Actress. The star of several dozen French features during the 1930s and 1940s, she is remembered for the 1946 classic "Beauty and the Beast". Born Josette Noelle Andree Claire Dagory to a theatrical family, she was a child dancer with the Paris Opera at age three and made her silver screen bow in the 1919 "Ames d'orient". Appearing in three movies before returning to dance, she saw her ballet persuits ended by an injury at nine and began her main film career around 1930, adopting her screen name at the same time. Josette was kept busy over the next two decades, first gaining major recognition as Patricia Amoretti in the 1940 "La Fille du puisatier" ("The Well-Diggers Daughter"). Her best remembered screen role came in 1946 when she starred as Belle in Jean Cocteau's international hit "La Belle et la bete" ("Beauty and the Beast"). Married for a time in the 1940s to writer and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol she left the screen following her turn as Suzanne in "Four Days Leave" (1950). Josette later married a wealthy Belgian and devoted her final years to charity work. Some of her performances have been preserved on DVD.
Actress. The star of several dozen French features during the 1930s and 1940s, she is remembered for the 1946 classic "Beauty and the Beast". Born Josette Noelle Andree Claire Dagory to a theatrical family, she was a child dancer with the Paris Opera at age three and made her silver screen bow in the 1919 "Ames d'orient". Appearing in three movies before returning to dance, she saw her ballet persuits ended by an injury at nine and began her main film career around 1930, adopting her screen name at the same time. Josette was kept busy over the next two decades, first gaining major recognition as Patricia Amoretti in the 1940 "La Fille du puisatier" ("The Well-Diggers Daughter"). Her best remembered screen role came in 1946 when she starred as Belle in Jean Cocteau's international hit "La Belle et la bete" ("Beauty and the Beast"). Married for a time in the 1940s to writer and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol she left the screen following her turn as Suzanne in "Four Days Leave" (1950). Josette later married a wealthy Belgian and devoted her final years to charity work. Some of her performances have been preserved on DVD.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
Family Members
Spouse
Advertisement
See more Day memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
