Arriving from Denmark at seventeen without a word of French, Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer became a model, then Anna Karina. Godard hired her and married her in 1961: seven films in six years. She sang “Sous le soleil exactement”, which Gainsbourg wrote for her.
The story
Born on 22 September 1940 at Solbjerg, on the edge of Copenhagen, Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer arrived in Paris at seventeen with no French at all. She became a model there, then took a stage name: Anna Karina.
Godard noticed her, cast her, married her in 1961. They made seven films together between 1960 and 1966 — Une femme est une femme, Vivre sa vie, Bande à part, Pierrot le Fou — and on screen she became the very insolence of the New Wave. Berlin gave her the Silver Bear for best actress as early as 1961.
She sang too: “Sous le soleil exactement”, written for her by Serge Gainsbourg in 1967, remains the song she is remembered by. She and Godard had divorced three years earlier, at the end of 1964 — and they made two more films together after the break.
Her career went on long after the New Wave — Visconti, Fassbinder, Rivette, directing, writing, the stage. Her fourth husband, the American director Dennis Berry (1944-2021), was with her through her last decades.
She died in Paris on 14 December 2019 and lies in Division 49, avenue Transversale n°1, first row. Dennis Berry joined her there two years later, under the same slab.
The grave
A sober slab, without ornament, bearing only two names and four dates: “Anna KARINA 1940-2019” and “Dennis BERRY 1944-2021”. Nothing there recalls the New Wave, nor Godard, nor the seven films shot in six years. The American director, the actress's fourth husband, joined her beneath the same stone two years after her death.
On site, do not miss
A sober slab for two names: the actress's and that of Dennis Berry, her fourth husband, who died two years after her. Nothing of the cinema, no image, no film title.
Visitors' questions
Where is Anna Karina's grave?
In Division 49, Avenue Transversale No. 1, first row, beneath a plain slab bearing two names: “Anna KARINA 1940-2019” and “Dennis BERRY 1944-2021”. The Division is also that of the film-maker Chantal Akerman and of Annie Girardot.
Chantal AkermanWhich films did Anna Karina make with Godard?
Seven in six years, including A Woman Is a Woman, Vivre sa vie, Band of Outsiders and Pierrot le Fou. They married in 1961 and divorced at the end of 1964 — and made two more films together after the break.
Claude ChabrolDid Anna Karina sing too?
Yes. “Sous le soleil exactement”, which Serge Gainsbourg wrote for her in 1967, remains the song she is most associated with. She recorded several albums and appeared in musical theatre, alongside her film work.
Marie LaforêtWhat was Anna Karina's real name?
Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer, born on 22 September 1940 in Solbjerg, near Copenhagen. Arriving in Paris at seventeen without a word of French, she took a stage name that would become one of the faces of French cinema in the 1960s.
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