Cecile Aubry

"Cécile Aubry was born on 3 August 1928 in Paris, France, as Anne-José Madeleine Henriette Bénard. She was the daughter of Lucien Bénard, a polytechnic engineer and liquidation specialist, and Marguerite Candelier, an egyptologist. She began her career as a dancer and studied acting at the Cours Simon, where she was discovered by Henri-Georges Clouzot. She made her film debut in Manon (1949), which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. She played the role of a young peasant girl who becomes a prostitute and falls in love with a fugitive. The film was controversial for its depiction of sexuality and violence, but it also brought Aubry international fame. She appeared on the cover of Life magazine on 26 June 1950 and signed a contract with 20th Century Fox. She starred alongside Tyrone Power and Orson Welles in The Black Rose (1950), a historical adventure film set in China during the 13th century. She also played the last wife of Bluebeard (1952), a French-German co-production based on the fairy tale by Charles Perrault. She worked with some of the most renowned directors of her time, such as Christian-Jaque, Henry Hathaway, and Jean Renoir. In 1956, she married Si Brahim El Glaoui, the eldest son of Thami El Glaoui, the Pasha of Marrakesh, whom she met on the set of The Black Rose. They had one son together, Mehdi El Glaoui (born in 1956), before they divorced in 1959. Aubry retired from acting in 1960 and devoted herself to writing children's books and scripts for television. She created several popular TV series for children, such as Poly (1961-1977), about a Shetland pony and a boy; Belle and Sebastian (1965-1970), about a Pyrenean Mountain Dog and a boy; Le Jeune Fabre (1973), about a young naturalist; and Sébastien et la Mary-Morgane (1970), about a boy and his boat. She also directed some of these series and cast her son Mehdi as the main character in most of them. Her books and TV series were translated into many languages and enjoyed by millions of children around the world. Aubry was also involved in humanitarian causes and supported the rights of animals and children. She was awarded the Order of Arts and Letters in 1985 and the Legion of Honour in 2004 by the French government for her contributions to culture. She died on 19 July 2010 in Dourdan, Essonne, France, at the age of 81, after a long battle with lung cancer. She was buried at the Montrouge Cemetery in Montrouge, Hauts-de-Seine, France."