Leslie Caron

Leslie Claire Margaret Caron (; born 1 July 1931) is a French and American former actress and dancer. She is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award, two BAFTA Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. Caron is one of the last surviving stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Caron began her career as a ballerina. She made her film debut in the musical An American in Paris (1951), followed by roles in The Man with a Cloak (1951), Glory Alley (1952) and The Story of Three Loves (1953), before her role of an orphan in Lili (also 1953), which earned her the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress and garnered nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

As a leading lady, Caron starred in films such as The Glass Slipper (1955), Daddy Long Legs (1955), Gigi (1958), Fanny (1961), Guns of Darkness (1962), The L-Shaped Room (1962), Father Goose (1964) and A Very Special Favor (1965). For her role as a single pregnant woman in The L-Shaped Room, Caron, in addition to receiving a second Academy Award nomination, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and a second BAFTA Award.

Caron's other roles include Is Paris Burning? (1966), The Man Who Loved Women (1977), Valentino (1977), Damage (1992), Funny Bones (1995), Chocolat (2000) and Le Divorce (2003). In 2007, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for portraying heiress and rape victim Lorraine Delmas in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Early life and family

Caron was born in Boulogne-sur-Seine, Seine (now Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine), the daughter of Margaret (née Petit), an American dancer on Broadway, and Claude Caron, a French chemist, pharmacist, perfumer and boutique owner who founded the artisanal perfumier Guermantes. While her older brother, Dr Aimery Caron, became a chemist like their father, Leslie was prepared for a performing career from childhood by her mother. Her great-grandfather, Ernest Caron was a distinguished Parisian politician of the Belle Époque and her grandmother Andrée Caron was a grandchild of Armand Savalle, the global still maker.

Caron attended an elite convent school whose students typically married wealthy men, but her family lost its wealth during World War II and could not provide a dowry. "My mother said: 'There's only one profession that leads you to marrying money and becoming a princess or duchess, and that's ballet.'", Caron recalled. "My grandfather whispered heavily: 'Margaret, you want your daughter to be a whore?' I heard it. This has always followed me".

"My mother died of" the lost fortune, Caron said. Having grown up poor, Margaret Caron became depressed and an alcoholic from being no longer wealthy, and committed suicide in her 60s.

Career

Caron was a ballerina. Gene Kelly discovered her in the Roland Petit company "Ballet des Champs Elysées" and cast her to appear opposite him in the musical An American in Paris (1951), a role for which a pregnant Cyd Charisse was originally cast. The prosperity, sunshine and abundance of California was a cultural shock to Caron. She had lived in Paris during the German occupation, which left her malnourished and anemic. She later remarked how nice people were in comparison to wartime Paris, in which poverty and deprivation had caused people to be bitter and violent. She had a friendly relationship with Kelly, who nicknamed her "Lester the Pester" and "kid". Kelly helped the inexperienced Caron—who had never spoken on stage—adjust to filmmaking..

Her role led to a seven-year MGM contract. The films which followed included the musical The Glass Slipper (1955) and the drama The Man with a Cloak (1951), with Joseph Cotten and Barbara Stanwyck. Still, Caron has said of herself: "Unfortunately, Hollywood considers musical dancers as hoofers. Regrettable expression." She also starred in the musicals Lili (1953, receiving an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination), with Mel Ferrer; Daddy Long Legs (1955), with Fred Astaire; and Gigi (1958) with Louis Jourdan and Maurice Chevalier.

Dissatisfied with her career despite her success ("I thought musicals were futile and silly", she said in 2021; "I appreciate them better now"), Caron studied the Stanislavski method. In the 1960s and thereafter, Caron worked in European films as well. For her performance in the British drama The L-Shaped Room (1962), she won the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress and the Golden Globe, and was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar. Her other film assignments in this period included Father Goose (1964) with Cary Grant; Ken Russell's Valentino (1977), in the role of silent-screen legend Alla Nazimova; and Louis Malle's Damage (1992). Sometime in 1970, Caron was one of the many actresses considered for the lead role of Eglantine Price in Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks, losing the role to British actress Angela Lansbury.

In 1967, Caron was a member of the jury of the 5th Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF). In 1989, she was a member of the jury at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival. Caron returned to France in the early 1970s, which she later said was a mistake. "They adore someone who's really British or really American", Caron said, "but somebody who's French and has made it in Hollywood – and I was the only one who had really made it in a big way – they can't forgive".

