Maïtena Doumenach won, at nineteen, a radio contest her sister was meant to enter: she went in her place and won. René Clément at once gave her Plein soleil opposite Delon, and her strangely green eyes earned her the name of the girl with the golden eyes. Under the name Marie Laforêt, she sang a folk music that French variety had little use for.
The story
Maïtena Doumenach was born at Soulac-sur-Mer, on the Gironde estuary, on 5 October 1939. At nineteen she won a radio competition her sister was meant to enter — she went in her place, and won.
The cinema took her at once. René Clément gave her “Purple Noon” opposite Alain Delon in 1960; her eyes, of a strange green, earned her the name of the girl with the golden eyes, and a place in the foreground she never left.
She made “Male Hunt” with Molinaro in 1964, “Marie-Chantal contre le docteur Kha” with Chabrol in 1965, in which she has the lead, and “Tangos, the Exile of Gardel” with Solanas in 1985: an acting career that her singing career, oddly, went on to cover over.
For she sang, and a great deal: “Les Vendanges de l'amour” in 1963, “Viens sur la montagne” in 1964, “Mon amour, mon ami” in 1967 — a voice recognisable among all others, in a folk register French popular song hardly practised.
She campaigned for human rights and spent her last years in Switzerland, where she died on 2 November 2019. She lies in Division 49, under her birth name followed by her stage name.
On site, do not miss
The order of the names on the stone: “Maïténa Doumenach” first, “dite Marie Laforêt” — known as Marie Laforêt — after.
Visitors' questions
Where is Marie Laforêt's grave?
In Division 49, in the central part of the cemetery — the Division of Annie Girardot, Gérard de Nerval and Thierry Mugler's cavotin. The inscription gives her real name before her stage name.
Annie GirardotWhy was she called “la fille aux yeux d'or”?
The girl with the golden eyes — for the singular colour of her eyes, striking from her very first roles. The nickname dates from her film debut in 1960, the year of “Plein soleil” by René Clément, opposite Alain Delon.
Marie TrintignantIs it true that she stood in for her sister?
Yes: at nineteen, she turned up in her sister's place at a radio talent contest her sister was meant to enter — and won it. That is how her career began, by a family accident.
Georges MoustakiWhat are her best-known songs?
“Les Vendanges de l'amour” in 1963, “Viens sur la montagne” in 1964 and “Mon amour, mon ami” in 1967 — in a folk register that French popular music of the time hardly touched.
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