Known as “the girl with the golden eyes,” French beauty Marie Laforet was a singer and actress whose story sounds like a movie. She suffered untold trauma as a toddler which left her mute. Eventually, the shy girl took acting classes to help her out of her shell. When she was twenty, she replaced her sister at the last minute to compete on a radio talent show. As destiny would have it, Marie won the contest as well as the attention of famed director Louis Malle. He put the ingénue in a film he was shooting. Unfortunately, it never fully materialized. But fate stepped in and Marie was cast opposite France’s hottest leading man Alain Delon instead. Once she made her movie debut in René Clément’s crime thriller Plein Soleil (1960), Marie became an overnight sensation. When she sang a song in her second film Saint Tropez Blues (1961), the starlet started releasing singles. Her hits include “Les Vendanges de l’Amour” (1963) and “Viens, Viens” (1973). By 1978, Marie moved to Geneva where she opened an art gallery and became a Swiss citizen. During the 1980s, the pretty performer popped up on TV (The Octopus) and in the movie Joyeuses Pâques (1984). Considered a comic masterpiece, the film features Jean-Paul Belmondo, Sophie Marceau, and Marie’s nude booty! Years after taking the stage (Master Class) in the 1990s, Ms. Laforêt passed away in 2019. Married five times with two children, her life was marked with tragic lows and extraordinary highs. Au revoir, Marie!
