Yvonne Furneaux

Highest Rated: 100% The Master of Ballantrae (1953)

Lowest Rated: 89% The Mummy (1959)

Birthday: May 11, 1928

Birthplace: Lille, Nord, France

French actress Yvonne Furneax worked alongside some of the most famous filmmakers and actors of her generation, including Federico Fellini, Roman Polanski, and Catherine Deneuve. Furneax began her career on the stage in England in the 1950s, and after appearing in a few minor films she got her break as man-eater Momina De Stefani in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1955 drama "The Girlfriends." Her performance here led to roles in several English television series and films until she landed a part in the 1959 version of "The Mummy" with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. The following year she was cast by legendary filmmaker Federico Fellini in his seminal character study "La Dolce Vita," a film that defined European cinema of the early 1960s. Several big roles followed, including one as Helen of Troy in "The Lion of Thebes" and another as Deneuve's sister in Polanski's neurotic thriller "Repulsion" in 1965. Furneaux appeared in a few more films and TV series throughout the late 1960s and the early 1970s, but essentially gave up acting in 1984.