Mylène Demongeot, French Movie Legend, Dies @ 87

The very year she appeared in one of the most successful films of her career — Retirement Home — French movie star Mylène Demongeot has died at 87.

As Milady de Winter in The Three Musketeers (Image via Pathé)

Demongeot died of primary peritoneal cancer on Thursday, December 1, in a Paris hospital.

Born September 29, 1935, in Nice, she built a staggeringly eclectic, artistically adventurous career on the stage, in films and on TV, defying early typecasting as a blonde sex kitten to rival Marilyn Monroe.

Memorable in The Crucible (1957) and in Bonjour tristesse (1958) for director Otto Preminger (1905-1986), she logged perhaps her most famous role in The Three Musketeers (1961).

She excelled in comedies like It's a Wonderful World (1956) and Upstairs and Downstairs (1959), and appeared in two popular film series: Fantomas (1964-1967) and Camping (2006-2016).

With more than 100 credits to her name, she worked with many French greats, and was César-nominated twice in the 2000s.

Ageless, Demongeot was an integral part of Retirement Home this year, 69 years after her debut, in 1953's Children of Love.

In 2007, she was made Commander of the Ordre des Arts et le Lettres. Ten years later, she was made Knight of the Légion d'Honneur.

Following a 10-year marriage to Henri Coste, Demongeot was married for 30+ years to the director Marc Simenon (1939-1999).

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