# Suzanne Flon

Suzanne Flon (28 January 1918 – 15 June 2005) was a French stage, film, and television actress. She won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for her performance in the 1961 film Thou Shalt Not Kill. Flon also received two César Awards and two Molière Awards in her career.

## Early life

Her father was a railway worker and her mother crafted jewellery. Prior to becoming an actress, Flon worked as an English translator at the Paris department store Au Printemps and then as personal secretary to Édith Piaf. The great love of her life was the legendary film director John Huston. She never married.

## Theatre roles

Flon's stage credits included plays by Jean Anouilh (L'Alouette, Antigone, Roméo et Jeannette), André Roussin (La Petite Hutte), and Loleh Bellon (La Chambre d'amis, Les Dames du jeudi, Changement à vue, and Une Absence). Her English-language theatrical roles included Katherine (The Taming of the Shrew) and Rosalind (As You Like It).

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1941 | Ce n'est pas moi | Petit rôle | Jacques de Baroncelli | Uncredited |
| 1943 | Colonel Chabert | Albertine | René Le Hénaff | Uncredited |
| 1947 | Captain Blomet | | Andrée Feix | |
| 1949 | Suzanne and the Robbers | Suzanne Seguin | Yves Ciampi | |
| 1949 | Last Love | Simone | Jean Stelli | |
| 1949 | Cage of Girls | Madame Edith | Maurice Cloche | |
| 1950 | Bed for Two; Rendezvous with Luck | Blanche Pidoux-Bobin | Emil-Edwin Reinert | |
| 1951 | The Beautiful Image | Lucienne Chenal | Claude Heymann | |
| 1952 | Trial at the Vatican | Mother Agnès de Jésus | André Haguet | |
| 1952 | Moulin Rouge | Myriamme Hayam | John Huston | |
| 1954 | Your Favorite Story | | Leslie Goodwins & Jacques Nahum | TV series (1 Episode) |
| 1955 | Mr. Arkadin | Baroness Nagel | Orson Welles | |
| 1958 | Prisons de femmes | | Maurice Cloche (2) | |
| 1960 | Un beau dimanche de septembre | Adriana | Marcel Cravenne | TV movie |
| 1961 | Tu ne tueras point | Kordijeova's mother | Claude Autant-Lara | Volpi Cup for Best Actress |
| 1961 | Madame se meurt | Narrator | Jean Cayrol & Claude Durand | Short |
| 1961 | Famous Love Affairs | Margravine Ursula | Michel Boisrond | (segment "Agnès Bernauer") |
| 1962 | Le mal court | Alcarica | Alain Boudet | TV movie |
| 1962 | A Monkey in Winter | Suzanne Quentin | Henri Verneuil | |
| 1962 | The Trial | Miss Pittl | Orson Welles (2) | |
| 1963 | The Bread Peddler | Jeanne Fortier | Maurice Cloche (3) | |
| 1963 | Nutty, Naughty Chateau | Agathe | Roger Vadim | |
| 1964 | The Train | Mademoiselle Villard | John Frankenheimer | |
| 1967 | If I Were a Spy | Geneviève Laurent | Bertrand Blier | |
| 1967 | Le soleil des voyous | Marie-Jeanne Farrand | Jean Delannoy | |
| 1968 | Tante Zita | Yvette | Robert Enrico | |
| 1968 | Le franciscain de Bourges | Madame Toledano | Claude Autant-Lara (2) | |
| 1969 | Délire à deux | Vous | Michel Mitrani | TV movie |
| 1969 | Under the Sign of the Bull | Christine Raynal | Gilles Grangier | |
| 1969 | Jeff | Mrs. de Groote | Jean Herman | |
| 1969 | La chasse royale | Céline | François Leterrier | |
| 1970 | Teresa | Teresa | Gérard Vergez | Taormina Film Fest - Best Acting Performance |
| 1971 | Aussi loin que l'amour | The Captain | Frédéric Rossif | |
| 1973 | Les volets clos | Rosalie | Jean-Claude Brialy | |
| 1973 | Le Silencieux | Jeanne | Claude Pinoteau | |
| 1973 | Au théâtre ce soir | Hélène | Georges Folgoas | TV series (1 Episode) |
| 1974 | Le tour d'écrou | Elizabeth Gridders | Raymond Rouleau | TV movie |
| 1974 | Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret | Aline Callas | Marcel Cravenne (2) | TV series (1 Episode) |
| 1974 | Un amour de pluie | Madame Edith | Jean-Claude Brialy (2) | |
| 1974 | Nouvelles de Henry James | Elizabeth | Raymond Rouleau (2) | TV series (1 Episode) |
