Jacqueline Bisset (born September 13, 1944) is a British actress. Contrary to what many people assume, she is from England and not from France. She was born in Surrey, England. Her mother was however French. She was a lawyer. Bisset had to take French lessons to learn her mother's native language. Bisset as a young girl took ballet lessons, but when she became a teenager, her mother was diagnosed with disseminating sclerosis. After her parents divorced, she decided to move in with her mother to help her and offer support. Meanwhile, she began taking acting lessons, and took up a fashion modeling career as a way to pay for her acting lessons.
After playing in a few small roles, in 1967 Bisset was cast for the movie Two for the Road, which became a critically acclaimed effort for her. Next, she participated in the James Bond spoof Casino Royale, playing the character of "Miss Goodthighs".
In 1968, Mia Farrow, who was having personal problems, dropped out of a movie named The Detective, and her job was given to Bisset instead. Then, she was cast opposite Steve McQueen in Bullit.
In 1973, she participated in Francois Truffaut's movie Day for Night, where she earned the respect of European critics and movie goers as a serious actress. In 1977, Bisset made great strides towards becoming a better known entertainer in North America with her movie The Deep, co-starring Robert Shaw, where her appearance swimming underwater wearing only a t-shirt made many to credit her with beginning a world wide revolution that led to a "wet t-shirt contest craze". At the time, Newsweek magazine declared her to be "the most beautiful film actress of all time".
Soon thereafter she played in the movies Rich and Famous with Candice Bergen, and Under The Volcano with Albert Finney, which was made in 1984 and gave her a Golden Globe award nomination. In 1978 she had already earned her first nomination for Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?. In 1996, she was nominated for a Cesar Award, France's version of the Oscars, for her role in La Ceremonie.
During her career, Bisset has been in movies directed by such stars as François Truffaut, John Huston, George Cukor and Roman Polanski, among others. Several of her movies are French or Italian productions. Besides in movies, Bisset has played in many TV films, especially during the last 10 years, some of these films having been quite successful. A role she has become familiar with, first in TV and most recently in cinema movies, is the character of Jacqueline Kennedy. The movie, a biographical story about Robert Kennedy, will be released shortly.
Bisset, who is known as a good autograph signer who even personalises her signature if fans ask her to, has never been married, but she has had a number of well publicized relationships with men.
Filmography
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