Anna Karina

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For the Tolstoy novel see Anna Karenina.

Anna Karina (born September 22, 1940) is a Danish film actress. Born Hanna Karin Blarke Bayer, she started her career in Denmark, where she sang in cabarets, working as a model and playing in commercials and short films. She came to Paris at age 17 where she met Pierre Cardin and Coco Chanel, who convinced her to change her name to Anna Karina. She was then noticed by Jean-Luc Godard who at that time was a journalist for the Cahiers du cinéma.

She played in a number of his films; he offered her an important part in A bout de souffle (1959), which she turned down because of a nude scene. In the end, the character reserved for her did not appear in the film. Later she played in Le Petit Soldat (1960); it is during the shooting of this film that she married Jean-Luc Godard on March 3, 1961 (whom she divorced in 1964).

Anna Karina was awarded best actress at the Berlin Film Festival in 1961 for her interpretation of the character Angela in the film Une femme est une femme. Anna Karina's career did not have to rely on Jean-Luc Godard, as she was successful in other directors' films. Her performance in Suzanne Simonin, la Religieuse de Diderot (1967) by Jacques Rivette is even considered by some as the best of her career. Anna Karina also worked with Luchino Visconti in the film L'Etranger.

In 1973 she made her directing debut in Vivre Ensemble in which she also plays. She wrote and also played in Last Song in 1987. More recently, she appeared in Haut, Bas, Fragile (1995) by Jacques Rivette and sang in The Truth About Charlie.

Anna Karina has also had a singing career. At the beginning of the 1960s, she scored a major hit with "Sous le soleil exactement" and "Roller Girl", both songs taken from the musical comedy "Anna" by Serge Gainsbourg. She sings seven songs alongside Serge Gainsbourg and Jean-Claude Brialy. More recently, she recorded an album entitled "Une histoire d'amour" with Philippe Katerine, which was followed up by a tour. Anna Karina has also written a novel and made several appearances on television.

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