# Charlotte Valandrey

Charlotte Valandrey (29 November 1968 – 13 July 2022) was a French actress and author. After early success she was widely tipped for stardom, but her career took a more modest course until the release of her autobiography in 2005.

## Early life

Born Anne-Charlotte Pascal into an affluent family, Valandrey grew up in Brittany in north-western France. From the age of six she lived in the small coastal town of Pléneuf-Val-André, from which she took her professional name in 1985.

## Career

Valandrey's debut film was Véra Belmont's 1985 political drama Red Kiss, in which she played Nadia. Her highly acclaimed performance as a young communist in 1950s Paris was rewarded with a César award nomination for "Most Promising Actress" the following year but she eventually lost to Charlotte Gainsbourg. She also won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 36th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1986, she appeared in the music video for David Bowie's song "As the World Falls Down" from the soundtrack for the movie Labyrinth (1986), although the video went unreleased until 1993.

## Personal life

After making her debut, at the age of sixteen, in the film Red Kiss, she lived alone in a studio that her parents bought for her. Carefree and uninformed about the dangers involved, she had affairs with “a drug-addicted musician, and other boys at risk”. In 1986, a few days before her eighteenth birthday, she learned that she was HIV-positive.
In 1999, she met Arthur Lecaisne with whom she married on 17 July 1999 at Pléneuf-Val-André. At the beginning of 2000, they had a daughter, Tara who is HIV-negative.
While separating from Arthur in 2002 and following a triple therapy which damaged her heart and caused her two heart attacks, her heart broke down, necrotic, and left her with only 10% heart capacity. On 4 November 2003, she received a transplant. In her book L'Amour dans le sang (published in 2005), she recounts her other love stories, with her cardiologist or Yann, an architect whom she intimately believes to be the husband of her late donor.
In March 2007, after selling over 280,000 copies of her book, Charlotte gave approval for its adaptation in the TV movie, L'Amour dans le sang. Produced by Dominique Besnehard for Mon Voisin Productions, it was first broadcast on 23 November 2008 on France 3.
On 8 June 2022, she announced that she was waiting for a second heart transplant because of new health problems. She received it on 14 June at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital but the transplant did not take.
Charlotte Valandrey died on 13 July 2022, at the age of 53. Her funeral took place in Pléneuf-Val-André. In the press release announcing the death, the family indicates that a tribute would be paid to her in Paris in September.
Charlotte was a patron of the Greffe de vie ("Foundation of Life Registry") and was committed to the cause of organ donation and transplantation.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1985 | Red Kiss | Nadia | Véra Belmont | Silver Bear for Best Actress Nominated – César Award for Most Promising Actress |
| 1986 | Taxi Boy | Corinne | Alain Page | |
| 1987 | Fucking Fernand | Lily | Gérard Mordillat | |
| 1987 | In the Shadow of the Wind | Olivia Atkins | Yves Simoneau | |
| 1987 | Bonjour maître | Laurence | Denys de La Patellière | TV Mini-Series |
| 1988 | Una casa a Roma | Vanessa | Bruno Cortini | TV movie |
| 1988 | Sueurs froides | Zoé | Michel Leroy | TV series (1 episode) |
| 1990 | Il giudice istruttore | Clara Martini | Gianluigi Calderone | TV series (1 episode) |
| 1991 | Toujours seuls | Charlotte | Gérard Mordillat | |
| 1992 | Orlando | Princess Sasha | Sally Potter | |
| 1992 | Le gang des tractions | Ginette | Josée Dayan | TV Mini-Series |
| 1992 | Police Secrets | Inspector Claire Rauch | Josée Dayan | TV series (1 episode) |
| 1993 | My Life and Times with Antonin Artaud | Colette Thomas | Gérard Mordillat | |
| 1993 | L'éternel mari | Katia Pogoretz | Denys Granier-Deferre | TV movie |
| 1993 | Albert Savarus | Rosalie de Watteville | Alexandre Astruc | TV movie |
| 1993 | Nestor Burma | Maria Kreiska | Henri Helman | TV series (1 episode) |
| 1994–2003 | Les Cordier, juge et flic | Myriam Cordier | Paul Planchon, Gilles Béhat, ... | TV series (42 episodes) |
| 1995 | L'ombra abitata | Rose | Massimo Mazzucco | TV movie |
| 1995 | The House That Mary Bought | Claire Benoit | Simon MacCorkindale | TV movie |
| 1995 | Babyfon – Mörder im Kinderzimmer | | Kaspar Heidelbach | TV movie |
| 1996 | La rançon du chien | Sophie | Peter Kassovitz | TV movie |
| 1996 | Docteur Sylvestre | Marianne | Dominique Tabuteau | TV series (1 episode) |
| 1997 | Meurtre à l'étage | Anne | Bruno Gantillon | TV movie |
| 2001 | Tout va bien c'est Noël ! | Christine | Laurent Dussaux | TV movie |
| 2002 | Napoléon | Aimée de Coigny | Yves Simoneau | TV Mini-Series |
| 2004 | Penn sardines | Soizic Le Bihan | Marc Rivière | TV movie |
| 2004 | Père et maire | Claire Conti | Gilles Béhat | TV series (1 episode) |
| 2006 | Jeanne Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour | Madame de Brancas | Robin Davis | TV movie |
| 2006 | Commissaire Cordier | Myriam Cordier | Eric Summer | TV series (1 episode) |
| 2008 | L'amour dans le sang | Charlotte | Vincent Monnet | TV movie |
| 2009 | All About Actresses | Yvan's casting director | Maïwenn | |
| 2017–2019 | Tomorrow is Ours | Laurence Moiret | Jérôme Navarro, Thierry Peythieu, ... | TV series (520 episodes) |
| 2018 | Les Innocents | Anne Desgrange | Frédéric Berthe & François Ryckelynck | TV Mini-Series |

