Dany Saval

Lithe and lovely French actress 'Dany Saval' (qv) was born Danielle Nadine Suzanne Savalle amid very humble surroundings on January 5, 1942, in Paris. Her father, a factory laborer, had been a German POW just prior to her birth. Dany took to entertaining early and trained in dance as a young child. She grew into a beautiful young adult and subsequently found employment at the Moulin Rouge as a Can-Can girl.A movie-struck Dany made her inauspicious, unbilled film debut in the film _Wenn die Flut kommt (1958)_ (qv) (The Girl and the River) directed by 'François Villiers' (qv). The film went on to earn a Golden Globe as "Best Foreign-Language Film." She made much more of an impression in her second dramatic film _Youthful Sinners (1958)_ (qv), written and directed by 'Marcel Carné' (qv). Featured as the fiancée of 'Pierre Brice' (qv), this story of alienated youth has often been described as the Gallic answer to _Rebel Without a Cause (1955)_ (qv).The petite, fizzy blonde immediately moved into second lead femme roles with such films as the social drama _Ich begehre Dich (1959)_ (qv) and the action thriller _Atomic Agent (1959)_ (qv), before earning her first co-starring role in the 'François Villiers' (qv) directed film _Green Harvest (1959)_ (qv) with Dany, 'Jacques Perrin' (qv), 'Francis Lemonnier' (qv) and 'Claude Brasseur' (qv) as student resisters taking on the Nazis. She continued to rise in French movie stature with the films _Reporter, Mord und Mannequins (1960)_ (qv), _Pete the Tender (1960)_ (qv), _Die kleinen Sünderinnen (1960)_ (qv) (her first top-billed role), _Spotlight on a Murderer (1961)_ (qv), _Die drei Wahrheiten (1961)_ (qv) (Three Faces of Sin), _Die sieben Hauptsünden (1961)_ (qv) and _Tales of Paris (1962)_ (qv).By sheer happenstance, a Disney talent scout happened to glance at a French magazine cover gracing Dany's wide-set eyed beauty and had her screen-tested. Earning a limited contract, she was introduced to American film audiences in the modestly delightful Disney sci-fi comedy _Moon Pilot (1962)_ (qv) starring handsome 'Tom Tryon' (qv) as an astronaut who comes upon a beautiful space alien (Dany) first thought a Russian spy. The film was a box-office disappointment, however, and Dany returned immediately to France, enhancing a variety of film genres including _The Devil and the Ten Commandments (1962)_ (qv), _Hübscher als die Polizei erlaubt (1962)_ (qv), _Futter für süße Vögel (1963)_ (qv), _Sweet Skin (1963)_ (qv), _Web of Fear (1964)_ (qv), _Das Idol (1964)_ (qv), _Bei Oscar ist 'ne Schraube locker (1964)_ (qv), _Jaloux comme un tigre (1964)_ (qv) and _Caroline und die Männer über vierzig (1965)_ (qv).Dany did not return to American filming until the mid-1960's when she was cast as perky Jacqueline (of Air France), one of three gorgeous airline stewardesses (the others being the equally gorgeous 'Christiane Schmidtmer' (qv) (Lufthansa) and 'Suzanna Leigh' (qv) (British United) being unwittingly juggled around by capricious gigolo 'Tony Curtis' (qv) in the frantic bedroom slapstick comedy _Boeing, Boeing (1965)_ (qv), based on the 1960 French play. Starring with Curtis is 'Jerry Lewis' (qv) as a visiting friend who takes advantage of the situation, and it features wonderfully wry 'Thelma Ritter' (qv) as Tony's beleaguered housekeeper. The film, despite its potential, received mixed reviews and earned a middling box office.Briefly married to non-professional Roger Chaland, Dany's second husband was the three-time Oscar-winning French composer and conductor 'Maurice Jarre' (qv), best known for his film collaboration with epic filmmaker 'David Lean' (qv) in such film masterpieces as _Lawrence of Arabia (1962)_ (qv), _Doctor Zhivago (1965)_ (qv) and _A Passage to India (1984)_ (qv). The couple had one daughter, Stéfanie, and Dana semi-retired for a time to focus on being a wife and mother. The marriage, however, was very short-lived, and lasted but a couple of years.In the 1970's Dany returned to acting, focusing on French TV but including a few films from time to time as in the slapstick "spagetti western" _It Can Be Done Amigo (1972)_ (qv) with 'Bud Spencer' (qv) and 'Jack Palance' (qv); the action comedy _Animal (1977)_ (qv); the musical comedy _Parisian Life (1977)_ (qv); and the non-musical comedies _Ciao, les mecs (1979)_ (qv), _Inspektor Loulou - Die Knallschote vom Dienst (1980)_ (qv), _Do You Want a Nobel Baby? (1980)_ (qv) and _Signé Furax (1981)_ (qv). Long married (since 1972) to her third husband, actor/writer/producer _Oscar Powell (1999)_ (qv), Dany retired in 1987 to live quietly in Paris.::Gary Brumburgh / [email protected]