Nathalie Rheims

Nathalie Rheims (born April 25, 1959, in Neuilly-sur-Seine) is a French writer and film producer.

Biography Family Nathalie Rheims came from an Alsatian Jewish family on her father's side: she was the granddaughter of General Léon Rheims, and the daughter of Maurice Rheims, an auctioneer and French Academy member. Her mother, Lili Krahmer, half-sister to David de Rothschild, abandoned her when she was 15 years old. She had a brother, Louis, who died at 33 years old, and for whom she wrote her first novel, LUn pour l’autre, in 1999. She also had a sister, the photographer Bettina Rheims. Until 1983, she alternated between theater and television roles. From 1981 to 1985, she also worked as a journalist for the magazine Elle. In 1982, she released her first 45 RPM record, Asphalte. As a singer, she adopted the pseudonym "Alix," the name of her maternal grandmother. She released four more singles, all written by her then-husband, Frédéric Botton. In total, he wrote seven songs for her. During this period, the trio of Nathalie Rheims, Frédéric Botton, and Jean-Daniel Mercier wrote six of the seven songs for the album Number One of the Paradis Latin cabaret. In 1985, Nathalie Rheims transitioned to producing, initially for TV6, then France 2, producing Haute curiosité, an arts program presented by Claude Sérillon and Maurice Rheims.

In 1999, she published her first novel, L’un pour l’autre (Galilée publishing), awarded the Gai Savoir Prize. In 2000, she published Lettre d’une amoureuse morte with Flammarion. This was followed by Les Fleurs du silence and L’Ange de la dernière heure in 2001 and 2002. In 2002, Rheims co-produced the film Une femme de ménage. In 2003, she released Lumière invisible à mes yeux, published by Léo Scheer. Le Rêve de Balthus, Le Cercle de Megiddo, and L'Ombre des autres were released in September 2004, 2005, and 2006, making her a best-selling author.

As the partner and collaborator of producer-director Claude Berri, she co-founded the film production company Hirsch Production and worked as an associate producer on films such as L'un reste, l'autre part, Les Enfants, Le Démon de midi, La Maison du bonheur, Ensemble, c'est tout, La Graine et le Mulet, and Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis.

At Claude Berri's request, she wrote the song L'un part, l'autre reste, performed by Charlotte Gainsbourg. The soundtrack of the film, composed and arranged by André Manoukian and Frédéric Botton, was later covered by Sylvie Vartan and included in several of her albums.

In 2007, Rheims published her ninth book, Journal intime, roman. Her eighth novel, L'Ombre des autres, was planned to be adapted for the screen with Mylène Farmer in the lead role, but the project was canceled following Claude Berri's death.

In 2008, she published her tenth novel, Le Chemin des sortilèges.

In 2015, she released her autobiographical novel, Place Colette, subtitled Détournement de majeur, which tells the story of her romance at age 14 with an actor 30 years her senior.

Personal life Rheim's first husband was composer Frédéric Botton.

After Berri's death, Rheims became involved in the legal dispute regarding his inheritance. Thomas Langmann, Berri's oldest surviving son, accused her, his half-brother Darius and his father's second wife Sylvie Gautrelet of misappropriating his father's assets.

Publications L’Un pour l’autre, Galilée, 1999 (reissued in Folio) Lettre d’une amoureuse morte, Flammarion, 2000 (Folio) Les Fleurs du silence, Flammarion, 2001 (Folio) L’Ange de la dernière heure, Flammarion, 2002 (Folio) Lumière invisible à mes yeux, Léo Scheer, 2003 Le Rêve de Balthus, Fayard-Léo Scheer, 2004 (Folio) Le Cercle de Megiddo, Léo Scheer, 2005 (Livre de poche) L'Ombre des autres, Léo Scheer, 2006 Journal intime, Léo Scheer, 2007 Le Chemin des sortilèges, Léo Scheer, 2008 Claude, Léo Scheer, 2009 Car ceci est mon sang, Léo Scheer, 2010 Le Fantôme du Fauteuil 32, Léo Scheer, 2011 Laisser les cendres s’envoler, Léo Scheer, 2012 Maladie d'amour, Léo Scheer, 2014 Le Père-Lachaise, jardin des ombres, Michel Lafon, 2014 Place Colette, Léo Scheer, 2015 La mémoire des squares, Michel Lafon, 2016 Ma vie sans moi, Léo Scheer, 2017 Des reins et des cœurs, Léo Scheer, 2019 Roman, Léo Scheer, 2020 Danger en rive, Léo Scheer, 2021 Au long des jours, Léo Scheer, 2023 Ne vois-tu pas que je brûle, Léo Scheer, 2024.

Filmography Actress 1976: Un mari, c'est un mari by Serge Friedman (cinema) 1979: La Belle Époque de Gaston Couté written and directed by Philippe Pilard (television) 1979: L'Hôtel du libre échange by Georges Feydeau, directed by Guy Séligmann: one of Mathieu's daughters (television) 1979: Médecins de nuit by Pierre Lary, episode: Henri Gillot, retraité (TV series): Josiane (television)

Producer 2011: Mon père est femme de ménage by Saphia Azzeddine

Associate producer 2002: Une femme de ménage by Claude Berri 2003: Les Sentiments by Noémie Lvovsky 2004: San-Antonio by Frédéric Auburtin 2005: Les Enfants by Christian Vincent 2005: Le Démon de midi by Marie-Pascale Osterrieth 2006: La maison du bonheur by Dany Boon 2007: La Graine et le Mulet by Abdellatif Kechiche 2007: Ensemble, c'est tout by Claude Berri 2009: Trésor by Claude Berri

Discography 45 RPM records (as "Alix") 1982: Asphalte 1983: Et si les étoiles... by Frédéric Botton 1984: Expérience inconnue by Frédéric Botton 1984: Voix "Off" by Frédéric Botton and Roland Romanelli 1989: Bing Bang Song by Frédéric Botton

Honors Decorations Knight of the Legion of Honour, 2012 Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters promoted on February 10, 2016.

Notes and references