Deneuve, Catherine (1943- ), French actress, born Catherine Dorléac in Paris. Deneuve came from an acting family, and although her early films were considered mediocre, the director Roger Vadim gave her a major role in Le Vice et la Vertu (Vice and Virtue) in 1962, in which she portrayed virtue. She became famous for her part in the musical film, Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964; The Umbrellas of Cherbourg), by Jacques Demy, which met with enormous success.

Demy emphasized Deneuve’s neat and clean elegance, which epitomized French chic as well as a feminine ideal. She had other resources, however, such as those revealed by Roman Polanski in Repulsion (1965) and by Luis Buñuel in Belle de Jour (1967) and Tristaña (1970). For her performance in Le Dernier Métro (The Last Metro) by François Truffaut (1980) she was awarded a César as Best Actress. With films such as Indochine (1992), Ma Saison Préférée (1993; My Favourite Season), O Covento (1995; The Convent), Les Voleurs (1996; Thieves), Généalogie d’un Crime (1996), Place Vendôme (1998), Le Temps Retrouvé (1999; Time Regained), Dancer in the Dark (2000), 8 Femmes (2002; 8 Women), Um Filme Falado (2003; A Talking Picture), and Les Temps Qui Changent (2004; Changing Times) Deneuve continues to maintain her position as one of France’s foremost actresses. She has a reputation for aloofness, which underlines her wish to avoid media attention.