During the 1980s, she appeared in several episodes of the soap opera Falcon Crest as Nicole Sauguet. Caron is one of the few actresses from the classic era of MGM musicals who were still active in film — a group that included Rita Moreno, Margaret O'Brien and June Lockhart. Caron's later credits include Funny Bones (1995) with Jerry Lewis and Oliver Platt; The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2000) with Judi Dench and Cleo Laine; Chocolat (2000) and Le Divorce (2003), directed by James Ivory, with Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts. On June 30, 2003, Caron travelled to San Francisco to appear as the special guest star in The Songs of Alan Jay Lerner: I Remember It Well, a retrospective concert staged by San Francisco's 42nd Street Moon Company.

In 2007, her guest appearance on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit earned her a Primetime Emmy Award. On April 27, 2009, Caron travelled to New York as an honoured guest at a tribute to Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe at the Paley Center for Media. For her contributions to the film industry, Caron was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 8, 2009, with a motion pictures star located at 6153 Hollywood Boulevard. In February 2010, she played Madame Armfeldt in A Little Night Music at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, which also featured Greta Scacchi and Lambert Wilson. In 2016, Caron appeared in the ITV television series The Durrells (produced by her son Christopher Hall) as the Countess Mavrodaki. Veteran documentarian Larry Weinstein's Leslie Caron: The Reluctant Star premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on June 28, 2016.

Personal life Marriage and relationships

In September 1951, Caron married American George Hormel II, a grandson of George A. Hormel, the founder of the Hormel meat-packing company. They divorced in 1954. During that period, while under contract to MGM, she lived in Laurel Canyon in a Normandie style 1927 mansion near the country store on Laurel Canyon Blvd. One bedroom was all mirrored for her dancing rehearsals.

Her second husband was British theatre director Peter Hall. They married in 1956 and had two children: Christopher John Hall, a television drama producer, and Jennifer Caron Hall, a writer, painter and actress. Her son-in-law, married to Jennifer, is Glenn Wilhide, a producer and screenwriter. Caron had an affair with Warren Beatty in 1961. When she and Hall divorced in 1965, Beatty was named as a co-respondent and was ordered by the London court to pay the costs of the case. In 1969, Caron married Michael Laughlin, the producer of the film Two-Lane Blacktop; the couple divorced in 1980. Caron was also romantically linked to Dutch television actor Robert Wolders from 1994 to 1995.

Family and interests From 1981, she rented and lived for a few years in a mill (the "Moulin Neuf") in the French village of Chaumot, Yonne, which had belonged to Prince Francis Xavier of Saxony in the late 18th century and which depended on his princely castle. From June 1993 until September 2009, Caron owned and operated the hotel and restaurant Auberge la Lucarne aux Chouettes (The Owls' Nest), in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, about south of Paris. Caron's mother had committed suicide in her 60s; suffering from a lifetime of depression, Caron also considered doing so in 1995. She was hospitalized for a month and began attending Alcoholics Anonymous. Unhappy with the lack of acting opportunities in France, she returned to England in 2013.

In her autobiography, Thank Heaven, she states that she obtained American citizenship in time to vote for Barack Obama for president. In October 2021, she was chosen to receive the Oldie of the Year Award by The Oldie magazine. It had been initially offered to Queen Elizabeth II, who had declined it on the grounds that she did not meet the criteria, even though she was five years older than Caron.

Acting credits

Film +Film Year Title Role Notes 1951 Lise Bouvier Madeline Minot 1952 Glory Alley Angela Evans 1953 Mademoiselle Segment: "Mademoiselle" Lili Lili Daurier 1955 Ella Daddy Long Legs Julie Andre 1956 Gaby Gaby 1958 Gigi Gigi Mrs. Dubedat 1959 Ann Garantier 1960 Austerlitz Mlle de Vaudey Mardou Fox 1961 Fanny Fanny 1962 Guns of Darkness Claire Jordan Jane Fosset Three Fables of Love Annie Segment: "Les deux pigeons" 1964 Father Goose Catherine 1965 Dr. Lauren Boullard Promise Her Anything Michele O'Brien 1966 Is Paris Burning? Françoise Labé 1967 The Head of the Family Paola, Marco's wife 1970 Madron Sister Mary 1971 Chandler Katherine Creighton 1976 Surreal Estate Céleste 1977 Véra Valentino Alla Nazimova 1978 Crazed Nicole 1979 Goldengirl Dr. Sammy Lee 1980 All Stars Lucille Berger 1981 Chanel Solitaire uncredited 1982 Imperative Mother 1984 Dangerous Moves Henia Liebskind 1990 Courage Mountain Jane Hillary Guns Waitress 1992 Damage Elizabeth Prideaux 1995 Funny Bones Katie Parker Let It Be Me Marguerite 1999 Regine De Chantelle 2000 Chocolat Madame Audel 2003 Le Divorce Suzanne de Persand 2017The Perfect AgeMargueriteshort movie 2020 A Christmas Carol The Ghost of Christmas Past (voice)

Television

Theatre Year Title Playwright Director Venue Ref. 1955 Orvet Jean Renoir Jean Renoir Théâtre de la Renaissance, Paris 1955 Gigi Anita Loos Sir Peter Hall New Theatre, London 1961 Ondine Jean Giraudoux Peter Hall Aldwych Theatre, London 1965 Carola Jean Renoir Norman Lloyd Los Angeles 1975–1981 13, rue de l'amour (Monsieur Chasse) Georges Feydeau Basil Langton US and Australia Tour 1978 Can-Can Cole Porter & Abe Burrows John Bishop US and Canadian tour 1983 The Rehearsal Jean Anouilh Gillian Lynne English tour 1984 On Your Toes Rodgers and Hart George Abbott US tour 1985 One for the Tango (Apprends-moi Céline) Maria Pacôme Pierre Epstein US tour 1985 L'inaccessible Krzysztof Zanussi Krzysztof Zanussi Théâtre du Petit Odéon of Paris 1991 Grand Hotel Vicki Baum Tommy Tune Berlin 1991 Le martyre de Saint Sebastien Claude Debussy and Gabriele d'Annunzio Michael Tilson Thomas London Symphony Orchestra 1995 George Sand et Chopin Bruno Villien Greenwich Festival, Great Britain 1997 'Nocturne for Lovers Gavin Lambert Kado Kostzer Chichester Festival Theatre, Great Britain 1997 The Story of Babar Jean de Brunhoff Francis Poulenc Chichester Festival, Great Britain 1998 Apprends-moi Céline Maria Pacôme Raymond Acquaviva French tour 1999 Readings from Colette Roger Hodgeman Melbourne Festival, Australia 1999 Nocturne for Lovers Roger Hodgeman Melbourne Festival, Australia 2006 I Remember It Well Alan Jay Lerner N/A Herbst Theatre, San Francisco 2009 Thank Heaven Théâtre National of London 2009 A Little Night Music Stephen Sondheim Lee Blakeley Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris 2014 Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks Richard Alfieri Michael Arabian, Laguna Playhouse, Laguna Beach, California

Awards and nominations Year Association Category Project Result Ref. 1953 Academy Award Best Actress Lili BAFTA Award Best Foreign Actress 1958 Golden Globe Award Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical Gigi Laurel Award Top Female Musical Performance 1961 Golden Globe Award Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Fanny Laurel Award Top Female Dramatic Performance 1962 Academy Award Best Actress BAFTA Award Best British Actress Golden Globe Award Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Laurel Award Top Female Dramatic Performance New York Film Critics Circle Best Actress 2000 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture Chocolat 2006 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (for "Recall")

Honorary awards Organizations Year Award Result President François Mitterrand 1993 Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur Catherine Trautmann, Minister of Culture 1998 Ordre National du Mérite Prime Minister Jean Pierre Raffarin 2004 Officier de la Légion d'Honneur Hollywood Walk of Fame 2009 Motion Picture Star Council of Paris 2012 Medaille D'Or De La Ville De Paris President of the French Republic 2013 Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 2015 Gold Medal in the Arts

Recordings The Lover (l'Amant) by Marguerite Duras on cassettes First World War for the radio Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien by Claude Debussy and Gabriele d'Annunzio, with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas Gigi by Colette in English on cassettes recorded in public at Merkin Concert Hall at Abraham Goodman House in New York City, 1996 Narrated "Carnival of the Animals" music by Camille Saint-Saëns with the Nash Ensemble – Wigmore Hall, 1999 The Plutocrats play for the BBC dir. Bill Bryden, written by Michael Hastings, from the novel by Booth Tarkington, January 1999 The Rosebud Podcast One hour interview, as a guest of Gyles Brandreth on his podcast series. Published February 13th 2026