Dominique Lavanant

Dominique Lavanant is best-known for playing dignified, upper-class women in various French comedies, although after achieving fame in the mid-to-late '70s, she began to take on more roles in serious dramas. Her career began with Le Splendid, a troupe of French actors and writers whose films included 1978's "Les Bronzes," a satire of life at posh resorts and the people who frequent them. She played Christiane, one of the holiday seekers who becomes part of the humorous couplings and un-couplings, and the film was successful enough to inspire a sequel in '79, in which she reprised the role. Toward the end of the '70s, she also appeared in the comedy "Courage fuyons," earning her first César nomination for supporting actress opposite Jean Rochefort and Catherine Deneuve; and during the '80s, she perfected her onscreen persona in "3 hommes et un couffin" and other films. By the middle of the decade, Lavanant appeared in some of her better-known dramatic fare, including the sexually charged "Rendez-vous" and the thriller "Agent trouble," the latter also featuring Deneuve. She was arguably at the height of her film career at this time, receiving César nominations for supporting actress three times from '86 to '89, winning for "Agent trouble." Within a few years, she was investigating crimes on television as the star of her first series, "Imogène," and starting in 2002, headlined "SoeurThérèse.com" as a nun who regularly helps out a police inspector.