Magali Noël

Born in İzmir to French parents in the diplomatic service, she left Turkey for France in 1951, and her acting career began soon thereafter.[1]

She acted in multilingual cinema chiefly from 1951 to 1980, appearing in three Italian films directed by Federico Fellini,[2] for whom she was a favorite performer and known as his muse. [1] [3] She took on a new dimension by embodying one of the symbols of Federico Fellini's sexual fantasies in La dolce vita (1960), Satyricon (1969), and Amarcord (1973), where she played Gradisca, provincial pin-up.[4]

She acted in films directed by Costa Gavras, Jean Renoir and Jules Dassin. Despite a notable role in Z by Costa-Gavras, Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1969, and great successes at the theater, it subsequently received less attention from producers. She then returned successfully to the music hall.

A new generation of directors then gave her roles: Chantal Akerman (Les Rendez-vous d'Anna, 1978), Claude Goretta (La Mort de Mario Ricci, 1983), Tonie Marshall (Pentimento, 1989), Andrzej Żuławski (La Fidélité, 2000), Jonathan Demme (The Truth About Charlie, 2002).

Her career extended to television movies from roughly 1980 to 2002.[1]

Her recording career began in France in 1956, and her most famous song was "Fais-moi mal, Johnny" ("Hurt me Johnny"), written by Boris Vian.[5] This song was one of the first rock 'n' roll songs with French lyrics. It was censored from the radio due to its risqué lyrics.[1] [3]

She died on 23 June 2015, four days before her 84th birthday.[1][6]