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Capucine
Capucine on 25 April 1962
Born	Germaine Hélène Irène Lefebvre (1928-01-06)6 January 1928 Saint-Raphaël, Var, France
Died	17 March 1990(1990-03-17) (aged 62) Lausanne, Switzerland
Cause of death	Suicide
Occupation	Model, actress
Years active	1948–1990
Spouse(s)	Pierre Trabaud (m. 1950–1950)

Capucine (6 January 1928 – 17 March 1990)^[1] was a French fashion model and actress known for her comedic roles in The Pink Panther (1963) and What's New Pussycat? (1965). She appeared in 36 films and 17 television productions between 1948 and 1990.

Early life

Capucine was born Germaine Hélène Irène Lefebvre on 6 January 1928 in Saint-Raphaël, Var, France.^[1][2] She often confused the issue of her birth by claiming that she was born in 1931 or 1933, and most sources indicate those years. She attended school in Saumur, France, and attained a Bachelor of Arts degree in foreign languages.^[3]

In 1945, at age 17, while riding in a carriage in Paris, Lefebvre was noticed by a commercial photographer. Adopting the name "Capucine" (French for nasturtium), she became a fashion model, working for fashion houses Givenchy and Christian Dior.^[3]

Capucine met Audrey Hepburn while modeling for Givenchy in Paris. They remained close friends for the rest of Capucine's life.^[4]

Career

Early films

Capucine made her film debut in Jean Cocteau's The Eagle with Two Heads (1948). She only had a small unbilled role. She also appeared in Jacques Becker's Rendezvous in July (1949) and Robert Dhéry's Crazy Show (1949).

She was in My Friend Sainfoin (1950) and Dhery's Bernard and the Lion (1951).

After a break of a few years Capuncine appeared in Mademoiselle from Paris (1955) and Frou-Frou (1955).

Charles K. Feldman

In 1957, film producer Charles K. Feldman spotted Capucine while she was modeling in New York City. Feldman brought her to Hollywood to learn English and study acting under Gregory Ratoff.^[5][6]

She was signed to a seven-year contract with Columbia Pictures in 1958. After unsuccessfully auditioning for the role of Feathers in Rio Bravo (1959) she landed her first English-speaking role in the film Song Without End (1960), a biopic of Franz Liszt where Capucine played Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.^[7][8]

Capucine followed this with North to Alaska (1960), a comedy which had been set up by Feldman at 20th Century Fox. She played a prostitute who becomes the love interest of John Wayne. It was successful at the box office.

Capucine returned to Europe to co star in Le triomphe de Michel Strogoff (1961) with Curt Jurgens, a sequel to Michel Strogoff (1956).

Back in Hollywood, she was second billed in Walk on the Wild Side (1962), produced by Feldman, in which she portrayed a redeemed hooker. Costar Laurence Harvey complained that Feldman cut his part to build Capucine's role.^[9]

She was then William Holden's love interest in The Lion (1962).

Feldman announced he would put Capucine in Mary Magdelene^[10] and Waltz of the Toreadors^[11] but neither happened.

She moved to Switzerland in 1962.^[12] She had a cameo Beach Casanova (1962) in Italy.

The Pink Panther

Capucine in The Pink Panther (1963)

Blake Edwards cast Capucine in The Pink Panther playing the wife of Inspector Clouseau who is having an affair with a jewel thief played by David Niven. It was a huge hit and led to a number of sequels.

Capucine was reunited with Holden in The 7th Dawn (1964) produced by Feldman; it was a box-office disappointment.

Far more successful was another film she did for Feldman, the comedy What's New Pussycat? (1965), which costarred Sellers and Peter O'Toole, and was filmed entirely in France.^[2]

Capucine was one of several European stars in Sex Quartet (1966) for Columbia (originally The Queens^[13]) then Feldman put her in The Honey Pot (1967) directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. She was announced for Feldman's Casino Royale but did not appear in the film.^[14]

Feldman died in May 1968 and Capucine's career never regained its former momentum.^[15] She inherited the rights to the book Zandy from his estate and sold them to the makers of Zandy's Bride.^[16]

Post-Feldman

Capucine had a support role in Fraulein Doktor (1968) and the lead in the Spanish thriller The Exquisite Cadaver (1969). She was in the supporting cast of Fellini's Satyricon (1969).

Capucine had a supporting role in the Western Red Sun (1971)^[17] and guest starred on Search Control (1972), her first TV series.^[18]

She supported Jean Paul Belmondo in Incorrigible (1975) and Richard Burton in Jackpot, which ultimately was abandoned.

She appeared on television in Cinéma 16, and La pêche miraculeuse (1976), and had roles in The Con Artists (1976), Per amore (1976), Ecco noi per esempio... (1977), Nest of Vipers (1978), From Hell to Victory (1979), Atrocious Tales of Love and Death (1979), Neapolitan Mystery (1979), Arabian Adventure (1979), Jaguar Lives! (1979), and Martin Eden (1979).

1980s

Capucine was in episodes of Orient Express, and Hart to Hart.

She went to Europe to make Les invités (1982), Aphrodite (1982), Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), and Curse of the Pink Panther (1983).^[19]

Capucine could be seen in episodes of Série noire, Voglia di cantare, Murder, She Wrote, Honor Thy Father, Sins, Delirium (1987), My First Forty Years (1987), Gila and Rik (1987), Una verità come un'altra (1989), Quartier nègre (1989), Blaues Blut [fr] (1990) and Il giudice istruttore.

Personal life

She met Pierre Trabaud on the set of Rendez-vous (1949) and they married the next year. The marriage lasted only eight months, and Capucine never married again.^[20]

She had an affair^{[citation needed]} with Charles K. Feldman, who produced her films What's New Pussycat?, The 7th Dawn and The Honey Pot.

Capucine met actor William Holden in the early 1960s. They starred in the films The Lion (1962) and The 7th Dawn (1964). Holden was married to Brenda Marshall, but the two began a two-year affair. After the affair ended, she and Holden remained friends until Holden's death in 1981.^[21]

Capucine was one of the most exotic actresses of her era in American films, leading to a number of rumors about her. Gossip^{[citation needed]} that she was a transsexual was apparently due to some confusing her with the similarly named Coccinelle, a French transgender showgirl/entertainer of the era who was occasionally written about in American magazines.

Death

On 17 March 1990, Capucine jumped to her death from her eighth-floor apartment in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she had lived for 28 years, having reportedly suffered from illness and depression for some time.^[1][22]

Selected filmography

See also

• Mononymous persons


• List of suicides

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Capucine.

• 
  Capucine on IMDb


• 
  Capucine at AllMovie
  


• Brief biography


• 
  Capucine (Aveleyman.com)