When people gave Louis Malle credit for making a star of Jeanne Moreau in Frantic immediately followed by The Lovers, he would point out that Moreau by that time had already been "recognized as the prime stage actress of her generation." She had made it to the Comédie Française in her 20s. She had appeared in B-movie thrillers with Jean Gabin and Ascenseur was in that genre. The technicians at the film lab went to the producer after seeing the first week of dailies for Ascenseur and said: "You must not let Malle destroy Jeanne Moreau". Malle explained: "She was lit only by the windows of the Champs Elysées. That had never been done. Cameramen would have forced her to wear a lot of make-up and they would put a lot of light on her, because, supposedly, her face was not photogenic". This lack of artifice revealed Moreau's "essential qualities: she could be almost ugly and then ten seconds later she would turn her face and would be incredibly attractive. But she would be herself".

Moreau has told interviewers that the characters she played were not her. But even the most famous film critic of his generation, Roger Ebert, thinks that she is a lot like her most enduring role, Catherine in François Truffaut's Jules and Jim. Behind those eyes and that enigmatic smile is a woman with a mind. In a review of The Summer House Ebert wrote: "Jeanne Moreau has been a treasure of the movies for 35 years... Here, playing a flamboyant woman who nevertheless keeps her real thoughts closely guarded, she brings about a final scene of poetic justice as perfect as it is unexpected".

Moreau made her debut as a director in Lumiere -- also writing the script and playing Sarah, an actress the same age as Moreau whose romances are often with directors for the duration of making a film. She made several films with Malle.

Still active in international cinema, Moreau presided over the jury of the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.
The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea (1991): $400,000
The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964): $70,000
The Train (1964): $60,000
Diary of a Chambermaid (1964): $50,000

Orson Welles is the first person Moreau spoke to about directing and the only one who wasn't protective about it. Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#76). [1995] Walked off the set of the TV series ER (January 2000). Made her debut as a stage director with a Geneva and Paris production of Margaret Edson's "Wit" (April 2000). She is the first woman to enter the Academie des Beaux-Arts of Paris (January 2001). Made her debut as an opera director with an Opera National de Paris production of Giuseppe Verdi's "Attila" ( September 2001). Considered by Orson Welles as "the greatest actress in the world". Has been a close friend of major literary figures, like Jean Cocteau, Jean Genet, Henry Miller, Anaïs Nin and Marguerite Duras. Has been romantically involved with Louis Malle, Lee Marvin, fashion designer Pierre Cardin and Greek actor Theodor Rambow. Festival tribute at the Créteil International Women's Film Festival, France. [1999] Signed the manifesto against French abortion laws published by the magazine "Le Nouvel Observateur" on 5 April 1971. Is a close friend of Sharon Stone, who presented a 1998 American Academy of Motion Pictures life tribute to Moreau. Her only son, named Jerome, was seriously injured at a car accident during the shooting of Moderato cantabile; the car driver was Jean-Paul Belmondo, her co-star in the afore-mentioned film. The then-10-year-old Jerome survived the accident and is today a successful painter. Is the only actress who has presided twice over the jury of the Cannes Film Festival (in 1975 and 1995). Vanessa Redgrave named Moreau as co-respondent in her 1967 divorce from director Tony Richardson on grounds of adultery. Holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Lancaster, UK. Is the president of Equinoxe, an organization which supports new European scriptwriters. For personal reasons, Moreau has turned down roles in many major films, including the part of Varinia in Spartacus, finally played by Jean Simmons, the Mrs. Robinson part in The Graduate, played by Anne Bancroft and the part of Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, for which Louise Fletcher won a Best Actress Academy Award in 1976. She has also been twice replaced by Annie Girardot: in Rocco and His Brothers and in the recent The Piano Player. Is the only French actress who has been the object of a big retrospective (including 30 films) at the Museum of Modern Art of New York (February - March 1994). Became world famous, when she starred in Louis Malle's controversial hit The Lovers, as a provincial wife who abandons her family for a man she has just met; the film had a lot of censorship problems all over the world because of its erotic scenes and Moreau instantly became an international sex symbol. Is also a successful singer with a substantial recording career. Her stage hits include Ivan Turgenev's "A Month in the Country", Jean Cocteau's "La machine infernale" (as the Sphinx), Anna Bonacci's "L'heure éblouissante", George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" (as Eliza Doolittle), Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (as Maggie) and "The Night of the Iguana" (as Hannah Jelkes), Frank Wedekind's "Loulou" (title role) and Hermann Broch's "Le récit de la servante Zerline" (title role). Has been trained for the stage at the Paris Conservatoire. Her father owned a restaurant in Monmartre, Paris, where she spent part of her childhood. Attended the Lycee Edgar Quinet, in Paris. Provided the voiceover for the 1997 TV ads for Air France, which she also directed. Won the Best Actress Molière Award (the French equivalent of a Tony) in 1988 for her acclaimed performance in Hermann Broch's "Le récit de la servante Zerline", a huge theatrical success which toured 11 countries. Her mother was an English dancer from Lancashire who had come to the Folies- Bergere with the Tiller Girls. Offered her Rolls-Royce to a friend of hers who had financial trouble. Was considered for the female lead in El Cid, finally played by Sophia Loren. Has co-produced some of her films, like Jules and Jim, Bay of the Angels and Banana Peel. Is one of the numerous French film personalities who co-signed a petition calling for civil disobedience in the face of a xenophobic immigration law (February 1997). Chosen by the magazine "Esquire" as one of "the 100 Best People in the World" (December 1997). Her teaming with Brigitte Bardot in Louis Malle's _Viva María! (1965)_ was one of the major media events of 1965. Thanks to the on-screen chemistry between the two top French female stars of the period, the film became an international hit. Named Doctor of Arts by the City University of New York (June 1997). In 1948, when she was only 20 years old, she became the youngest full-time member in the history of Comédie Française, France's most prestigious theatrical company. Her name has been often associated, both socially and professionally, to that of respected French writer and director Marguerite Duras; apart from their close friendship, Moreau starred in two movies based on Duras' novels, Peter Brook's Moderato cantabile and Tony Richardson's The Sailor from Gibraltar, was directed by Duras in Nathalie Granger, was the narrator in another Duras screen adaptation, _Amant, L' (1991)_ and even went on to portray Duras in the biopic Cet amour-là. Has a Paris cinema named after her. Was President of the jury at the Berlin Film Festival in 1983. During the 2002 presidential elections in France she supported Socialist candidate and former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin (March 2002). Is particularly fond of reading and cooking. Despite her important singing career, Moreau has rather avoided concerts. One notable exception was a Carnegie Hall concert opposite Frank Sinatra (July 1984). Agreed to be paid in silver plates for her work in Orson Welles's Campanadas a medianoche, because of the limited budget. Was the first French actress to make the cover of "Time" (March 1965). Was billed in her early films as "pensionnaire de la Comedie Francaise". Was robbed of a $432,000 in cash and jewels by a bandana-wearing intruder who broke into her Paris apartment (September 2003). After the end of her affair with director Louis Malle (1959), she had a long correspondence with Ingmar Bergman, who developed a film project for her, "L'Amour Monstre". The film was never made, because Moreau couldn't learn Swedish and Bergman couldn't learn French. Mother of Jérôme Richard (father: Jean-Louis Richard). President of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995 President of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1975 Has supported Lionel Jospin's 2002 presidential campaign. Her performance as Catherine in "Jules and Jim" (1962) is ranked #80 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).