Catherine Rouvel (born Catherine Vitale; 31 August 1939 in Marseille) is a French actress. Her career spans from the late 1950s to the late 2010s.
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Biography
At 14, she took dance classes, which she abandoned in favor of theater. She made her debut with plays by Molière. She read Racine and, with Marie-France Boyer, founded the Théâtre Grignan (1956-1957), which became the Théâtre Quotidien de Marseille.
Rouvel had her breakthrough role in 1959 when she starred in the film Picnic on the Grass (Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe), directed by Jean Renoir. Afterwards, while regularly appearing in films, she proved more interested in theatre where she performed works by Marcel Pagnol, Jacques Audiberti and Fyodor Dostoevsky. She also found success on French television where she appeared in the miniseries L'Éducation sentimentale (1971, based on Gustave Flaubert's novel of the same name) and Les Rois maudits (1972, based on Maurice Druon's The Accursed Kings). In 1970 she appeared in the major box-office hit Borsalino, where she played the girlfriend of the gangster portrayed by Alain Delon. She and Delon reprised their roles in the sequel Borsalino & Co. (1974). Rouvel's other notable films include Claude Chabrol's The Breach (1970), Marcel Carné's Les Assassins de l'ordre (1971) and Jean-Jacques Annaud's Black and White in Color (1976).
From the 1980s, Rouvel focused on television work, appearing in various miniseries and TV movies. From the early 1990s, she returned to the theatres of her native Marseille, where she appeared in a dozen plays while still playing occasional supporting roles on the big screen. She became less active on screen during the 2000s, but kept working on stage.
Selected filmography
1959 : Picnic on the Grass (Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe) by Jean Renoir : Nénette
1963 : Chair de poule by Julien Duvivier : Maria
1964 : Les Pas perdus by Jacques Robin : Mazurka
1968 : Benjamin by Michel Deville : Victorine
1970 : Borsalino by Jacques Deray : Lola
1970 : The Breach (La Rupture) by Claude Chabrol : Sonia
1971 : I Miss Sonja Henie
1971 : Les Assassins de l'ordre by Marcel Carné : Danielle Lebègue
1971 : Le Soldat Laforêt by Guy Cavagnac : Diane
1973 : Les Volets clos by Jean-Claude Brialy : Flora
1973 : Oh, If Only My Monk Would Want (Ah! Si mon moine voulait...) by Claude Pierson
1974 : The Marseille Contract by Robert Parrish : Brizzard's mistress
1974 : Borsalino & Co. by Jacques Deray : Lola
1976 : Black and White in Color (La Victoire en chantant, or Noirs et Blancs en couleur) by Jean-Jacques Annaud : Marinette
1986 : Jubiabá by Nelson Pereira dos Santos: Amélia
1987 : Sand and Blood (De sable et de sang) by Jeanne Labrune : Carmina
Television
1971: L'Éducation sentimentale, miniseries
1972: Les Rois maudits, miniseries directed by Claude Barma: Béatrice d'Hirson
1972: Clochemerle, BBC TV miniseries: Judith Toumignon
1973: Arsène Lupin (TV series, 1 episode)
1984: Les Ferrailleurs des Lilas (TV movie)
1987: Les Enquêtes du commissaire Maigret (TV series, 1 episode)
1988: Les Dossiers de l'inspecteur Lavardin (TV series, 1 episode)
1998: La Clé des champs (miniseries)
2019: Capitaine Marleau (TV series, 1 episode)