| 1975 | Le voyage en province | Alain's mother | Jacques Tréfouel | TV movie |
| 1975 | Le renard dans l'île | Aunt Martine | Leïla Senati | TV movie |
| 1976 | Docteur Françoise Gailland | Geneviève Liénard | Jean-Louis Bertucelli | |
| 1976 | Monsieur Albert | Man-Louise | Jacques Renard | |
| 1976 | Monsieur Klein | The concierge | Joseph Losey | |
| 1976 | Boomerang | Madame Grimaldi | José Giovanni | |
| 1976 | Hôtel Baltimore | Millie | Arcady | TV movie |
| 1977 | La vérité de Madame Langlois | Thérèse | Claude Santelli | TV movie |
| 1977 | Black-Out | Barmaid | Philippe Mordacq | |
| 1979 | Les héritiers | Jeanne | Jean-Pierre Gallo | TV series (1 Episode) |
| 1980 | Le noeud de vipères | Isa | Jacques Trébouta | TV movie |
| 1980 | Une voix | | Dominique Crèvecoeur | Short |
| 1980 | Le curé de Tours | Mademoiselle Gamard | Gabriel Axel | TV movie |
| 1981 | Quartet | Madame Hautchamp | James Ivory | |
| 1981 | Mon meilleur Noël | The grand mother | Gabriel Axel (2) | TV series (1 Episode) |
| 1983 | One Deadly Summer | Nine Cognata | Jean Becker | César Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1984 | Le dialogue des Carmélites | Madame de Croissy | Pierre Cardinal | TV movie |
| 1984 | Le coeur sur la main | Marcelle | Hervé Baslé | TV movie |
| 1984 | Mademoiselle Clarisse | Mademoiselle Clarisse | Ange Casta | TV movie 7 d'Or for Best Actress |
| 1984 | Le dernier civil | Mademoiselle Fabricius | Laurent Heynemann | TV movie |
| 1985 | La robe mauve de Valentine | Marie | Patrick Bureau | TV movie |
| 1986 | Cinéma 16 | Georgette | Franck Apprederis | TV series (1 Episode) |
| 1986 | Triple sec | | Yves Thomas | Short |
| 1987 | Série noire | Renée | Marcel Bluwal | TV series (1 Episode) |
| 1987 | Dagboek van een Oude Dwaas | Denise Hamelinck | Lili Rademakers | |
| 1987 | Gigi | Madame Alvarez | Jeannette Hubert | TV movie |
| 1987 | Chacun sa vérité | Madame Frola | Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe | TV movie |
| 1987 | Noyade interdite | Hazelle | Pierre Granier-Deferre | |
| 1988 | En toute innocence | Clemence | Alain Jessua | |
| 1989 | La vouivre | Louise Muselier | Georges Wilson | César Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1990 | Gaspard et Robinson | Mamie | Tony Gatlif | |
| 1992 | Voyage à Rome | The mother | Michel Lengliney | |
| 1999 | The Children of the Marshland | Old Cri Cri | Jean Becker (2) | |
| 1999 | Je suis né d'une cigogne | The neighbor | Tony Gatlif (2) | |
| 2001 | A Crime in Paradise | The mistress | Jean Becker (3) | |
| 2002 | Le miroir d'Alice | Maura Le Bellec | Marc Rivière | TV movie |
| 2002 | Mille millièmes | Madame Chartreux | Rémi Waterhouse | |
| 2003 | The Flower of Evil | Aunt Line | Claude Chabrol | |
| 2003 | Effroyables jardins | Marie Gerbier | Jean Becker (4) | |
| 2004 | The Bridesmaid | Madame Crespin | Claude Chabrol (2) | |
| 2005 | Joyeux Noël | Chatelaine | Christian Carion | |
| 2006 | Avenue Montaigne | Madame Roux | Danièle Thompson | (final film role) |

## Awards and nominations
### César Awards

| Year | Category | Film | Result |
| 1984 | Best Supporting Actress | L'Été meurtrier | Won |
| 1990 | Best Supporting Actress | La Vouivre | Won |

### Molière Awards

| Year | Category | Play | Result |
| 1987 | Best Actress | Léopold le bien-aimé | Won |
| 1989 | Best Actress | Une absence | Nominated |
| 1992 | Best Actress | L'Antichambre | Nominated |
| 1995 | Best Actress | La Chambre d'amis | Won |
| 2000 | Best Actress | L'Amante anglaise | Nominated |

### Venice Film Festival

| Year | Category | Film | Result |
| 1961 | Volpi Cup for Best Actress | Tu ne tueras point | Won |

## Tributes

Director Danièle Thompson dedicated Avenue Montaigne to Flon, who had here her last film appearance. Writer-director John Huston described Flon as "the most extraordinary woman I have ever known."