Geneviève Grad, the “trendy” daughter of Louis de Funès

In the collective memory of several generations, the name of Geneviève Grad is immediately associated with that of Nicole Cruchot, the daughter of Louis de Funès in The policeman of Saint-Tropez, The policeman gets marriedet The Constable in New Yorkof which Madelen invites you to discover or rediscover a report produced during the filming of the second episode in the United States. The young actress, who, in this sequence, manages, not without difficulty, to interrupt Louis de Funès and Michel Galabru, is then in full rise. His interpretation of Douliou douliou Saint-Tropezoften misspelled Do you do you Saint-Tropez was one of the highlights of the first part of the series. The melody, then broadcast every night in discotheques, has stood the test of time. Today it remains a background sound over images evoking the history of this fishing port, at the time when it became a meeting place for the stars.

Throughout the 1960s, Geneviève Grad made numerous appearances in the cinema. She worked under the direction of Jean-Pierre Mocky in The flirtsthen Edouard Molinaro and Pierre Grimblat, also beginners. In 1961, Pierre Gaspard-Huit offered him his first major role, alongside Jean Marais in Captain Smashes. Until the end of the decade, she also regularly toured Italy, particularly in adventure films, and made a few appearances in the theater.

Proposals, unfortunately, then become increasingly rare. The appearances on screen of those who until then were considered the star in the wind were limited, until the beginning of the 1980s, to a few scenes in feature films or mini-series. In the meantime, visiting friends in the Gers, she crossed paths with Igor Bogdanoff. They will not leave each other for 11 years. She will work with him behind the scenes of Timewhile raising Dimitri, the son born from their love story. She then led a discreet life with her husband, Jean Guillaume, and pursued other professional passions by becoming an antique dealer and then, a few years later, responsible for the cultural life of the town of Vendôme.

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She never displayed the slightest nostalgia when recalling years in the spotlight where television was always present. Her first appearances on the small screens show that originally, the roles for which she was intended were very far from the one that made her famous. At the beginning of the 1960s, the shy teenager she was then recounted her auditions in front of Carlo Ponti then Claude Autant-Lara, the first to believe in her potential as an actress. Her vocation is different, since she entered the Paris Opera, after passing the exam which could allow her to realize her dream, to become a principal dancer. The tests with the first two directors will not be transformed. On the other hand, Michel Boisrond, who also spotted her, will allow her to debut on the big screens in One evening on the beachwhere she will play the role of Martine Carol's daughter, then at the height of her glory.

At the same time, she took her first steps on a theater stage, in Lyon, at Les Célestins, playing a cover girl who lives with her parents, in The invitation to the castle by Jean Anouilh. Throughout the 1960s, she featured prominently in the credits of several soap operas that are now forgotten, but which left their mark on the history of a small screen still in black and white: A room to rent, Frederick the guardian, When freedom came from heaven, Temporary agency et This devil of a man. It was during this period that she recorded a song Just a year . She performed it, among other things, during a live variety show from Chaville, on the occasion of the lily of the valley festival. The opportunity to see that she also had a nice bit of voice.