Valerie Quennessen
Encyclopedia
Valérie Quennessen was a French
film actress.
Quennessen was born in Paris and dedicated much of her childhood to pursuing her dream of becoming an acrobat
. She quickly reached a level of competence and received an award for her expertise at the age of ten. By her teens, she had given up acrobatics and enrolled in acting classes, not because she particularly wanted to get into show business, but to help her overcome social anxiety. She found that she not only overcame her shyness via acting, but she also enjoyed performing. She continued studying drama at the École nationale supérieure des arts et techniques du théâtre in Paris and appeared in several theater productions.
She made her first film appearances in a pair of 1976 French films: Le Petit Marcel and Le Plein de super. Although she would continue to appear in the occasional French film and television show, in 1979 she landed one of the main roles in the American film French Postcards, working alongside the yet-to-be famous Debra Winger
and Mandy Patinkin
. She followed up that film by playing Princess Yasmina in Arnold Schwarzenegger
's 1982 film Conan the Barbarian.
It would be her next film, Summer Lovers
, that was the peak of her career for American audiences. The story of a love triangle on the Greek island of Santorini
also starred Peter Gallagher
and Daryl Hannah
. During the filming of the movie, in which she played an archaeologist, Valérie actually discovered several pieces of pottery at the Akrotiri
site that were more than 3,500 years old.
Shortly after Summer Lovers, Quennessen retired from acting, choosing to concentrate on raising her family. She married Francois Manceaux and they had two children, Antoine and Elsa. It was reported on her IMDB page that in 1989 she had died in a car accident at the age of 31.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
film actress.
Quennessen was born in Paris and dedicated much of her childhood to pursuing her dream of becoming an acrobat
Acrobatics
Acrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...
. She quickly reached a level of competence and received an award for her expertise at the age of ten. By her teens, she had given up acrobatics and enrolled in acting classes, not because she particularly wanted to get into show business, but to help her overcome social anxiety. She found that she not only overcame her shyness via acting, but she also enjoyed performing. She continued studying drama at the École nationale supérieure des arts et techniques du théâtre in Paris and appeared in several theater productions.
She made her first film appearances in a pair of 1976 French films: Le Petit Marcel and Le Plein de super. Although she would continue to appear in the occasional French film and television show, in 1979 she landed one of the main roles in the American film French Postcards, working alongside the yet-to-be famous Debra Winger
Debra Winger
Mary Debra Winger is an American actress. Three-times an Oscar nominee, she received awards for acting in Terms of Endearment, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress in 1983, and in A Dangerous Woman, for which she won the Tokyo International Film Festival...
and Mandy Patinkin
Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin is an award-winning American actor of stage and screen and a tenor vocalist. He is a noted interpreter of the musical works of Stephen Sondheim, and is best-known for his work in musical theatre, originating iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park...
. She followed up that film by playing Princess Yasmina in Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
's 1982 film Conan the Barbarian.
It would be her next film, Summer Lovers
Summer Lovers
Summer Lovers is a 1982 film written and directed by Randal Kleiser, starring Peter Gallagher, Daryl Hannah and Valerie Quennessen, and filmed on location on the island of Santorini, Greece. The original music score is composed by Basil Poledouris...
, that was the peak of her career for American audiences. The story of a love triangle on the Greek island of Santorini
Santorini
Santorini , officially Thira , is an island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from Greece's mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera...
also starred Peter Gallagher
Peter Gallagher
Peter Killian Gallagher is an American actor, musician and writer. Since 1980, Gallagher has played many roles in numerous Hollywood films. He starred as Sandy Cohen in the television drama series The O.C. from 2003 to 2007...
and Daryl Hannah
Daryl Hannah
Daryl Christine Hannah is an American film actress. After making her screen debut in 1978, Hannah starred in a number of Hollywood films throughout the 1980s, notably Blade Runner, Splash, Wall Street and Roxanne and Kill Bill.-Early life:Hannah was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Susan...
. During the filming of the movie, in which she played an archaeologist, Valérie actually discovered several pieces of pottery at the Akrotiri
Akrotiri (Santorini)
Akrotiri is the name of an excavation site of a Minoan Bronze Age settlement on the Greek island of Santorini, associated with the Minoan civilization due to inscriptions in Linear A, and close similarities in artifact and fresco styles. The excavation is named for a modern Greek village situated...
site that were more than 3,500 years old.
Shortly after Summer Lovers, Quennessen retired from acting, choosing to concentrate on raising her family. She married Francois Manceaux and they had two children, Antoine and Elsa. It was reported on her IMDB page that in 1989 she had died in a car accident at the age of 31.
Filmography
- Le Petit Marcel (1976)
- Le Plein de super (1976) as Marie
- La nuova colonia (1978) as Mita
- La Tortue sur le dos (1978) as Nietzsce student
- Brigade des mineurs: "Tête de rivière" (1978 TV episode) as Doris
- Martin et Léa (1979) as Cléo
- French Postcards (1979) as Toni
- Les Uns et les AutresLes Uns et les AutresLes Uns et les Autres is a 1981 French film by Claude Lelouch. The film is a musical epic and it is widely considered as the director's best work with Un Homme et une Femme. It won the Technical Grand Prize at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. In the United States, it was distributed under the name...
(1981 film)- Les Uns et les Autres (1983 TV mini-series)
- Conan the Barbarian (1982) as Princess Yasmina
- Summer LoversSummer LoversSummer Lovers is a 1982 film written and directed by Randal Kleiser, starring Peter Gallagher, Daryl Hannah and Valerie Quennessen, and filmed on location on the island of Santorini, Greece. The original music score is composed by Basil Poledouris...
(1982) as Lina - Haute tension: "Eaux troubles" (1989 TV episode) as Judith