Leslie Caron

Leslie Caron (born 1 July 1931) is a French dancer and actress, a talented and versatile performer, she enjoyed equal success in musicals, comedy and drama.

Life and career

Born in Boulogne-Billancourt, France, the daughter of a French father and an American mother, she began taking ballet lessons at age 10 and joined Roland Petit's Ballet des Champs-Elysée in 1947, quickly establishing herself as one of lead dancers of the company.

Noticed by Gene Kelly, she was cast in the film An American in Paris in 1951, which made her an immediate star in America. She then appeared in other very successful musicals such as Lili (1953), for which she won a BAFTA Award for best actress, Daddy Long Legs (1955), opposite Fred Astaire, Gaby (1956) and Gigi (1958).

In the 1960s, she turned to more dramatic roles, such as a screen adaptation of Marcel Pagnol's classic play Fanny (1961), the British drama film The L-Shaped Room (1962), which earned her a Golden Globe Award and a second BAFTA for best actress. She returned to romantic-comedy with Father Goose (1964), opposite Cary Grant, and also appeared in the war-thriller Is Paris Burning (1966).

Sher married British stage director Peter Hall in 1956, with whom she had two children; Christopher (b. 1957) and Jennifer (b. 1958).

Later films have included; The Man Who Loved Women and Valentino, both in 1977. She still appears in small character roles in both films and television; Chocolat (2000), Law and Order (2006).

Sources

• The Illustrated Who's Who of Cinema, Lloyd, Fuller & Desser, Portland House, 1987.