Catherine Rouvel Actress - Born 31 August 1939 Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Birth Name Catherine Vitale

Height 5' 4½" (1.64 m)

Mini Bio (1) Catherine Rouvel was born on August 31, 1939 in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. She is an actress, known for Borsalino and Co. (1974), Les rois maudits (1972) and Borsalino (1970).

Catherine Rouvel (born Catherine Vitale; 31 August 1939 in Marseille) is an acclaimed French actress. Her career spans from 1959 in television to 2004.

She starred in Jean Renoir's Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, Marcel Carné's Les Assassins de l'ordre and in the 1976 Jean-Jacques Annaud film Black and White in Color.

Born on August 31 in Marseille, Catherine VITALE grew up in Les Crottes, rue Edgard Quinet. She entered the Institut Cinématographique Marseillais and took her first steps on stage at the Théâtre Quotidien in Marseille in 1956 with "George Dandin" and "Les fourberies de Scapin". Catherine then joined the Comédie de Provence in Aix where she played "Un chapeau de paille d'Italie" with the team of Serge Peyrat and René Lafforgue.

1958 marks the arrival in Paris of Catherine who marries and is received at the Dramatic Center of the Rue Blanche where she plays the classics with Daniel PREVOST.

Loyal to the Cinémathèque de Paris, Catherine meets Jean RENOIR who recognizes in her the character of Nénette that he is looking for for his next film "Le déjeuner sur l'herbe" and that he will shoot in July 59 with Paul MEURISSE and Fernand SARDOU. RENOIR gives Catherine VITALE the name of ROUVEL, name derived from that of Catherine's husband, Georges ROUVEYRE, and "which ends with a wing". All the press will write: "Catherine Rouvel is the living model of a painting by the painter Auguste RENOIR".

Catherine then found many roles in film, television and theater that would mark her career.

In the 60s and 70s: directed by Claude CHABROL, Julien DUVIVIER or Michel DEVILLE, "Landru", "Kriss romani", "Goosebumps", "Benjamin" and "Borsalino" will make him meet Robert HOSSEIN, Catherine DENEUVE, Michèle MORGAN, Michel PICCOLI, Alain DELON and Jean-Paul BELMONDO on the big screen.

In the theater, it is the success of "Marius" by Marcel PAGNOL and the "timid at the palace" with Jean-Louis TRINTIGNANT, "Blessed Anaïs" with Franck FERNANDEL, "Chance by the fire" directed by Jean VILAR with Jean-Pierre CASSEL, "The black party" by AUDIBERTI seen by Georges VITALY, "Fanny" by Marcel PAGNOL and "The carriage of the Blessed Sacrament" directed by Michel DE RE.

On television, "Woyzeck" reveals to the general public an exceptional dramatic actress, under the direction of Marcel BLUWAL.

The 70s and 80s will be the soap opera years that will give Catherine a particular popularity with the general public: "Sentimental education", "The cursed kings", "The whirlwind of days" and "The horses of the sun" which allow her to give the reply to Françoise FABIAN, Jean PIAT, Hélène DUC, Niels ARESTRUP, Yolande FOLLIOT, Gilles SEGAL and Pascale ROBERTS, her friend.

In the cinema, Catherine reunited with Claude CHABROL for "La rupture", shot "Les assassins de l'ordre" with Jacques BREL under the direction of Marcel CARNE, "Le soldat Laforêt" with Guy CAVAGNAC and "La victoire en chantant" with Jean-Jacques ANNAUD. English and Swiss television called on Catherine for "Clochemerle" and "La confession".

In France, Claude SANTELLI offered her two beautiful roles in "The Port" and "The Gospel according to St. Luke" in which Catherine played the Virgin Mary. On stage, "The Karamazov Brothers", "The Debauchery", "The Lady of Maxim's" and "The Marriage of Figaro" offer Catherine important and diverse roles where her talent bursts with a thousand lights.

The 80s and 90s are marked by beautiful roles, in "Le boulanger de Suresnes" with Jean-Marc THIBAULT and in "Sacrifice" on television, "Louise l'insoumise" and "Fuégos" in the cinema, and "Une absence" alongside the superb Suzanne FLON in the theater.

In 1991, Catherine was nominated for the "Molière" thanks to her performance in "Eurydice". "Vu du pont" and "L'opéra des gueux" mark his return to the Mediterranean theatre followed in 1995 by Jean BOUCHAUD's play "Un coin d'azur". In 1996, Catherine stepped into the shoes of Marie, the devoted and attentive maid of Jean de la Fontaine, "the libertine of God", played by Guy TREJAN and shot under the direction of Joël SANTONI two television films in which she found her son from "De sable et de sang", Patrick CATALIFO. In July, Angers appointed Catherine "Ambassador of the Rose". In August, 350 personalities of the show celebrate its 40 years of career in Cavalaire.

While "Catherine Rouvel"* is released in bookstores, a biography that tells the story of the actress's childhood in Marseille, her debut with Jean RENOIR and her 40-year career, rich in eclectic roles for cinema, television and theater, Marseille pays a great tribute to the country's daughter in February 97 with film screenings and exhibition.

In May 1999, at the personal request of Jacqueline PAGNOL, Catherine joined in Marseille the filming of a fiction, "Notes sur le rire", which tells the story of a teacher who makes his students love reading thanks to the texts of Marcel PAGNOL.

After a feature film by Jacques Rivette "Va savoir", and a short film in which Catherine reunites with her friend Sophie Barjac, the year 2003 sees the return of Catherine Rouvel to television in a leading role alongside Gérard Klein in an episode of "L'instit'" shot in Switzerland.

Catherine Rouvel also shoots for the cinema "Kings and Queen" under the direction of Arnaud Despléchin whom she adores, alongside Mathieu Amalric and Emmanuelle Devos.

In July, the Association "Souvenance de cinéphiles" pays tribute to the actress in Puget-Théniers, under the leadership of Jean-Louis Milla, by screening some of the key films of her career: "Le déjeuner sur l'herbe", "Louise l'insoumise", "Le soldat Laforêt" ,...

But it is to the theater that the preference of the actress has always gone: she returns to the stage in 2006 with Christophe Malavoy and Marie-France Pisier in "Don't listen to ladies" by Sacha Guitry.

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