Catherine Spaak
Encyclopedia
Biography
Spaak was born at Boulogne-BillancourtBoulogne-Billancourt
Boulogne-Billancourt is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Boulogne-Billancourt is a sub-prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department and the seat of the Arrondissement of Boulogne-Billancourt....
, Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine is designated number 92 of the 101 départements in France. It is part of the Île-de-France region, and covers the western inner suburbs of Paris...
(Ile-de-France
Île-de-France (région)
Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....
). She is the niece of Belgian politician Paul-Henri Spaak
Paul-Henri Spaak
Paul Henri Charles Spaak was a Belgian Socialist politician and statesman.-Early life:Paul-Henri Spaak was born on 25 January 1899 in Schaerbeek, Belgium, to a distinguished Belgian family. His grandfather, Paul Janson was an important member of the Liberal Party...
.
She spent most of her career in Italy, where she became a teenage star. From age 15 to 18, Catherine Spaak was the lead actress in at least twelve movies and, as a singer, was regarded by some as the Italian equivalent of French chanteuse Françoise Hardy
Françoise Hardy
Françoise Madeleine Hardy is a French singer, actress and astrologer. Hardy is an iconic figure in fashion, music and style. She is married to the singer and movie actor Jacques Dutronc.-Biography:...
, some of whose songs she recorded in 1963. Notable appearances include classic Italian movies such as I dolci inganni (1960), La voglia matta (1961), The Easy Life
The Easy Life
The Easy Life is a 1962 Italian cult movie directed by Dino Risi. It is considered Risi's masterpiece and one of the most famous examples of Commedia all'italiana film genre.-Plot:...
(1962), The Girl from Parma (1963), The Empty Canvas
The Empty Canvas
The Empty Canvas is an Italian drama film directed by Damiano Damiani. The screenplay by Damiani, Tonino Guerra, and Ugo Liberatore is based on the best-selling novel La Noia by Alberto Moravia.-Synopsis:...
(1963), L'armata Brancaleone
L'armata Brancaleone
L'armata Brancaleone is an Italian comedy movie released in 1966, written by the famous duo Age & Scarpelli and directed by Mario Monicelli. It features Vittorio Gassman in the main role...
(1965), Hotel (1967) with Rod Taylor, The Libertine
The Libertine (1969 film)
The Libertine is a 1969 film directed by Pasquale Festa Campanile.-Plot:A sex comedy film about Mimi , a young widow who discovers that her recently deceased husband kept a secret apartment for his kinky desires...
(1969), and The Cat o' Nine Tails
The Cat o' Nine Tails
The Cat o' Nine Tails is a 1971 Italian giallo thriller film written and directed by Dario Argento; it was his second film as director....
(1971). She starred in Take a Hard Ride with Jim Brown
Jim Brown
James Nathaniel "Jim" Brown is an American former professional football player who has also made his mark as an actor. He is best known for his exceptional and record-setting nine-year career as a running back for the NFL Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965. In 2002, he was named by Sporting News...
(1975). She later hosted several TV shows for RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
TV, and published some books in Italian.
In 2011 she appeared in BBC TV's "mini-series" Zen
Zen (TV series)
Zen is a British television series produced by Left Bank Pictures for the BBC, co-produced with WGBH Boston for its Masterpiece anthology series, Mediaset and ZDF. It stars Rufus Sewell and Caterina Murino and is based on the Aurelio Zen detective novels by Michael Dibdin. The series was filmed on...
.