Arlette Marchal

Biography

Brunette, exotic Lucienne Marie Marchal overcame her affliction with shyness by enrolling in, and ultimately winning, a beauty contest. One of the judges was the director Léonce Perret, who promptly helped her get her first role in motion pictures. After that, her face was sufficient to keep her in constant demand for both leading and supporting roles in Hollywood silent films (with MGM and Paramount), as well as in French and German-speaking productions. She hit her highs in such popular fare as Madame Sans-Gêne (1925) (as Napoleon Bonaparte's sister), Diplomacy (1926) (as rival to Blanche Sweet) and Blonde or Brunette (1927) (as the 'brunette' love interest to Adolphe Menjou). Arlette was not just a pretty face, however, as American critics consistently rated her performances from at least 'satisfactory', to 'excellent'. Back on the European continent from 1928, she had a few more successes before appearances in front of the camera became more widely spaced. By 1951, she had given up acting and concentrated on running her chain of fashion houses in France.