Nathalie Baye, prolific star of French and Hollywood cinema, dies aged 77

Actor who worked with the great French auteurs in the 1970s and 80s and starred in Spielberg’s Catch Me if You Can died of Lewy body dementia, says family The French film star Nathalie Baye, who starred in a string of highly regarded French films as well as Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can, has died at the age of 77, her family said on Saturday. Baye, a stalwart of France’s domestic cinema, starred in about 80 films and took home the best actress César, France’s equivalent of the Oscars, four times, including three years running from 1981 to 1983. She died on Friday evening at her home in Paris from Lewy body dementia, her family told AFP. Baye’s career included a late surge of internationally high-profile roles, including playing Leonardo DiCaprio’s mother in Catch Me if You Can and a French aristocrat in the Downton Abbey sequel, A New Era. She also worked with the Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan, who cast her in Laurence Anyways and It’s Only the End of the World. Baye had a five-year relationship with the rock and roll singer Johnny Hallyday, nicknamed the “French Elvis”, whose death in 2017 led to national mourning. Their daughter Laura Smet is also an actor, and starred

Apr 19, 2026 → Apr 19, 2026