Michel Mercier

The legendary French actress Michel Mercier for more than one decade has been an idol and style icon for hundreds of thousands of fashionistas around the world. During her long career, she embodied about fifty characters in a movie, but with world-wide fame and still not withering popularity, the actress owes the role of Angelica to the screen version of the novels of Anna and Serge Golon. Recall the most spectacular images of the Marquises of the Angels and learn some of the secrets of Mercier’s impeccable style.

Born the future film star in Nice. It happened in a very difficult time - January 1, 1939 - shortly before World War II struck. Her dad was French, and her mother was Italian. The family was engaged in pharmaceuticals, it was the most common couple, far from Bohemia. The couple really wanted a boy, Mercier’s parents were almost certain that their heir and successor of the family business would be their firstborn. But she was born ...

Parents called the girl Zhoselin. She grew up very sweet, charming, sophisticated - a real lady. But from a young age, the future Angelica was deeply unhappy. Shortly after the birth of the first daughter, the Mercier couple acquired another child, and the younger sister Michelle appeared in Jocelyn - she soon became the main favorite of her parents.

In the harmonious family of Mercier, everyone was faithful to the pharmaceutical business: to the delight of mom and dad, young Michel was interested in the family business. And only Zhoselin did not justify parental hopes. She dreamed of a creative profession, recognition and fame. Particularly categorical to the aspirations of the eldest daughter was her mother — she believed that the career with which Jocelyn dreamed was a model of debauchery and dishonesty of a woman.

On the way to fame and success, French film star overcame many obstacles. To conquer the world of artistic art, young Jocelyne began as a ballerina. Dancing future star passionately fond of since childhood. And so, at the age of 17, she left her father's house, where she never ceased to oppose her dreams and plans for life.

The girl went to Paris and began to gradually make their way to glory. She managed to get a job as a dancer against Roland Petit, a recognized classic among ballet choreographers of the 20th century. And thus manifesting their talents in front of the ballet experts, Mercier soon got into the famous troupe of the Eiffel Tower Ballet.

During his work in Paris, Jocelyn acquired a lot of useful contacts. One of the most iconic was her meeting with Charlie Chaplin. He gave Mercier two invaluable advice: learn English and try yourself as a movie actress.

So, Zhoselin decided to follow the slander of the master of cinema. By the way, besides her native French, as well as Italian, which the actress knew because it was her mother’s native language, she decided to master German together with English. Such rich knowledge helped the French actress to subsequently gain a ton of roles in foreign and international films.

A serious push in the direction of the development of cinema for Mercier was the disintegration of both troupes in which she danced. Jocelyn went to London, where she mastered acting. But before the career in the cinema was still far away, and being at a crossroads, the girl returned home for a while to Nice.

By career film actress Mercier carefully prepared. Having mastered several foreign languages, having comprehended the basics of acting, the girl was determined to take by storm this fortress.But life circumstances forced Jocelyn to wait out the lack of work in the field of cinema in his father's house. Oddly enough, but it was in it that the girl received a ticket to her first film.

It so happened that Mercier’s father was acquainted with the director Denis de La Pateller. When he came to visit his friend, Patteller met his daughter and invited her to go through the tests in his new picture. Mercier stood the test. So, her debut film was "Turning the door knob."

But the name Zhoselin in the credits did not appear - it seemed to producers inconsistent. Then the girl decided to take a creative pseudonym for herself that arranged for everyone - Michel Mercier. Thus, she immortalized the name of her younger sister, who by then had died from a grave incurable disease.

The first film was immediately followed by new film roles, including in foreign and international films. A year after the start of acting, Mercier got into the theater - the first production with her participation was the 1958 performance “And here is a brunette!”.

Mercier moved from place to place - she worked in the UK, then in Italy. The roles were all the time: detective and comedic, romantic or even in thrillers, but they were all secondary, or even episodic. This fame came to the actress after she accepted the offer of director Bernard Borderie to play the main role in a pseudo-historical film based on the novels of Anna and Serge Golon “Angelica”.

This role has become stellar for Mercier, but, unfortunately, the only one so successful. Five films were released about how the heroine - a girl from a cruel 17th century - fights for the right to happiness by all available means. This work brought Michel world-wide fame: today, the total number of viewers who watched the Angelica mini-series for the entire existence of the film (on film or on television) is about 1 billion people.

Having received a central role in the film for the first time, Mercier plunged into work, forgetting about the theater and ballet. She was greatly assisted by her colleague in the film, Jacques Tozha, who played the role of King Louis XIV in that film. As the actress told later, this more experienced actor helped her from the very beginning in everything, they together taught and rehearsed roles, thanks to which Mercier succeeded.

Even in the 1960s Soviet press, the film, full of erotic scenes, received very reserved reviews: “Angelica is not the embodiment of sexual lust, but pronounced chaste sensuality ...”.

It is surprising that Michelle got the role, because she is a burning brunette, and Angelica is the owner of blond curls. For the work of Mercier in the first picture several dozens of blond wigs were made, and subsequently the actress had to lighten her hair.

