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Canadian actress (1923-2003) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Suzanne Cloutier (10 July 1923 – 2 December 2003)[1][lower-alpha 1] was a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Desdemona in the 1951 film Othello.
Suzanne was born on 10 July 1923 in Ottawa to Edward and Helene Cloutier (née Saint-Denis), the oldest of six children.[4][5] Her father was the King's Printer.[6] Cloutier was educated at Catholic schools in Ottawa, Montreal, and Trois-Rivières. In 1946, she married doctor François LaFlèche, who served in the Royal 22nd Regiment; shortly after their marriage, Cloutier travelled to New York, where she become a model for Vogue.[7][8] Her marriage to LaFlèche was never consummated and was later annulled.[2]
Cloutier began modelling in 1946, after she was discovered by an agent at New York City's Grand Central Station.[9] Her first acting role was in the film Temptation, released the same year. She worked for Charles Laughton's theatre company, before moving to France to join Jean Dasté's Comedie Francaise.[1] Cloutier acted in two French films: Au royaume des cieux in 1949, and Juliette, or Key of Dreams in 1950.[2] When Orson Welles saw Au royaume des cieux at the Venice Film Festival, he offered her a role in his film based on Shakespeare's tragedy Othello.[8] The film, released in 1951, was received with acclaim by critics, winning the Palme d'Or at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival, though it was a commercial failure.[5] She starred in the 1952 British film Derby Day, where she was described by journalist Leonard Mosley as "smart as a tic-tac man, as wide-eyed as the punter who picks the winner with a pin, as lovely to look at as Tulyar."[10]
By 1952, Cloutier was well-known throughout Europe, though still relatively unknown in Canada.[11] She signed a six-month contract with Paramount Pictures to star in a film titled Persian Gulf alongside Alan Ladd, but after Ladd broke his contract the film was postponed indefinitely.[12]
Year | Title | Role | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
1946 | Temptation | Yvonne Dupont | [13] |
1949 | Au royaume des cieux | Maria Lambert | [1] |
1951 | Juliette, or Key of Dreams | Juliette | [5] |
1951 | Othello | Desdemona | [2] |
1952 | Derby Day | Michele Jolivet | [9] |
1954 | Doctor in the House | Stella | [8] |
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