Paris: three footbridges on the Saint-Martin canal now bear the names of famous French actresses

Michèle Morgan, Bernadette Lafont and Maria Pacôme: here are the French actresses chosen to give their name to three of the nine footbridges and bridges that span the Saint-Martin canal, an emblematic place of French cinema (new window) in Paris, the Paris Council decided this Friday, October 11.

A gateway for the actress from “Quai des Brumes”

After the Arletty, Emmanuelle Riva footbridges and the Maria Casarès bridge, these new names come “valorize cultural wealth” of this neighborhood “where theater and cinema occupy a preponderant place”argued Raphaëlle Primet, Paris advisor.

Michèle Morgan (1920-2016), real name Simone Roussel, was the first to be selected. It was by playing in “Gribouille”, by Marc Allégret, in 1937, that she became known to the general public. His most notable films remain “Le Quai des Mignes”, alongside Jean Gabin, “Napoléon”, by Sacha Guitry, and “Landru”, by Claude Chabrol. Briefly settled in the United States during the war, she notably accompanied Frank Sinatra. In 1946, she won the Best Actress Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

Soon a tribute to Alain Delon?

Bernadette Lafont (1938-2013) was a muse of the New Wave. Appearing for the first time in the cinema in “Les Mistons” by François Truffaut in 1957, she then worked with Claude Chabrol and Costa-Gavras. Her name remains today linked to the manifesto of the 343, which she signed in favor of the right to abortion.

Finally, a third bridge will now be called Maria Pacôme (new window) (1923-2018). This star of boulevard theater is known for her bourgeois roles, notably with Jean-Paul Belmondo. Also a playwright, she wrote seven plays.

There still remains a footbridge and two bridges to be named on this canal which still serves as a setting for numerous filmings, explained Laurence Patrice, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of memory and the fighting world.

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  Zoom: along the Canal Saint-Martin

The Paris Council will also consider a place in the capital to honor the memory of Alain Delon. The Modem group proposed that a plaque be affixed to the former UGC Normandie cinema on the Champs-Élysées, for which the actor “nursed a deep affection”.