Colette Marchand

She appeared in the ballet "The Lady in the Ice" (1953) by Jean-Michel Damase (1928-2013), concerning a girl in suspended animation within ice. According to Orson Welles, who directed this ballet, the show "was very successful in London, and only moderately so in Paris, where it was very badly lit".

Colette Marchand was a French prima ballerina with a relatively brief acting career. For her performance in "Moulin Rouge" (1952), Marchand was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

One of her most notable appearances was in the musical revue "Two on the Aisle" (1951) by Betty Comden (1917-2006), Adolph Green (1914-2002), and Jule Styne (1905-1994). The show ran for 276 performances.

She made her film debut as a voice actress in the avant-garde film "Venom and Eternity" (1951). Marchand found critical acclaim for her supporting role as street walker Marie Charlet in "Moulin Rouge", who has a love affair with protagonist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (played by José Ferrer).

In the early 1950s, Marchand appeared in several television shows, such Ford Star Revue, the Colgate Comedy Hour, and the Ed Sullivan Show.

Marchand appeared in a few more films during the 1950s, but remained mostly a ballerina. Her career declined as she grew older.

By 1949, she was performing as a prima ballerina in Broadweay shows.

She danced briefly with the Paris Opera Ballet. She left that company in 1946 and performed with the Metropolitan Ballet, a British troupe, before joining Les Ballets de Paris.

In 1925, Marchand was born in Paris, Her parents were Roger Marchand and his wife Alice Lioret. Marchand started her career at the Paris Opera Ballet.

She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, but the award was instead won by rival actress Gloria Grahame (1923-1981). Marchand returned to her dancing career.