Michel Mercier: how the star of “Angélique – Marquise des anges” was disappointed by men

The actress’s parents dreamed of a son who would inherit the family pharmaceutical business, and when she was born as a girl, she immediately became somewhat disappointing. The girl was called Jocelyn, she became Michelle much later. In the meantime, she grew up – a naughty, stubborn and very temperamental thug – and dreamed of becoming a ballerina. Her dream wasn’t just a whim, she stood in front of the machine for hours and practiced, practiced, practiced. After the operation to remove the appendix, she was not going to lie down and rest, but went to an important competition. The fact that one of her rivals drove small nails into her spikes didn’t stop her either. Weakened and literally on her nails, she dances and takes first place. True, she went straight from there to the hospital – she fainted immediately after the end of the number.

At the age of 16, she traveled to Paris hoping to pursue a career as a dancer. She was even accepted into the troupe, but soon it broke up, it was not possible to find another, and Jocelyn decided to go to London. There, everything seemed to be going well, until the artistic director called him to “discuss the repertoire”. Indeed, he presented her with a list of sponsors and patrons who wanted to know the young ballerina better. Of course, she refused such an “honor”, and a few days later she was already returning to France.

Yet Jocelyn did not die in obscurity. When she returns home and mourns her career as a dancer, the director Denis de La Patelière comes to Nice. She went to her father’s pharmacy, drew attention to the bored beauty and immediately offered her a role in his film “The Turn of the Button”. The only condition was a name change and her father chose the stage name Michelle for her. It was the name of their youngest daughter, who died in childhood.

After the film debut of Patelier, the directors literally tore the artist apart. She’s starred in horror movies, comedies, and even starred with Francois Truffaut himself. But her lead role was yet to come.
In the mid-1950s, Anne and Serge Golon’s bestseller, which recounts the adventures of Angélique, caused a sensation. It makes sense that the film rights were bought out and the producers started looking for the perfect actress. This role was offered by Brigitte Bardot, Annette Stroyberg, Catherine Deneuve, Jane Fonda. Someone refused, considering the picture too frivolous and fleeting, someone could not because of other projects. But in the end, the role went to Michelle Mercier. They say when she put on a wig, the director gasped, “Here she is, our Angelica.”

“Angry Angelica”, “Angelica and the King”, “Indomitable Angelica”, “Angelica and the Sultan” – for five parts of the film saga they tried to kill, seduce, deceive the main character, and the audience breathless adventures followed her. It was a real success. But this success for Mercier was also a punishment: henceforth, she was forever associated with Angélique. Despite the fact that the actress starred in a huge number of films, none of them became as popular as this one.

Michel Mercier’s first true love was actor Giani Esposito, star of the film Les Miserables. He courts very nicely: poems, horse riding, passionate declarations of love… But very quickly the relationship turns into a kind of spiritual drama. He disappeared somewhere for weeks, explaining this as “searching for himself”, then demanded that Michelle burn his shirt and toys, supposedly to get rid of the burden of the past that was holding him back. The actress waited long enough for her beloved to come to her senses and return to the real world, but she never did.

His next chosen one was assistant Andre Smaggi – smart, handsome, charming and with a great sense of humor. They were inseparable, the actress followed Andre everywhere and, it seems, was even ready to give up her career. But after the official ceremony, everything changed. Now Andre was disappearing on set and she was bored at home. I did not have to be bored for a long time, Michelle was invited to the role of Angelica, and she became famous all over the world. But only her success had a negative impact on relations with her husband: he was incredibly jealous, rolled up scandals and constantly criticized all her roles, in particular, of course, Angelica. He literally couldn’t cope with his wife’s fame, started drinking and ended up in a psychiatric clinic. Michelle started divorce proceedings, after which all property went to the ex-husband who went crazy.

The next attempt was a man far from the world of cinema – racing driver Claude Burilo. He had been in love with the actress for a very long time and was just waiting for the right moment to talk about his feelings. Michelle gave in to the onslaught of “great love”, but Claude was absolutely unprepared for life with an actress who had thousands of fans, he became mad with jealousy. They say that somehow he broke into the filming of the movie “Our Husbands” and almost beat up Michelle’s partner, Jean-Claude Briali, who had no interest in women at all .

But that was not all: Claude himself was not limited to one wife and was not a faithful husband. Maybe Michelle would have forgiven him those double standards if he hadn’t one day robbed her by transferring funds from his wife’s accounts to his. She got him out, but found herself literally with nothing.
It seemed that happiness was possible with businessman Adrian Janko, who won the heart of the actress with his tenderness and care. Adrian was 8 years younger and raised two children himself after the death of his wife. At home, they had a romance: Mercier befriended her children, and he gave her a white Rolls-Royce, the same as her beloved grandfather René. But the happiness was short-lived – Janko died of brain cancer, and Michel returned to Paris to work. In addition, relatives of the businessman forbade her to communicate with her children, as they feared that she would claim the inheritance.

Michelle’s next lover was a real prince. She was 45 years old and she still believed in fairy tales, then there appeared – Nicola Bocompagni Ludovisi, an Italian prince. He persuaded the actress to stop filming and move in with him, but very soon, like many of his other men, he began to torment Michelle with jealousy. After another scandal, she found herself on the streets and decided she had had enough. She doesn’t play those games anymore.

From now on, Jocelyn-Michel lives alone in the south of France.