When the last film in this series was made, Mercier began a new journey - searching for other roles and desperate attempts to escape from the role with which she still has been associated with many. Continuing to roll almost to this day, Mercier was not able to achieve significant success in the acting field.

• 1957 - "Turning the door handle" - the first role of Michelle Mercier in the movie, played a girl named Jeanne
• 1959 - “Lucretia Borgia Nights” - in the Italian-French film, Michelle played a girl in a love triangle (Diane de Alvo).
• 1963 - “Dolly” - embodied the image of the Dolly.
• 1964 - “Angelica - Marquis of Angels”
• 1965 - “Angelica in anger”
• 1966 - "Angelica and the King"
• 1967 - The oldest profession in the world - Bree (one of the first, but, unfortunately, not the last roles of Mercier in the same role after Angelica).
• 1967 - "Indomitable Angelica"
• 1968 - "Angelica and the Sultan"
• 1968 - “Lady Hamilton's Lovers: The Path to the High Light” - Emma Hamilton
• 2011 - “Those who loved Richard Wagner” - played Brigitte, this is the last role played by Michelle Mercier in the cinema today.

The main role of all life brought Mercier not only world-wide fame, but also a true friend and companion of the shooting. Robert Hossein was her partner not only in five films about Angelica, but also in other films - “Second Truth”, “Thunder of Heaven”, “Cemetery without Crosses”. The fact that the actors so often portrayed love on a movie screen kept telling fans all the time that there was something in life between Mercier and Ossein, however, this was never true. Never in all the years of joint filming between them, nothing ever broke out. As the actress herself later admitted about this, Robert Ossein “categorically disliked her”.

In some ways, Michelle's fate is similar to the problems of her Angelica. She did not manage to build a family center to this day. There are no children, and husbands, passing through her life, replacing each other, each time left Mercier with a broken heart.

The first love of film star - actor Jani Esposito. After a long romantic relationship, the couple broke up on religious grounds — their beliefs began to diverge sharply, and further relations proved impossible.

Later, Michelle met Andre Smaggi, the assistant director. He became her first husband. The marriage was fragile, and therefore short-lived - permanent patrols to work, in which there were both spouses, led to divorce.

Mercier's second husband, Claude Burilo, is a race car driver and part-time pharmacist. He was madly in love with Michelle long before her divorce from her first spouse, and as soon as she was free, he began to actively seek her hand and heart. But it turned out that Claude was very jealous and unnecessarily cruel on this ground to his wife. Therefore, this marriage was short-lived.

The last marriage for Michel Mercier was an alliance with Henri Renault - a politician. He fell apart when the actress convicted her husband of treason.

Between these small islands of family life, Michel, of course, had more novels. They were after, but in the end the actress realized that she would no longer stamp the passport.

After all the experiences Michel Mercier is not discouraged. If she gets into the lenses of annoying cameras at film screenings or social events, she invariably sparkles and smiles. Today, when she is at a respectable age (in 2017, Mercier turned 78 years old), it’s hard to say “an actress in old age” about her.

She published two biographical books: “I am not Angelica” and “The Marquise of the Angels, or the Broken Heart of Angelica.” There Michelle describes in detail many important events of his life. Mercier herself has repeatedly said, and still says, that she is happy and content with her fate. And her wonderful talents were noted - in 2006, the incomparable Michel Mercier received the Order of Arts and Literature in appreciation from the government of her native country.

There are several simple components that are the key to a perfect appearance for any woman. Michelle Mercier always had reference volumes: until the 1990s, the actress fit in 92-60-90. With growth in the region of 170 cm, it always had a weight of 50-52 kg. Of course, today Michel has several different parameters of the figure, but she remains radiant and charming. And all thanks to simple, but very effective rules, which are always followed by the irresistible Angelica:

• Healthy lifestyle. No bad habits, and then the skin, hair, nails - the whole body will maintain youth and health.

• Proper nutrition. You can not starve or torment yourself with diets. Only a balanced diet and competent selection of products.

• Physical activity. It is not necessary to visit the fitness center. Long walks - available to everyone, effectively no less.

• Maintain natural beauty. Michelle - a supporter of natural makeup. She advises to use decorative cosmetics to a minimum, and to spend more time and effort on proper skin care, on maintaining her health, and therefore, on beauty.

• Feminine wardrobe. Michel Mercier can rightly be called an icon of the classic female style in clothing. She always adhered to femininity in her outfits, both on the screen and in life.

The glittering silver dress exactly repeats all the curves of the luxurious body of Mercier, emphasizing the virtues of the chiseled figure. Elegant neckline and chastely covering the shoulders scarf - the image is very bright, but not defiant, built on the verge of coquetry and modesty.

A very actual image today is wide-brimmed hat, translucent fabrics, geometric patterns. Luxury outfit for a real lady, it will be appropriate at any social event.

And again geometry and translucent fabrics. This time the dress is made in white and supplemented with muted shades of fashionable and today bright colors - lilac, emerald, lavender, turquoise.

Another excellent example confirming that fashion always comes back. In such an outfit it would be quite appropriate to appear on the beach in the near bathing season!