Isabelle Mergault has left us
The actress and director, crowned with a César in 2006, was 67 years old.
The most famous hair on the tongue of French cinema has died out.
Isabelle Mergault died this Friday, March 20 in the morning, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, from cancer, RTL announced shortly before 1 p.m.: “Her family and friends are sad to announce that the director, actress and comedian Isabelle Mergault died this morning, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, as a result of cancer against which she had been courageously fighting for several months”his relatives said in a press release.
A popular actress, she began her career in 1979 by playing a prostitute in The Evasion by Daniel Duval. In the 1980s, she established herself in successful comedies like Men prefer big ones (1981), before making an impression as a professor in love with Patrick Bruel in PROFES (1985).
At the beginning of the 1990s, she made a change and devoted herself to writing, signing scripts and plays. A decisive turning point. In 2005, she went behind the camera with I find you very beautifulhis first film, a huge public success with 3.5 million admissions. She directed Michel Blanc as a gruff farmer who leaves to look for love in Romania, and won the César for Best First Film in 2006.
She continues with Finally widowed (2008), bringing together Michèle Laroque and Jacques Gamblin, then giving giving (2010) with Daniel Auteuil and Sabine Azéma, before signing more recently Hands of gold (2023), worn by Josiane Balasko and Lambert Wilson.
A familiar voice to the public and the radio, Isabelle Mergault was also an essential figure on the show The Big Headsof which she was a member for decades, from the Philippe Bouvard era to that of Laurent Ruquier, who was among her close friends.
His last appearance on screen was in 2017 in Life is beautiful when you think about it by Gérard Jugnot.
A voice, a laugh, a phrase. And a rare freedom. French cinema is losing a unique personality.
