'Devil in the Flesh' actor, Micheline Presle dies at 101

Micheline Presle a prominent French actress who debuted in the controversial Devil in the Flesh before venturing into Hollywood and playing roles opposite John Garfield Tyrone Power Errol Flynn and Paul Newman has died according to the Hollywood Reporter She was 101Presle died on Wednesday in the Paris neighbourhood of NogentsurMarne her soninlaw Olivier Bomsel informed Le FigaroMicheline Presle PicAFPPresle rose to worldwide prominence when she played a nurse having an affair with a student Gerard Philipe in the World War I drama Devil in the Flesh 1947 which the National Board of Review named one of the top ten films of the year Because it depicted a woman who had a lover while her husband was away at war it sparked a lot of debatePresle met American actor William Marshall who was married to another French celebrity Michele Morgan and travelled with him to America in 1949 They planned to marry in Santa Barbara the same yearShe signed with 20th Century Fox who altered her surname to Prelle and cast her as a cafe owner who falls in love with a corrupt jockey Garfield in Jean Negulescos Under My Skin 1950 based on an Ernest Hemingway short storyShe costarred with Power in Fritz Langs Technicolour war drama American Guerilla in the Philippines 1950 before being loaned to Republic Pictures to perform with Flynn in The Adventures of Captain Fabian 1951Marshall directed the picture which was shot in France based on a screenplay written by Flynn as per the Hollywood Reporter But because these traits failed to generate much fire she and Marshall split in 1954 and she moved to France as per the Hollywood ReporterPresle the daughter of an investment banker was born on August 22 1922 in Paris as Micheline Nicole Julia Emilienne ChassagneAfter a few lesser roles she had her breakthrough in GW Pabsts Young Girls in Trouble 1939 playing the leader of a group of girls who are distraught by their parents divorces Moving forward she would use the surname of the character she played Jacqueline Presley as her stage nameIn Abel Gances Paradise Lost 1940 she played both a mother and a daughter Presle began her comeback after a lessthansuccessful stint in the United States with a leading role in Joseph Loseys Englishlanguage murder mystery Chance Meeting 1959She returned to Hollywood to play a former French showgirl and the mother of Sandra Dees character in the romantic comedy If a Man Answers 1962 which also starred Dees thenhusband Bobby DarinIn 1963 she costarred with Newman as a scientist in the spy drama The Prize 1963 set against the backdrop of a Nobel Prize ceremony From 1965 to 1971 she starred in the French comedy series Les Saintes CheriesHer film credits included Male Hunt 1964 The Legend of Frenchie King 1971 Thieves After Dark 1984 and Alain Resnais I Want to Go Home 1989 for which she received a Cesar nominationShe received an honorary Cesar in 2004 Tonie Marshall her daughter died in 2020 at the age of 68 after winning a historic Cesar Award for Venus Beauty InstituteThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever