Brigitte Lahaie

Brigitte Lahaie (born Brigitte Lucie Jeanine Van Meerhaeghe; 12 October 1955) is a French radio talk show host, mainstream film actress and former pornographic actress. She performed in erotic films from 1976 through 1980 and is a member of the XRCO Hall of Fame.

Early life and background Brigitte Lucie Jeanine Van Meerhaeghe was born in Tourcoing, France. She left home for Paris when 18 years old, where she started working as a shoe salesgirl. Soon, she was noticed for her physique and accepted a proposal to pose in the nude for erotic magazines.

Cinema Porn She started working at age 20 in the adult film industry in 1976, one year after the legalization of hardcore pornography in France, as "Brigitte Lahaie" and various other stage names. In her first film, she was a body double for another actress' scenes.

Horror While she was still working in the adult-movie industry, Jean Rollin, who had directed her in the porn film Vibrations Sensuelles (Sensual Vibrations) in 1976, noticed Lahaie's "distinctly different personality," as he later recalled, and thought she had "incredible charisma." He offered her a role in his 1978 mainstream film, Les Raisins de la Mort (The Grapes of Death), the first gore film produced in France, with Marie-Georges Pascal in the leading role. He then made her the protagonist of his next film, Fascination, in 1979.

According to a 2018 article in Sight & Sound about Jean Rollin, Lahaie plays in his La Nuit des Traquées (Night of the Hunted, 1980) the woman suffering from amnesia with "devastating effect," while she is credited with "lovely, open, untutored performances" for her work in Les Raisins and Fascination.

Lahaie acted in several other mainstream films, including Henry & June (1990) and Calvaire (2004).

Books and radio Throughout her career, Lahaie published several books, mostly autobiographical, as well as some novels. In the 2000s, she was often featured on the Les Grosses Têtes radio program, broadcast on RTL, while she was also, from 2001, the host of Lahaie, l'Amour et Vous on Radio Monte Carlo, a daily talk show from 14:00 to 16:00 that dealt mostly with love and sex. The show ended in 2016, with the station praising her work on the subject of sexuality as "unique" in terms of success and longevity.

Personal life Lahaie has no children.

She is a fan of equestrianism, an interest reportedly first inspired when she saw the film White Mane as a teenager. She commentated live on the equestrian events at the 2012 London Olympics for RMC.

Sexual violence and consent In the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the subsequent Me Too movement, one hundred women in France signed, on 9 January 2018, a public declaration in which they denounced what they claimed was a return to "puritanism" that "actually serves the interests of the enemies of sexual freedom, the religious extremists, the worst reactionaries." Lahaie was a co-signatory of that declaration, along with other celebrities such as Catherine Deneuve, Ingrid Caven, and Catherine Millet. Lahaie went on a TV debate the same evening, where she stated that women could have an orgasm when being raped. A few months later, in May, Lahaie stated, in interviews and on television, that her comment was "taken out of context," that she "does not regret [it]", and that she never supported non-consensual sex or violence of any kind against women.

Filmography Film

Year Title Role Notes 1970 Frissons africains Credited as Brigitte Deslages English title: Africa Erotica 1977 Jouir jusqu'au délire Annie 1977 Couples en chaleur The saleswoman 1977 Vibrations sexuelles The psychiatrist 1977 Suprêmes jouissances Doris English title: Exquisite Pleasure 1977 Les plaisirs fous Claude 1977 Chaleurs intimes Anneer Uncredited 1977 Sarabande porno 1977 Parties fines Baroness Solange Credited as B. Lahaye English title: Education of the Baroness 1977 Entrecuisses Patricia 1977 Cathy, fille soumise Mélanie 1977 C'est la fête à mon cul 1977 Arrête, tu me déchires 1977 La face cachée d'Hitler 1977 Je suis une belle salope Marianne English title: Illusions within Girls 1978 Rentre c'est bon The cousin 1978 Bordel SS 1978 Inonde mon ventre Lise English title: Night Fever 1978 Caresses Infernales 1978 Le bijou d'amour Gordonna 1978 La rabatteuse Jocelyne 1978 Touchez pas au zizi Karen 1978 Je suis à prendre Hélène English title: I'm Yours to Take 1978 Les grandes jouisseuses Marianne 1978 Étreintes 1978 Bouches expertes Claudine 1978 Cuisses infernales Jocelyne 1978 Chaude et perverse Emilia 1978 La mouillette 1978 Blondes humides 1978 Les raisins de la mort The blond woman Credited as Brigitte Lahaye English title: The Grapes of Death 1978 Prends-moi de force Brigitte 1978 Tout pour jouir The make-up girl English title: The Window of Pleasure 1978 Excès pornographiques Marie-Christine 1978 Ondées brûlantes Brigitte 1978 Langues cochonnes English title: Sex Roulette 1978 Festival érotique 1978 Viol, la grande peur Veterinary student Credited as Brigitte Lahaye 1978 La clinique des fantasmes Marilyn Richards English title: Rx for Sex 1978 Porno roulette 1978 Les chattes English Title: Female Cats 1979 La Vitrine du plaisir 1979 Le chouchou de l'asile Chief warden 1979 Couple cherche esclave sexuel Barbara English title: Serviced with a Smile 1979 New Generation 1979 Une femme spéciale Uncredited 1979 Je brûle de partout Lorna 1979 Estivantes pour homme seul Mélanie 1979 Anna cuisses entrouvertes 1979 Parties chaudes Hélène 1979 Photos scandale Juliette 1979 Auto-stoppeuses en chaleur Denise, the girl who escapes Credited as Brigitte Lahaye 1979 Soumission Madam Clarisse Credited as Brigitte Lahaye English title: The House of Fantasies 1979 La grande mouille A hunter English title: Hot and Horny 1979 Sechs Schwedinnen im Pensionat Greta 1979 Tremblements de chair 1979 Fascination Eva 1979 Pénétrez-moi par le petit trou Christiane 1979 Cette malicieuse Martine A client of uncle Credited as Brigitte Bordeaux 1979 I comme Icare Ursula Hoffmann, stripper English title: I as in Icarus 1979 L'histoire des 3 petits cochons 1980 Les petites garces A swinger 1980 Julia English titles: Come Play with Me 2; Secrets of a French Maid 1980 Pénétrations méditerranéennes Brigitte 1980 Gefangene Frauen Rita 1980 Le retour des veuves English title: Take Me Down 1980 Ta gueule, je t'aime! Ingrid English title: Shut Up, I Love You! 1980 Le journal érotique d'une Thailandaise Claudine Credited as Brigette Lahaye English titles: Emanuele 3; Emmanuele 3 1980 La Nuit des traquées Elysabeth English title: The Night of the Hunted 1980 Maîtresse pour couple Brigitte 1980 Sechs Schwedinnen von der Tankstelle Greta English title: High Test Girls 1980 Le coup du parapluie Girl in the pool Uncredited 1980 Les enfilées The woman on the rotating bed 1980 Les petites écolières The school director 1980 Le segrete esperienze di Luca e Fanny Simona, the maid Credited as Brigitte van Meerhaegue 1981 Enquêtes 1981 Diva The girl who escapes Credited as Brigitte Simonin 1981 Parties très spéciales 1981 Deux gamines Uncredited role 1981 Body-body à Bangkok 1981 For a Cop's Hide The nurse Credited as Brigitte Simonin 1981 Si ma gueule vous plaît... The stripper Credited as Brigitte Simonin 1981 Les paumées du petit matin Femme couple bourgeois English titles: The Escapees; The Runaways 1981 Paul Raymond's Erotica Brigitte 1982 Te marre pas... c'est pour rire! Sandra Credited as Brigitte Simonin 1982 Nestor Burma, détective de choc Young girl at the party Uncredited English title: Nestor Burma, Shock Detective 1982 N'oublie pas ton père au vestiaire Mother of the brat Credited as Brigitte Simonin 1982 Julchen und Jettchen,die verliebten Apothekerstöchter Jenny 1982 Hot Action 1982 Electric Blue 5 Fanny Video 1983 Baisers exotiques Elisabeth 1983 Éducation anglaise Henriette 1984 La France interdite 1985 Brigade des mœurs Credited as Brigitte Simonin 1985 Joy et Joan Joy Alternative title: "Joan and Joy" 1986 L'exécutrice Martine English title: The Female Executioner 1986 Suivez mon regard Woman forsaken English title: Follow My Gaze 1986 Le couteau sous la gorge Valérie Landis 1987 On se calme et on boitfrais à Saint-Tropez Alexandra 1987 Le diable rose Naska / Lolita 1988 Faceless NathalieWith Helmut Berger and Telly Savalas 1988 Dark Mission: Flowers of Evil Mauria 1990 Henry & June Henry Miller's whore With Fred Ward, Uma Thurman, Maria de Medeiros, Richard E. Grant and Kevin Spacey 1995 Electric Blue: Sex Model File #4 Fanny 1997 Les deux orphelines vampires English title: The Two Orphan Vampires 1998 Cornets in Time 2002 La fiancée de Dracula She-wolf English titles: Fiancée of Dracula; Dracula's Fiancée 2004 Calvaire Miss Vicky English title: The Ordeal With Laurent Lucas 2009 Quelque chose à te dire Voice 2013 Le bonheur Dr Alice 2020 Une dernière fois Salomé

Television

Year Title Role Notes 1981 Antoine et Julie Television film Credited as Brigitte Simonin 1982 Les brigades vertes Television film 1983 Au théâtre ce soirThe phone operator Episode: "Je leur laisserai un mot" 1983 Le lavabo Television mini-series 1987 Cinéma 16 The prostitute Episode: "Johnny Monroe" 1989 Le triplé gagnant Episode: "Le dernier rendez-vous du président"

Short films

Year Title Role 1987 Thérèse II La mission Thérèse 1993 Illusions fatales 1999 Les fourches caudines 2000 La dame pipi