Suzanne Cloutier (July 10, 1923 – December 2, 2003) was a Canadian film actress.

Suzanne Cloutier
Cloutier with Peter Ustinov and daughter
Born(1923-07-10)July 10, 1923
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
DiedDecember 2, 2003(2003-12-02) (aged 80)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Occupation(s)Actress, producer
Spouse
(m. 1954; div. 1971)
Children3 (Pavla, Igor and Andrea Claudia)

Biography edit

The daughter and apparent only child of Edmond Cloutier, the King's Printer in Ottawa, and Hélène Saint-Denis, who wed on May 23, 1922, Suzanne Cloutier escaped an early unconsummated marriage to become an actress, first with Charles Laughton in New York and then the Comédie Française.[1] She appeared in films by Julien Duvivier and Marcel Carné, starred as Desdemona in Orson Welles' film version of Othello (1951) and appeared in Doctor in the House (1954, the hit of the year in Britain).

Marriage edit

She had acted earlier in London in a play by Peter Ustinov, and the two married in 1954.[2] They had three children, Andrea, Igor and Pavla, and Cloutier appeared in the film of his stage hit Romanoff and Juliet. The couple divorced in 1971, when Cloutier reconnected with Orson Welles, then at work on films never finished. Cloutier later resettled in Los Angeles, and eventually in Montreal, Canada, in 1988.

Death edit

The actress's age was often misreported, but she appears to have been born in Ottawa on July 10, 1923 and died of liver cancer in Montreal on December 2, 2003, aged 80.[citation needed]

Filmography edit

 
Orson Welles and Suzanne Cloutier in Othello (1951)
Year Title Role Notes
1946 Temptation Yvonne Dupont
1949 The Sinners Maria Lambert
1951 Juliette, or Key of Dreams Juliette
1951 Othello Desdemona
1952 Derby Day Michele Jolivet
1954 Doctor in the House Stella
1961 Romanoff and Juliet Marfa Zlotochienka
1997 The Countess of Baton Rouge Virginie Beaufort
1998 It's Your Turn, Laura Cadieux Hôtesse du restaurant

References edit

  1. ^ Interview with Cloutier identifying her father as the King's Printer and lists a dozen movies in which Cloutier appeared. marcel-carne.com. Accessed July 24, 2023.
  2. ^ She is elliptically mentioned in Ustinov's autobiography Dear Me (1977).

External links edit