Jacqueline Bisset

Biography

Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset ( BISS-it; born 13 September 1944) is a British actress. She began her film career in 1965 and came to prominence in 1968 with roles in The Detective, Bullitt, and The Sweet Ride, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination as Most Promising Newcomer. In the 1970s, she starred in Airport (1970), The Mephisto Waltz (1971), Day for Night (1973), which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Le Magnifique (1973), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), St. Ives (1976), The Deep (1977), The Greek Tycoon (1978) and Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978), which earned her a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. Bisset's other film and TV credits include Rich and Famous (1981), Class (1983), her Golden Globe-nominated role in Under the Volcano (1984), her CableACE Award-nominated role in Forbidden (1985), Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989), Wild Orchid (1990), her Cesar Award-nominated role in La Cérémonie (1995), Dangerous Beauty (1998), her Emmy-nominated role in the miniseries Joan of Arc (1999), Britannic (2000), The Sleepy Time Gal (2001), Domino (2005), a guest arc in the fourth season of Nip/Tuck (2006), Death in Love (2008), and the BBC miniseries Dancing on the Edge (2013), for which she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. Bisset has since appeared in Welcome to New York (2014), Miss You Already (2015), The Last Film Festival (2016), Backstabbing for Beginners (2018) and Birds of Paradise (2021). She received France's highest honour, the Legion of Honour, in 2010. She speaks English, French, and Italian.

== Early life == Bisset was born Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset in Weybridge, Surrey, England, the daughter of George Maxwell Fraser Bisset (1911–1982), a general practitioner, and Arlette Alexander (1914–1999), a lawyer-turned-housewife. Her mother was of French and English descent and her father was of Scottish descent; Bisset's mother cycled from Paris and boarded a British troopship to escape the Germans during the 1940 Battle of France. Bisset grew up in a 17th-century country cottage in Tilehurst, near Reading, Berkshire. She has an elder brother, Max (born 1942), a Florida-based business consultant; they have a paternal half-brother named Nick (born circa 1981), who was an infant when their father died aged 70. Her mother taught her to speak French fluently, and she was educated at the Lycée Français de Londres in London. She took ballet lessons as a child and began taking acting lessons while working as a fashion model to pay for them. When Bisset was a teenager, her mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Bisset's parents divorced in 1968 after 28 years of marriage.

== Career ==

=== 1960s === Bisset first appeared uncredited as a prospective model in The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965), directed by Richard Lester. She made her official debut the following year in Roman Polanski's Cul-de-sac (1966). In 1967, Bisset had her first noticeable part in the Albert Finney/Audrey Hepburn vehicle Two for the Road, as a woman in whom Finney's character is romantically interested. It was made by 20th Century Fox, which put her under contract. She had a more sizeable role in the James Bond satire Casino Royale, as Miss Goodthighs. Fox cast Bisset in her first lead part in The Cape Town Affair, opposite a then-unknown James Brolin, filmed in South Africa on a low budget. She gained mainstream recognition in 1968, when she replaced Mia Farrow in The Detective opposite Frank Sinatra. The same year, she co-starred with Michael Sarrazin in The Sweet Ride, which brought her a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer. She capped her year as Steve McQueen's girlfriend in the police drama Bullitt, which was among the top five highest-grossing films of the year. In 1969, Bisset was top billed in The First Time and Secret World, appearing as a blonde in the latter.

=== 1970s === In 1970, Bisset was one of many stars in the disaster film Airport; her role was that of a pregnant stewardess carrying Dean Martin's love child. It was a huge hit. Bisset had another starring part in The Grasshopper (1970), which was little seen, and was in The Mephisto Waltz (1971) with Alan Alda. She reteamed with real-life boyfriend Michael Sarrazin for the romantic drama Believe in Me, in which she played a drug addict, and had the lead in the comedy Stand Up and Be Counted (1972). More popular was The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), in which she played the daughter of Paul Newman's title character. She played the female lead in The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973) with Ryan O'Neal, stepping in for a pregnant Charlotte Rampling.

Bisset went to France to appear in François Truffaut's Day for Night (1973), earning the respect of European critics and moviegoers as a serious actress. She stayed in France to make Le Magnifique (1973) with Jean-Paul Belmondo, a hit in France but little seen in English-speaking countries. She was one of many stars in Sidney Lumet's whodunnit Murder on the Orient Express (1974), an enormous success. In Britain, she starred in a remake of The Spiral Staircase (1975). Bisset went to Germany for End of the Game (1975), co-starring Jon Voight. In Italy, she played the main character in Luigi Comencini's The Sunday Woman (1975) opposite Marcello Mastroianni. She returned to Hollywood to support Charles Bronson in St. Ives (1976). In 1977, Bisset gained wide publicity in America with The Deep, directed by Peter Yates, who had previously directed her in Bullitt. A marketing strategy based around Bisset appearing in some scenes underwater wearing only a white T-shirt for a top helped make the film a box-office success. Producer Peter Guber allegedly quipped, "That T-shirt made me a rich man!" Many credit her with popularising wet T-shirt contests, but Bisset herself was disappointed that the marketing of her translucent costume detracted from the film's technical achievements. About that time, a UK production, Secrets, that Bisset had made in 1971 was re-released in the United States. That movie featured the only extensive nude scenes of Bisset's career and the producers cashed in on her notoriety. By 1978, Bisset was a household name. She earned a Golden Globe nomination that year as Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy for her performance opposite George Segal in Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?, and starred with Anthony Quinn in The Greek Tycoon, playing a role based on Jackie Onassis. After these she made Together? (1979) in Italy with Terence Stamp and Maximilian Schell.

=== 1980s === Bisset appeared in some all-star films: When Time Ran Out (1980), starring alongside Paul Newman and William Holden, and Inchon (1981), with Ben Gazzara. Her fee around this time was $1 million a movie. Both When Time Ran Out and Inchon were big flops.

More popular was George Cukor's Rich and Famous (1981) with Candice Bergen, where Bisset also served as co-producer. One of her best-known roles came in the coming-of-age comedy Class (1983), as a married woman having an affair with her son's (Rob Lowe) prep school roommate (Andrew McCarthy). Bisset received her third Golden Globe nomination for John Huston's Under the Volcano (1984) in the Best Supporting Actress category. In 1984 Bisset made the wartime drama Forbidden with Jürgen Prochnow, and earned a CableACE Award nomination as Best Actress. For television she played the title role in Anna Karenina (1985), opposite Christopher Reeve, and did an abortion drama, Choices (1986). Bisset portrayed Joséphine de Beauharnais in the miniseries Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story (1987) with Armand Assante. She also had the lead in some comedies: High Season (1987) and Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989), taking over for Faye Dunaway due to scheduling conflicts. Between those she made La maison de jade (1988) in France with Vincent Perez. She was Carré Otis' boss in the erotic thriller Wild Orchid (1989) starring Mickey Rourke.