Catherine Deneuve: a highly critical biography

In bookstores this week is an unauthorized and highly critical biography of Catherine Deneuve, which may damage her image.

Author Bernard Violet has written bios of Jacques Cousteau, Mylène Farmer, Johnny Hallyday and Alain Delon, who took Violet to court before a word was even written. This week, Violet releases his latest effort, a critical look at Catherine Deneuve, which lets out a few nasty secrets.

Light years from the glamorous image the global public has of the actress, Violet portrays Deneuve as sad, calculating and pathetic, an extravagant and deceptive woman who collects huge fees for public appearances and has manipulated the press into giving her rave reviews.

From an overview of her relationships – notably with Roger Vadim, Johnny Haliday, Marcello Mastroianni, and Pierre Lescure – Violet moves on to the shocking Nazi past of Deneuve's father. Also an actor, Dorléac made 72 appearances in radio plays for the anti-Semitic station Radio-Paris during WWII, as well as in several propaganda films, one in favor of the Milice, the police of the collaborationist Vichy government.