Isabelle Adjani facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Isabelle Adjani
Adjani at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival
Born	Isabelle Yasmine Adjani (1955-06-27) 27 June 1955 (age 70) Paris, France
Occupation	Actress singer
Years active	1970–present
Partner(s)	Bruno Nuytten (1976–1981) Daniel Day-Lewis (1989–1995)
Children	2

Isabelle Yasmine Adjani (born 27 June 1955) is a famous French actress and singer. She has a background that includes Algerian and German heritage. Isabelle Adjani has won many important awards for her acting, including five César Awards (which are like the French Oscars) and a Lumière Award. She was also nominated for two Academy Awards in the United States. For her achievements, she was honored with the Légion d'honneur in 2010 and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2014.

Adjani has won more César Awards for Best Actress than any other actress. Her winning roles were in Possession (1981), One Deadly Summer (1983), Camille Claudel (1988), La Reine Margot (1994), and La Journée de la jupe (2009). She also received nominations for her work in films like The Story of Adèle H. (1975), Barocco (1976), Subway (1985), and The World Is Yours (2018). Some of her other well-known movies include The Slap (1974), The Tenant (1976), The Driver (1978), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), and Ishtar (1987).

Isabelle Adjani became famous around the world for playing Adèle Hugo in The Story of Adèle H. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress when she was only 20 years old, making her the youngest person to be nominated in that category at the time. She later received a second Oscar nomination for her role as Camille Claudel in the film Camille Claudel. This made her the first French actress to get two Oscar nominations for movies not in English. Adjani also won the Cannes Film Festival's Best Actress Award for her roles in Possession and Quartet (1981). She is the only actress to win this award for two films at the same festival. She also won the Berlinale's Silver Bear for Best Actress for Camille Claudel.

Early Life and Education

Isabelle Yasmine Adjani was born in Paris, France, on June 27, 1955. Her father, Mohammed Cherif Adjani, was from Algeria, and her mother, Emma Augusta "Gusti" Schweinberger, was from Germany.

Her parents met in Germany during World War II. They got married, and her mother moved to Paris with her father, even though she didn't speak French. Isabelle grew up speaking both French and German fluently. Her family lived in Gennevilliers, a suburb near Paris, where her father worked in a garage.

Isabelle started acting in amateur plays when she was 12 years old, after winning a school poetry contest. She completed her high school education and later attended classes at the University of Vincennes in 1976. Isabelle had a younger brother named Éric, who was a photographer. He passed away in 2010.

Acting Career Highlights

Adjani at the 35th César Awards, 2010

Adjani in 2012

Isabelle Adjani's first movie role was at age 14 in Le Petit Bougnat [fr] (1970). She became well-known as a classical actress at the Comédie-Française, a famous French theater, which she joined in 1972. She was highly praised for her performance as Agnès in Molière's play L'École des femmes. Soon after, she decided to focus on a career in films.

After some smaller roles, she found success in the 1974 film La Gifle (The Slap). The famous director François Truffaut saw her in this film and immediately chose her for the main role in The Story of Adèle H. (1975). Truffaut had been waiting for the right actress for five years. Critics loved her performance, with one American critic calling her acting skills "amazing."

At just 19 years old when she made the film, Adjani was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She was the youngest Best Actress nominee at that time, a record she held for nearly 30 years. She soon received offers for roles in Hollywood films. She chose to star in Walter Hill's 1978 crime thriller The Driver because she admired his previous work.

She played Lucy in the German director Werner Herzog's 1979 film Nosferatu, a remake of a classic vampire story. This film was very popular in Europe. A film critic, Roger Ebert, praised Herzog's choice of Adjani, saying she was perfect for the role.

In 1981, she won the Cannes Film Festival's Best Actress award for her roles in two films: Quartet and the horror film Possession. The next year, she won her first César Award for Possession, where she played a woman going through a very difficult time.

In 1983, she won her second César for her role in the popular French movie One Deadly Summer. That same year, Adjani released a French pop music album called Pull marine, which was created by the famous musician Serge Gainsbourg. She also starred in a music video for the song "Pull Marine," directed by Luc Besson.

