Magali Noël

Biography

Magali Noël, born Magali Noëlle Guiffray (Izmir, 1931 – Chateauneuf-Grasse, 2015), was a French actress and singer born in Turkey. Her film career ran mainly from 1951 to 1980, in French and Italian productions, and continued in television until 2002. She is remembered today for her work with Federico Fellini and for a song that made a mark on French popular music in the 1950s.

Born in Izmir to French parents in the diplomatic service, she moved to France in 1951 and soon began acting. She had started out as a cabaret singer, and was often compared to Sophia Loren. Among her early roles was Rififi (1955) by Jules Dassin, which is usually cited as her most memorable film from that period. The same year she appeared in Caroline and the Rebels for Jean Renoir's circle of projects, and in 1956 Elena and the Men, also by Renoir, brought her first major success. From then on her career leaned toward Italian cinema.

Fellini cast her in small parts in La dolce vita (1960) and Satyricon (1969), and gave her the role of Gradisca in Amarcord (1973), the part she is best known for. She also appeared in Costa-Gavras's Z (1969), although her role was brief. Later, with fewer offers from producers, she returned to the music hall and the stage. Her best-known song, "Fais-moi mal, Johnny", written by Boris Vian, was recorded in 1956 and is often regarded as one of the first rock 'n' roll songs with French lyrics; its lyrics were censored on the radio.

In the 1980s and 2000s she worked with a newer generation of directors, including Chantal Akerman in Les Rendez-vous d'Anna (1978), Tonie Marshall in Pentimento (1989), Andrzej Żuławski in Fidelity (2000) and Jonathan Demme in The Truth About Charlie (2002), her final film. She died in 2015 in a nursing home in Chateauneuf-Grasse, four days before her 84th birthday. Her legacy rests mainly on her image in Fellini's cinema and on her signature song.

Key films

• Rififi (1955): Viviane, one of the women around the heist in Jules Dassin's crime classic.
• La dolce vita (1960): Fanny, in a brief part within Fellini's fresco.
• Z (1969): Nick's sister, in Costa-Gavras's political thriller.
• Amarcord (1973): Gradisca, the figure who lingers in Fellini's memories.
• Elena and the Men (1956): Lolotte, in the Jean Renoir comedy that gave her her first success.
• The Truth About Charlie (2002): the mysterious woman in black, her final film role.