Edith Scob

Édith Scob was born Édith Helena Vladimirovna Scobeltzine on Oct. 21, 1937 in Paris, France. Following a youth spent invested in literature and theater, Scob kicked off an acting career at age 20 with a 1958 production of French theater director Georges Vitaly's "Don Juan." The following year, Scob made her screen debut with a part in the drama feature "Head Against the Wall" (1959), helmed by director Georges Franju, and earned her bona fide breakout one year later still with a central role in Franju's "Eyes Without a Face" (1960). Throughout the 1960s, she worked steadily both on stage and screen, collaborating with Franju on further projects including "Judex" (1963) and "Thomas the Impostor" (1965). After the civil unrest of France in May 1968, Scob and her husband, composer Georges Aperghis, opened an avant garde theater in the French commune of Bagnolet. Going forward, Scob worked with directors like Luis Buñuel, Jean-Pierre Blanc, and Raúl Ruiz on the films "The Milky Way" (1969), "The Old Maid" (1972), and "The Suspended Vocation" (1978), respectively. Scob's film work declined in the 1980s and 1990s, though the new millennium brought her some of her most memorable credits. She reteamed with Raúl Ruiz after nearly 30 years for "Comedy of Innocence" (2000), and then starred in Christophe Gans' "Brotherhood of the Wolf" (2001) the following year. She received her first nomination for a César Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the Olivier Assayas-directed drama film "Summer Hours" (2008). Four years later, she was nominated for the same award after appearing in the fantastical drama film "Holy Motors" (2012), written and directed by Leos Carax. On June 26, 2019, Scob died at age 81 in Paris, France.