In this choice we look back at the life and career of award-winning actress, director and producer – and member of the Rothschild family – Nicole Stéphane, born Nicole Mathilde Stéphanie de Rothschild in 1923, the daughter of James de Rothschild (1896-1984) and his wife Claude, née Dupont (1904-1964).
Nicole was a member of the branch of the Rothschild family which has owned Château Mouton since 1853 and which is also known for its literary and theatrical passions. Her grandfather Henri (1872-1947) was a prolific playwright (using the pseudonyms Charles des Fontaines and André Pascal) and a theatre producer, notably at the Théâtre Pigalle in Paris. Her paternal uncle Philippe (1902-1988) was a poet, playwright, theatre-owner and producer of early motion pictures. Philippe’s daughter Philippine (1933-2014) was a well known actress at the Comédie Française, under the stage name Philippine Pascale.
The outbreak of the Second World War
There was clearly no shortage of inspiration for Nicole in her chosen career. However, before that could begin, she was forced to flee France as war closed in, escaping first to Portugal with her sister Monique (1925-2018). In her 2001 book Si j’ai bonne mémoire… Monique wrote about their lives as combatants with the Free French forces. Emerging from the war years, Nicole travelled to Israel in 1948 to interview the country’s first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion.
A lasting legacy
Her life experiences influenced her career profoundly. As a producer and director she made award-winning films about conflict, including Mourir en Madrid (1962, directed by Frédéric Rossif); Une Guerre Pour une Paix (1967) and En attendant Godot à Sarajevo (1993).
As an actress, Nicole is best known for her roles in two films directed by Jean-Pierre Melville: La Silence de la Mer (1949) and Les Enfants Terribles (1950), for which she was nominated for the UK’s 1953 BAFTA award for Best Foreign Actress. Her outstanding career earned her the French honour of Member of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Nicole on Nicole
In the years since her death in 2007, several films have been made about Nicole, to add to the small body of work available online in which she talks about her career.
Watch an interview with Nicole where she speaks about Mourir en Madrid here »
In 2018, after such an eventful life and career, Nicole said of herself "Quand vous parlerez de moi insistez sur le côté displaced person" [When you talk about me, emphasize the displaced person]. Watch the full interview here »
