Jacqueline Bisset
Jacqueline Bisset (
13 September,
1944) is a
British actress, born
Winifred Jacqueline Fraser-Bisset in
Weybridge,
Surrey,
England to Max Fraser- Bisset, a
General Practitioner of
Scottish descent, and the former Arlette Alexander, a
French-born
attorney.
Her mother taught her to speak
French fluently and she was educated at the
Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in London, leading many to believe erroneously that she was born in
France. When Bisset was a teenager, her mother was diagnosed with
disseminating sclerosis. After her parents divorced, she moved in to help her mother. She had taken ballet lessons as a young child, and now began taking acting lessons, and
fashion modelling to pay for them.
In 1967, Bisset was cast in the critically acclaimed movie
Two for the Road. Next, she participated in the
James Bond spoof
Casino Royale (1967), as Miss Goodthighs.
In 1968,
Mia Farrow dropped out of a movie named
The Detective (1968), and the role went to Bisset. She was cast opposite
Steve McQueen in
Bullitt in 1968.
In 1973, she appeared in
François Truffaut's
Day for Night, where she earned the respect of
European critics and moviegoers as a serious actress. In 1977, Bisset made great strides towards becoming a better known entertainer in America with her movie
The Deep (1977), co-starring
Robert Shaw, where her appearance swimming underwater wearing only a
T-shirt helped make the film a box off ice smash, leading the producer
Jon Peters to say, "That T-shirt made me a rich man"
[Nancy Griffin and Kim Masters, Hit & Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for A Ride in Hollywood, Simon & Schuster, 1996, p. 85.], and led many to credit her with popularizing the
wet T-shirt contest. At the time,
Newsweek magazine declared her to be "the most beautiful film actress of all time."
By 1978 she was a household name. She earned her first Golden Globe nomination for the comedy
Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?. Soon thereafter, she played in the movies
Rich and Famous (1981) with
Candice Bergen, and
Under The Volcano with
Albert Finney (1984), for which she earned her a second
Golden Globe award nomination.
In 1996, she was nominated for a
César Award, France's version of the
Oscars, for her role in
La Cérémonie.
During her career, Bisset has worked with such well-respected directors as Truffaut,
John Huston,
George Cukor and
Roman Polański. Several of her movies are French or
Italian productions.
Bisset has also appeared in many
made-for-TV movies, especially during the past ten years, some of which have been quite successful. One of her later TV movies, released in 2003, was
America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story, in which she portrayed
Jacqueline Kennedy.
Though she has been romantically linked with many actors, Bisset has never married. Bisset is the godmother to actress
Angelina Jolie. She acted with Jolie in the film
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005); however, the scenes never made the final cut.
Unlike many actresses of her generation who have had difficulty finding work after the age of 40, Bisset made a seamless transition from leading lady to character actor. She remains very much in demand both in Hollywood and Europe. She told a Bermuda newspaper in 2004
[http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040514/MIDOCEAN/105140096&SearchID=73242640659144 Bisset Resurfaces: 2004 Bermuda career interview]:
"This film business, perhaps more so in America than in Europe, has always been about young sexuality. It's not true of theatre, but in America, film audiences are young and they go to the cinema to see the sort of romance or adventure that appeals to them. It's not an intellectual cinema in America.
:"But one musn't be too greedy. One wants to be stimulated by the work as long as there is something to give. I think you have to be as flexible as possible. Perhaps you don't get handed the big American productions, but, quite honestly, who would want to be in a lot of them?
"Many of them are just puerile teenage filler, and they're not fascinating to be in. To be used in a part without depth is a frustrating feeling, when you know you have something to give, and the camera just sort of brushes past you, and doesn't get what you have to give.
"Most actresses I know are frustrated, but you have to adapt to the reality. I go and find a small part in something I find interesting, or find an independent film."
Domino (2005)
The Fine Art of Love: Mine Ha-Ha (2005)
Fascination (2004)
Latter Days (2003)
Swing (2003)
New Year's Day (2001)
The Sleepy Time Gal (2001)
Les gens qui s'aiment (2000)
Let the Devil Wear Black (1999)
Dangerous Beauty (1998)
Once You Meet a Stranger (1996)
La cérémonie (1995)
La classe américaine (1993)
Crimebroker (1993)
Hoffman's honger (1993)
Les marmottes (1993)
Est & Ouest: Les paradis perdus (1993)
Rossini! Rossini! (1991)
The Maid (1991)
Wild Orchid (1990)
Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989)
La maison de jade (1988)
High Season (1987)
Anna Karenina (1985)
Forbidden (1984)
Under the Volcano (1984)
Class (1983)
Rich and Famous (1981)
Inchon (1981)
When Time Ran Out (1980)
Amo non amo (1979)
Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978)
The Greek Tycoon (1978)
The Deep (1977)
La donna della domenica (1976)
St. Ives (1976)
Der Richter und sein Henker (1975)
The Spiral Staircase (1975)
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Le magnifique (1973)
La nuit américaine (1973)
The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973)
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
Stand Up and Be Counted (1972)
Believe in Me (1971)
The Mephisto Waltz (1971)
Secrets (1971)
The Grasshopper (1970)
Airport (1970)
L'échelle blanche (1969)
The First Time (1969)
Bullitt (1968)
The Sweet Ride (1968)
The Detective (1968)
The Cape Town Affair (1967)
Casino Royale (1967)
Two for the Road (1967)
Drop Dead Darling (1966)
Cul-de-sac (1966)
*In the
NBC TV show
Cheers, the episode titled
Bar Bet has
Sam Malone faced with a bet made with an old drinking buddy a long time ago. The bet: he would marry Jacqueline Bisset by a certain date. Rather than losing the bet because he'll never marry
the Jacqueline Bisset, he instead locates an American woman with the exact same name and brings her back to Boston.
*[
1]Jacqueline Bisset interview
* [
2] Jacqueline Bisset Appreciation Page
