Danièle Ajoret

Dalièle Ajoret was only twenty when, after only one year at the Conservatoire de Paris (under the guidance of her teacher Henri Rollan) she was awarded two first prizes(comedy and tragedy). She was only twenty-two when, in 1960, she was chosen by casting director of Robert Darène to play Bernadette Soubirous in his religious biopic "Il suffit d'aimer". Her interpretation of the young saint was so soulful that it earned her a best actress award at the Cork International Film Festival. A stunning debut for such a young actress. What happened next was less flamboyant but quite respectable. Danièle Ajoret was first a member of the prestigious company the Comédie-Française, where she was happy first but gradually more and more frustrated not to play Russian classics or more modern authors. So, in 1966, after seven years of good and loyal service, she broke her contract and went freelance, playing the kind of theater she favored. She also did some TV work and continued to appear on the silver screen, but mostly in little seen films. Two exceptions: "La Horse" (1969) in which she was one of patriarch Jean Gabin's granddaughters, and Guillaume Canet's breathtaking thriller "Ne le dis à personne" (2005) where she was hero François Cluzet's mother.