directed and wrote the scripts for two films, Les Pyramides Bleues and Chassé-croisé. She once described her own looks as "a Crazy Horse dancing girl".[4]

Personal life

Arielle Dombasle

She is the third wife of French philosopher and writer Bernard-Henri Lévy. They were married on June 19, 1993 at Saint-Paul-de-Vence on the Côte d'Azur where they have a villa. She has two stepchildren, Antonin-Balthazar Lévy and Justine Lévy, a novelist. She was previously married to Dr. Paul Albou, described by Vanity Fair as a "playboy society dentist 32 years her senior."[3]

Her brother, Gilbert Sonnery (aka Gilbert Sonnery Garreau), is a textile executive, having been chairman of J. B. Martin Ltée and vice chairman of the French holding company MRM.

Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes
1978 Perceval le Gallois Blanchefleur
1979 Tess Mercy Chant
Je te tiens, tu me tiens par la barbichette Une actrice film publicitaire uncredited
1980 Justocoeur
1981 Putain d'histoire d'amour Antonella
Les Fruits de la passion Nathalie érotique
La Femme de l'aviateur Singer ("Paris ma séduit")
Une robe noire pour un tueur La jeune droguée à la moto
1982 Le Beau mariage Clarisse
Chassé-croisé Ermine also Singer, Director, Writer, Composer
Laissé inachevé à Tokyo Sophie
1983 Sans soleil Herself
Pauline à la plage Marion
La Belle captive La femme hystérique
Rosette sort le soir
Un été nommé désir Arielle
1984 Mode in France Herself
Lace Maxine Pascal
Rosette prend sa douche
Penelope Last
Los Motivos de Berta: Fantasía de Pubertad
1985 La Nuit porte-jarretelles La secrétaire
Lace II Maxine Pascal
1986 The Boss' Wife Louise Roalvang
Flagrant désir Marguerite Barnac
1987 Jeux d'artifices Arielle
1988 Les Pyramides bleues Elise Director, Writer
1989 El sueño del mono loco Marion Derain
Try This One for Size Maggie
1991 Lola Zipper Loretta
Mémoires
1992 La vie crevée Angèle
Villa Mauresque Sandra
Hors Saison Mme. Studer
1993 Grand bonheur L'actrice
Miroslava Miroslava (adult)
L'Arbre, le maire et la médiathèque Bérénice Beaurivage
L'absence
1994 Un indien dans la ville Charlotte
Fado majeur et mineur Leda
1995 Raging Angels Megan
Un bruit qui rend fou (The Blue Villa) Sarah La Blonde
À propos de Nice, la suite
Celestial Clockwork Céleste also Singer, Soundtrack
Fado majeur et mineur Leda
Les Cent et une nuits La chanteuse à la Garden-party
1996 Three Lives and Only One Death Helene
Two Dads and One Mom Delphine
Soyons amis! Arielle
1997 Jeunesse Clémence also Singer
J'en suis! Rose Petipas
Le Jour et la nuit Laure By her husband, Bernard-Henri Lévy
1998 L'ennui Sophie
Hors jeu Arielle Dombasle
Let There Be Light Dieu la blonde
Bo Ba Bu
1999 Les Infortunes de la beauté Daphné
C'est pas ma faute! Vanessa Goudard
Le Temps retrouvé Madame de Farcy
Astérix et Obélix contre César Mme Agecanonix / Frau Methusalix
2000 30 Years Geneviève
Amazon Margot
Vatel Princess de Condé also Singer
Le libertin La Marquise de Jerfeuil
Les Eléphants de la planète Mars
2001 Les âmes fortes Madame Numance
Gamer Valérie Fisher
2002 Deux Professor Barbez
Hideous Man Crying woman
2003 Lovely Rita, sainte patronne des cas désespérés Mademoiselle Lecas
2004 Quand je serai star Diane de Montalte
Genre humain - première partie: Les parisiens, Le Sabine Duchemin
Albert est méchant Barbara Lechat
2005 Le Courage d'aimer Sabine Duchemin
2006 Nouvelle chance Bettina
C'est Gradiva qui vous appelle Léïla / Gradia
2008 La Possibilité d'une île Déléguée Mexicaine aka Possibility of an Island
Sagan Astrid
2009 King Shot in production

Discography

Singles

Albums

References

  1. Arielle Dombasle - Enfance
  2. "A Woman at Home in Many Worlds", The New York Sun, May 24, 2006
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Bernard Henri-Levy: France's Prophet Provocateur", vanityfair.com; January 2003.
  4. "crazy horse avec paris cabaret". Pariscabaret.fr. Retrieved 2012-02-14.

External links

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