Nicole germain (1917-1994)

Miss Radio
Nicole Germain (whose real name was Marcelle Landreau), was born into a middle-class family and studied at the Lassalle conservatory, which was run by her father. Her first acting roles were in radio serials, starting in 1939. These made her a big star, to the point that she was named “Miss Radio” in 1946.

Wishing to take advantage of her popularity, Paul L’Anglais recruited her to play the role of an American journalist in La forteresse (Fedor Ozep, 1947). She made her mark in this role of a strong, brilliant and sophisticated woman, prefiguring the crime-film heroines who would appear only much later.

Donalda, a Key Role
Then, playing a diametrically opposite role, she gave an equally inspiring performance as Donalda in the first adaptation of Claude-Henri Grignon’s novel Un homme et son péché (Paul Gury, 1949) and in the film Séraphin by the same director a year later.

Success brought with it more success, and in 1952 Nicole Germain played the role of a concert pianist from a small village in Le rossignol et les cloches by René Delacroix. Like many films of the period, it depicted the conflict between the upstanding values of the countryside and the evil ways of the city.

Nicole Germain then undertook a long career as a journalist and host of television programs.