In 1988, she helped produce and starred in Camille Claudel, a movie about the life of a sculptor. She won her third César and received her second Oscar nomination for this role. This made her the first French actress to have two Oscar nominations. The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

She received her fourth César for the 1994 film Queen Margot, a large historical movie. Her fifth César came for Skirt Day (2009), where she played a middle school teacher who takes her class hostage. This film marked her return to cinema after an eight-year break.

In 2010, she appeared in the comedy Mammuth and lent her voice to the character of Mother Gothel in the French version of the animated film Tangled. In 2013, she became the first French actress to star in a Bollywood film, playing the mother of Preity Zinta in Ishkq in Paris.

In 2018, Adjani joined the comedy The World Is Yours, playing an interesting character named Dany. In 2022, she starred in the drama Peter von Kant, which was shown at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival. In 2023, Adjani released her second French pop album, Bande originale. She also appeared in the Netflix action film Wingwomen and the Netflix miniseries The Perfect Couple.

Personal Life

Isabelle Adjani has two sons. Her first son, Barnabé Saïd-Nuytten, was born in 1979, and his father is cinematographer Bruno Nuytten. She later worked with Bruno Nuytten when he directed her film Camille Claudel.

From 1989 to 1995, she was in a relationship with actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Their son, Gabriel-Kane Day-Lewis, was born in 1995. Adjani was also engaged to the composer Jean-Michel Jarre for a time.

Views and Causes

Adjani has spoken out against negative feelings towards immigrants and Algerians in France. In 2009, she disagreed with statements made by Pope Benedict XVI about AIDS prevention.

In September 2009, she signed a petition to support director Roman Polanski during his legal issues. In 2017, Adjani shared her concerns about mandatory vaccination. In 2018, she signed a letter asking for strong and immediate action to stop climate change and the loss of different types of plants and animals.

Performances and Works

Film Roles

Television Roles

Stage Performances

Music Videos

As Lead Artist

As Featured Artist

As Guest Appearance

Discography (Music Albums)

• 1983: Pull Marine (Mercury/Universal)
• 1983: Journal by Alice James (Audiobook Éditions des Femmes)
• 1986: Princesse au petit pois / Léon dit (Mercury)
• 2003: Bon voyage (original film soundtrack Bon voyage by Jean-Paul Rappeneau)
• 2004: On ne sert à rien, by and with Pascal Obispo (album Sidaction, Ensemble contre le Sida, 10 ans ensemble)
• 2005: Je ne peux plus dire je t'aime, by and with Jacques Higelin (album Higelin Entre 2 Gares) (EMI)
• 2008: Wo wo wo wo, by and with Christophe (album Aimer ce que nous sommes)
• 2018 : Albert Camus et Maria Casarès, Correspondance (1944-1959) with Lambert Wilson (Audiobook Gallimard)
• 2018: D'accord, by and with Pascal Obispo, with Youssou N'Dour (album Obispo)
• 2019: Meet me by the Gates, by and with The Penelopes
• 2021: Revolution #49 (album Hey Clockface / La Face de pendule à coucou by Elvis Costello)
• 2021: Sous le soleil exactement (album Les Pianos de Gainsbourg by André Manoukian)
• 2021: Quelques mots, by and with Malik Djoudi (album Troie)
• 2022: The Last Goodbye, with The Penelopes
• 2022: Jeder tötet was er liebt (original film soundtrack Peter von Kant by François Ozon)
• 2023: Adjani, Bande Originale (Warner Music International)

Awards and Honors

Isabelle Adjani has received many awards and honors throughout her career. She was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 2010 for her contributions to the arts. In 2014, she was appointed Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

See also

In Spanish: Isabelle Adjani para niños

• Maghrebian community of Paris
• Youngest nominees for Best Actress in a Leading Role
• List of actors with Academy Award nominations
• List of French Academy Award winners and nominees
• Legion of Honour
• Legion of Honour Museum
• List of Legion of Honour recipients by name (A)
• Ribbons of the French military and civil awards