Actress Jeanne Moreau, one of French cinema’s biggest stars of the last 60 years, has died at the age of 89.
Moreau is probably best known for her role in Francois Truffaut’s 1962 new wave film Jules et Jim.
She won a number of awards including the best actress prize at Cannes for Moderato Cantabile in 1960.
She also worked with Orson Welles on several films and won the Bafta Award for best foreign actress for Viva Maria! in 1967.
Moreau was found dead at her home in Paris, the district’s mayor told the AFP news agency.
Paying tribute, French President Emmanuel Macron said Moreau had “embodied cinema” and was a free spirit who “always rebelled against the established order”.
Moreau had a prolific career and continued acting into her 80s.
Her other films included 1961’s La Notte, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni; Luis Bunuel’s Diary of a Chambermaid (1964); and Tony Richardson’s Mademoiselle (1966).
She famously turned down Mike Nichols’ invitation to play Mrs Robinson in The Graduate, and instead reunited with Truffaut for 1968’s The Bride Wore Black, an homage to Alfred Hitchcock.
Moreau won one of France’s highest acting honours, a Cesar for best actress, for The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea in 1992.
