Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Capucine (2024)

Known for her comedic role in The Pink Panther, Capucinewas a French fashion model and actress who appeared in 36 films and 17 television productions between 1948 and 1990.

According to the official documents, Capucine was born on 6 January 1928 in Saint-Raphaël, Var, Southeastern France, though she often gave her date of birth as 1931 or 1933. Her family later moved to Toulon where she studied and received a B.A. in foreign languages.

After having a successful modeling and acting career in the 1950s and 1960s, Capucine retreated to her home in Switzerland where she lived reclusive life for several years, before she died On 17 March 1990, at the age of 62.

Let’s look at the Top 10 Outstanding Facts about her

1. Very little was known about her

Throughout her life, Capucine lived a very guarded life and very little was known about her. Perhaps, this was by design because she regularly gave conflicting details about herself including confusing the dates of her birth.

This became apparent when she died because there was very little to write about her personal life away from public life. Indeed, even her obituaries couldn’t agree on the number of cats she left behind or the whereabouts of her family.

This was partly because of her habit of generally fictionalizing her life as she went along, without ever bothering to correct misinformation she gave or printed about her.

2. She Rebelled against her Parents

Capucine was born and brought up in the sleepy town of Saint-Raphaël, Var, Southeastern France. Her parents were, by her own admission, “bourgeois” meaning they believed in certain traditional behavior.

According to her own accounts, her parents strongly believed that she should become a school teacher or work in a bank, jobs they viewed as respectable for a young woman like her.

Determined to chart her own path and pursue her dreams, Capucine abandoned her studies and fled to Paris where she started modeling. She was only 17 years old.

3. She was discovered at the age of 17

Capucine was first noticed by a commercial photographer while riding in a carriage in Paris in 1945. She was only 17 years old and from then she became a fashion model working for big fashion houses likeGivenchyandChristian Dior.

While working as a model, Capucine traveled widely around the world, visiting cities like Buenos Aires, Vienna, Athens, Rome, Istanbul, and Johannesburg, among others.

She also made many friends, such as British actress, Audrey Hepburn whom they remained friends for the rest of her life.

4. She changed her name

Like many other star artists of her generation, Capucine changed her name from Germaine Hélène Irène Lefebvre, which in her view did not blend well with her choice of career.

According to Audrey Hepburn, She settled on Capucine because it is the French name of her favorite exotic ornamental flower from South America. From then she was only known by that name which also has been one of the most fashionable girl names in France in recent decades.

5. She learned English before landing acting roles in Hollywood

Capucine first caught the eye of Charles K. Feldman, who by that time was one of the most prestigious agents in Hollywood. He was immediately impressed by her looks and decided to sign her for acting roles in Holy wood.

However, there was a problem because Capucine could not speak English properly despite having attained a Bachelor of Arts degree in foreign languages. Determined to see through her childhood dreams of acting in Hollywood, Capucine was forced to enroll in English classes in California with the help of Feldman.

6. Capucine broke into Hollywood in 1959

Capucine broke into Hollywood in 1959, after she signed a seven-year contract withColumbia Pictures. She landed her first English-speaking role in the filmSong Without End, where she playedCarolyne Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.

She followed up with theNorth to Alaska, a comedy that had been set up with her in mind by Feldman and which was directed by John Wayne and Henry Hathaway. The script was based on the 1939 playBirthday GiftbyLadislas Fodorand is set during theNome gold rush.

7. She lived a Reclusive life after Retirement

After her retirement from filmmaking, Capucine retreated to her apartment in Lausanne Switzerland where she lived almost in total isolation with her three cats.

According to her neighbors, she rarely ventured out and spent most of her days reading. She eventually became almost totally forgotten until the news of her death hit the World headline.

8. She died by Suicide

On 17 March 1990, at the age of 62, Capucinejumped to her deathfrom her eighth-floor apartment where she had lived for 28 years. It was reported that had fallen into a serious depression for some time and she had tried to commit suicide a few times before

In their report, Police concluded that her death was ‘definitely’ a suicide because she had a private elevator to her apartment and the front door was locked from the inside.

9. She was married for only six Months

In 1949, Capucine made her film debut in the French filmRendez-vous de Juillet, where she met and fell in love with a fellow actor Pierre Trabaud. The two married the following year but the marriage lasted only six months. Capucine never married again.

She later met actor William Holden in the mid-1960s, with whom she started a romantic relationship despite Holden still being married to actress Brenda Marshall. The affair ended after two years but they remained best of friends until Holden’s death in 1981.

10. Her mentor’s Death Doomed her career

Feldman was the man behind Capucine’s early successes and the reason she kept on landing great roles. He remained loyal to her professionally even after she started a romantic relationship with Holden.

All this changed after Feldman died in May 1968, of pancreatic cancer, and Capucine’s acting career took a nose dive never to fully recover until she died in 1990.