Deneuve Sues Author of Biography

Deneuve, L’Affranchie, the unofficial biography about Catherine Deneuve written by Bernard Violet, was actually published in October 2007 but Deneuve told the British Guardian newspaper that she didn’t take legal action earlier because the book didn’t sell well and her lawyer advised her to wait until later.   Deneuve did, however, attempt to block publication of the book.

 Talking to the Guardian in January 2009, Deneuve said, ‘I didn't read it. I'm going to sue the editor of the book. The book didn't do well, so my lawyer didn't want me to do anything until (later).

 "It's awful! So I'm going to sue him for my family more than anything. I'm going to do it for the principle, and for my father. How people see me is one thing, how I am is one thing, how people write can be another thing, but the most difficult thing for me is that someone could write just anything for the sake of writing a book.

 "That is very difficult to accept, someone who would just take things, make facts work together and just invent things. But I didn't read it. I was going to, my sisters have read it, and it's supposed to be so awful, really."

 The book’s claim that Maurice Dorleac, who died in 1979, was a Nazi collaborator was based on documents discovered by Violet in the national archives in Paris.   The actor was paid a minimum of £10,000 to read anti-English and anti-semitic broadcasts on Radio-Paris, a station established by the Nazis to counter the BBC’s Radio Londres.   At the time, only a small percentage of the occupied French population took a stand against the Vichy regime, and after the Nazis were defeated a civil court found Dorleac guilty of ‘giving aid to Germany... and damaging the unity of the French nation,’ and sentenced him to a period of ‘public ignominy’ which meant he was prohibited from working as an actor for six months.

 The book was also less than complimentary about the actress, describing her as greedy and manipulative.   The biography’s author, Bernard Violet, has such a reputation in France that, upon learning that he was to be the subject of one of Violet’s books, playboy actor Alain Delon (unsuccessfully) sued the author before Violet had even begun writing the book in an attempt to prevent its publication. [ADD]

Further Reading:

2009

France: 2009