French Actress Nathalie Baye Dies at 77 from Lewy Body Dementia

PARIS — Nathalie Baye, the acclaimed French actress who appeared in nearly 80 films and won the César for Best Actress four times, including three consecutive years from 1981 to 1983, died on Friday evening at her Paris home at the age of 77. Baye's family announced the death via AFP, stating she suffered from Lewy body dementia, which she was diagnosed with last summer.

Lewy body dementia is a neurodegenerative disease that can alter mood and movement and cause hallucinations.

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Baye on the social media platform X, describing her as: "an actress with whom we have loved, dreamed and grown up" and who "accompanied the last decades of French cinema, from François Truffaut to Tonie Marshall, with her voice, her smiles and her modesty," addressing his thoughts to "her family and her loved ones".

A French official expressed emotion at the death of an immense actress. "Nathalie Baye illuminated a long page in the history of French cinema with her talent and luminous personality. I send my condolences to her family, to the world of cinema and to all those who loved her", she said in a statement to AFP.

Isabelle Adjani, who starred with Baye in the film La Gifle, also remembered the late star. She reminisced on Instagram that she has always been part of Baye's loyal audience.

Career Highlights and Awards

Baye won the César for Best Actress four times. She scored her first Best Actress award in 1983 for La Balance, and won for a second time in 2006.

Baye won the Best Actress prize at the Venice Film Festival for her role in An Intimate Affair. In 2006, she also took the Best Actress prize at the San Sebastián Festival for her starring role in My Son.

She appeared in nearly 80 films throughout her career, winning acclaim for her performance in François Truffaut's Day for Night (La Nuit Américaine). Her breakthrough came in the 1970s when she worked with auteur film directors such as Truffaut, Maurice Pialat and Claude Sautet, then in the 1980s with Jean-Luc Godard.

Among her most memorable films: La Balance (1982) - César for Best Actress. The Return of Martin Guerre (1982). Strange Affair (1981) - César for Best Supporting Actress. Slow Motion - Sauve qui peut (la vie) (1980) - First César for Nathalie Baye, directed by Jean-Luc Godard.

Venus Beauty - Vénus Beauté (Institut) (1999). Tell No One (Ne le dis à personne) (2006). Catch Me If You Can (2002). The Flower of Evil (La fleur du mal) (2002). It's Only The End of The World (Juste la fin du monde) (2016).

She starred as a French aristocrat in Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022). Baye worked with Xavier Dolan in Laurence Anyways and It's Only The End of The World (Juste la fin du monde).

Baye is survived by her daughter, actress Laura Smet, whom she shared with French musician Johnny Hallyday. The couple starred together in Jean-Luc Godard's Détective in 1985. Their daughter, Laura Smet, starred alongside Baye in the hit series Call My Agent (Dix pour cent).

Personal Life and Early Years

Baye was born in Normandy in 1948 to bohemian parents, both painters. Dyslexic, she left school at 14. A graduate of the Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique, she made her film debut in the 1970s.