Arielle Dombasle
, Arielle Dombasle at the 2000 César Awards ceremony
Born
Arielle Laure Maxime Sonnery, (1953-04-27) April 27, 1953 (age 60), Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation
Actress, singer
Years active
1978-present
Spouse(s)
Philippe Albou (1976-1985), Bernard-Henri Lévy (1993-present)
Website
Official website
Arielle Dombasle (French pronunciation: a.ʁjɛl.dɔ̃'bɑl ; born April 27, 1953) is a French-American singer, actress, director and model. She is of French descent. Her breakthrough roles were in Éric Rohmer's Pauline at the Beach (1983) and Alain Robbe-Grillet's...read moreArielle Dombasle
, Arielle Dombasle at the 2000 César Awards ceremony
Born
Arielle Laure Maxime Sonnery, (1953-04-27) April 27, 1953 (age 60), Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation
Actress, singer
Years active
1978-present
Spouse(s)
Philippe Albou (1976-1985), Bernard-Henri Lévy (1993-present)
Website
Official website
Arielle Dombasle (French pronunciation: a.ʁjɛl.dɔ̃'bɑl ; born April 27, 1953) is a French-American singer, actress, director and model. She is of French descent. Her breakthrough roles were in Éric Rohmer's Pauline at the Beach (1983) and Alain Robbe-Grillet's The Blue Villa (1995). She is best known to American audiences for her appearances on Miami Vice and the 1984 miniseries Lace. She has released eight singles between 1978 and 2011 and seven albums.
Early years edit:
She was born Arielle Laure Maxime Sonnery de Fromental in Hartford, Connecticut, the daughter of Jean-Louis Melchior Sonnery de Fromental, a silk manufacturer, and Francion Garreau-Dombasle. She descends from French-American immigrants in Mexico under her grandfather's diplomatic tenure. The Dombasle family's surname was created in 1912, when Dombasle's grandfather René Sonnery (1887-1925), an industrialist from Lyon, married Anne-Marie Berthon du Fromental. In memory of her mother who died at the age of 36, Arielle took the pseudonym Arielle Dombasle.
She and her brother Gilbert were raised in Mexico by their maternal grandparents after their mother's death in 1964. She was also raised at Château de Chaintré, the Sonnery family estate near Saumur, Maine et Loire. Her maternal grandfather, Maurice Garreau-Dombasle, was a close friend of and advisor to Charles de Gaulle and served as the French ambassador to Mexico. Her maternal grandmother was Manha Dombasle (née Germaine Massenet, 1898-1999), a writer and poet who translated Rabindranath Tagore's works into French and was a longtime friend of the science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, who dedicated his 1972 novel The Halloween Tree to her.
Career edit:
Dombasle embarked on a career as an actress and singer after attending the Conservatoire international de musique de Paris and further studies in Mexico.
She has appeared in several Hollywood English-language productions, but most of her acting work has been in French, as are her albums. She directed and wrote the scripts for two films, Les Pyramides Bleues and Chassé-croisé. She once described her own looks as "a Crazy Horse dancing girl".
Personal life edit:
She is the third wife of French philosopher and writer Bernard-Henri Lévy. They were married on June 19, 1993 at Saint-Paul-de-Vence on the Côte d'Azur where they have a villa. She has two stepchildren, Antonin-Balthazar Lévy and Justine Lévy, a novelist. She was previously married to Dr. Paul Albou, described by Vanity Fair as a "Jewish playboy society dentist 32 years her senior."
Her brother, Gilbert Sonnery (aka Gilbert Sonnery Garreau), is a textile executive, having been chairman of J. B. Martin Ltée and vice chairman of the French holding company MRM.
Filmography edit:
Year
Film
Role
Other notes
1978
Perceval le Gallois
Blanchefleur
1979
Tess
Mercy Chant
Je te tiens, tu me tiens par la barbichette
Une actrice film publicitaire
uncredited
1980
Justocoeur
1981
Putain d'histoire d'amour
Antonella
Les Fruits de la passion
Nathalie
érotique
La Femme de l'aviateur
Singer ("Paris ma séduit")
Une robe noire pour un tueur
La jeune droguée à la moto
1982
Le Beau mariage
Clarisse
Chassé-croisé
Ermine
also Singer, Director, Writer, Composer
Laissé inachevé à Tokyo
Sophie
1983
Sans soleil
Herself
Pauline à la plage
Marion
La Belle captive
La femme hystérique
Rosette sort le soir
Un été nommé désir
Arielle
1984
Mode in France
Herself
Lace (TV series)
Maxine Pascal
Rosette prend sa douche
Penelope Last
Los Motivos de Berta: Fantasía de Pubertad
1985
La Nuit porte-jarretelles
La secrétaire
Lace II
Maxine Pascal
1986
The Boss' Wife
Louise Roalvang
Flagrant désir
Marguerite Barnac
1987
Jeux d'artifices
Arielle
1988
Les Pyramides bleues
Elise
Director, Writer
1989
El sueño del mono loco
Marion Derain
Try This One for Size
Maggie
1991
Lola Zipper
Loretta
Mémoires
1992
La vie crevée
Angèle
Villa Mauresque
Sandra
Hors Saison
Mme. Studer
1993
Grand bonheur
L'actrice
Miroslava
Miroslava (adult)
L'Arbre, le maire et la médiathèque
Bérénice Beaurivage
L'absence
1994
Un indien dans la ville
Charlotte
Fado majeur et mineur
Leda
1995
Raging Angels
Megan
Un bruit qui rend fou (The Blue Villa)
Sarah La Blonde
À propos de Nice, la suite
Celestial Clockwork
Céleste
also Singer, Soundtrack
Fado majeur et mineur
Leda
Les Cent et une nuits
La chanteuse à la Garden-party
1996
Three Lives and Only One Death
Helene
Two Dads and One Mom
Delphine
Soyons amis!
Arielle
1997
Jeunesse
Clémence
also Singer
J'en suis!
Rose Petipas
Le Jour et la nuit
Laure
By her husband, Bernard-Henri Lévy
1998
L'ennui
Sophie
Hors jeu
Arielle Dombasle
Let There Be Light
Dieu la blonde
Bo Ba Bu
1999
Les Infortunes de la beauté
Daphné
C'est pas ma faute!
Vanessa Goudard
Le Temps retrouvé
Madame de Farcy
Astérix et Obélix contre César
Mme Agecanonix / Frau Methusalix
2000
30 Years
Geneviève
Amazon
Margot
Vatel
Princess de Condé
also Singer
Le libertin
La Marquise de Jerfeuil
Les Eléphants de la planète Mars
2001
Les âmes fortes
Madame Numance
Gamer
Valérie Fisher
2002
Deux
Professor Barbez
Hideous Man
Crying woman
2003
Lovely Rita, sainte patronne des cas désespérés
Mademoiselle Lecas
2004
Quand je serai star
Diane de Montalte
Genre humain - première partie: Les parisiens, Le
Sabine Duchemin
Albert est méchant
Barbara Lechat
2005
Le Courage d'aimer
Sabine Duchemin
2006
Nouvelle chance
Bettina
C'est Gradiva qui vous appelle
Léïla / Gradia
2008
La Possibilité d'une île
Déléguée Mexicaine
aka Possibility of an Island
Sagan
Astrid
2009
King Shot
in production
Television edit:
X Femmes, Season 1, Episode 1. Director and actress.read less