ANNE WIAZEMSKY

(14 May 1947 - 5 October 2017)

The German-born actress, novelist and TV documentarist Anne Wiazemsky, who has died aged 70 from breast cancer, was the granddaughter of the French writer François Mauriac. She came to fame when discovered in 1966 by Robert Bresson for his film Au hazard Balthazar, about an abused donkey. She was subsequently taken up by Jean-Luc Godard for his films La Chinoise, Weekend, Sympathy for the Devil (aka One Plus One) and the portmanteau production Tout va bien, and in 1967 she married Godard. Pasolini cast her in Teorema and Pigsty but she mainly appeared in French films including George Who? about George Sand, Philippe Garrel’s L’enfant secret and She Spent So Many Hours Under the Sun Lamp. Wiazemsky appeared in many television movies and series and her last film appearance was in Foreign City in 1988. However, she went on to co-write Claire Denis’s US Go Home, produced a series of short stories, novels and autobiographies, and directed some TV documentaries.

MICHAEL DARVELL