by Sandra Brennan
biography
Originally touted as the newest French sex symbol of the '50s, only to be overshadowed by the spectacular Brigitte Bardot, unusually pretty and petite Françoise Arnoul had enough talent and range to forge a decent film career for herself in such highly regarded films as Jean Renoir's French Can-Can (1955) and Jean Cocteau's Le Testament d'Orphee (1960). A native of Constantine Algeria, born Françoise Gautsch, Arnoul made her film debut in 1949 after studying drama in Paris. Her film career tapered off dramatically during the mid-'70s, but in the late '90s, Arnoul returned in character roles in such films as Post Coitum, Animal Triste (1997).
