Isabelle Huppert was born in 1955, in Paris, France, but spent her
childhood in Ville d'Avray. Encouraged by her mother (who was a
teacher of English), she followed the Conservatory of Versailles
and won an acting prize for her work in Alfred de Musset's "Un
caprice". She then studied at the Conservatoire d'Art Dramatique
and followed an illustrious theatrical career, which includes
Turgenev's "A Month in the Country", Euripides' "Medea" (title
role) etc. She made her movie debut in 1971 and soon became one of
the top actresses of her generation, giving fine performances in
important films, like 'Claude Goretta' (qv)'s _Dentelliere, La
(1977)_ (qv), as a simple-minded girl who falls in love with - and
is betrayed by - a student, 'Jean-Luc Godard' (qv)'s _Sauve qui
peut (la vie) (1979)_ (qv), as a prostitute, and 'Maurice Pialat'
(qv)'s _Loulou (1980)_ (qv), as an upper-class woman who is
physically attracted by a young vagabond. She made her US debut
playing a brothel madam in 'Michael Cimino' (qv)'s disastrous
_Heaven's Gate (1980)_ (qv) and has an extremely productive
collaboration with 'Claude Chabrol' (qv), who cast her in several
movies, including _Violette Noziere (1978)_ (qv), in which she
played a young woman who murders her parents, and _Une affaire de
femmes (1988)_ (qv), in which she gave an excellent performance as
a shameless abortionist, the last woman to be executed in France.
More recent good films include 'Patricia Mauzy' (qv)'s _Saint-Cyr
(2000)_ (qv) and 'Michael Haneke' (qv)'s controversial _Pianiste,
La (2001)_ (qv), as a sexually repressed piano teacher.
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