## Theater

| Year | Title | Author | Director |
| 1993 | Roméo et Jeannette | Jean Anouilh | Daniel Ivernel |
| 1998 | Dirty Hands | Jean-Paul Sartre | Jean-Pierre Dravel |
| 2007 | The Memory of Water | Shelagh Stephenson | Bernard Murat |
| 2009 | Le siècle sera féminin ou ne sera pas | Dominique Coubes & Nathalie Vierne | Dominique Coubes |
| 2016 | Mon pote est une femme comme les autres | Anthony Michineau | Luq Hamett |
| 2019 | Station Bonne Nouvelle | Benjamin Auray | Didier Brengarth |

## Author

| Year | Book | Publishing |
| 2005 | L'Amour dans le sang | Cherche midi |
| 2011 | De cœur inconnu | Cherche midi |
| 2012 | N'oublie pas de m'aimer | Cherche midi |
| 2014 | Vers le 8e ciel | XO éditions |
| 2016 | Bombay mon amour | Cherche midi |
| 2018 | Chaque jour, j'écoute battre mon cœur | Cherche midi |

## Dubbing

| Year | Title | Role | Actress | Director |
| 2004 | Keane | Lynn Bedik | Amy Ryan | Lodge Kerrigan |
| 2005 | Hostage | Jane Talley | Serena Scott Thomas | Florent Emilio Siri |
| 2005 | The Jacket | Dr. Beth Lorenson | Jennifer Jason Leigh | John Maybury |
| 2005 | Rumor Has It | Sarah Huttinger | Jennifer Aniston | Rob Reiner |
| 2005 | Assault on Precinct 13 | Iris Ferry | Drea de Matteo | Jean-François Richet |
| 2005 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Rita Skeeter | Miranda Richardson | Mike Newell |
| 2010 | The Ghost Writer | Ruth Lang | Olivia Williams | Roman Polanski |
| 2010 | Law Abiding Citizen | Sarah Lowell | Leslie Bibb | F. Gary Gray |
| 2010 | Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore | Catherine | Christina Applegate | Brad Peyton |