Nathalie Baye was “very cheerful. She loved to laugh […] She was looking for a lot of fun”: her friend, the filmmaker Nicole Garcia, paid tribute to the actress on Saturday at the microphone of franceinfoafter the announcement of his death, on April 17 at the age of 77, from Lewy body disease. She funeral will take place this Friday in Paris.
“She was doing cartwheels on the beach,” says the director to illustrate her childish side. Nathalie Baye liked to “laugh at stupid things”, a trait that she retained for a long time, according to Nicole Garcia, who had her in several of her films, notably in Every other weekend (1990), his first. “This film was so important for her and for me, we became friends afterwards. »
“It was no longer about laughter”
The multi-Caesarean actress succumbed to Lewy body disease, from which the host Catherine Laborde also suffered. “This neurodegenerative disease cast a shadow over her and there was no longer any question of laughter and jokes,” says Nicole Garcia. Appeared “two, three years ago”, according to what she confided to Paris Matchthe illness gradually extinguished his energy. “His laughter died away.”
Thierry Klifa, director and close friend, was also present when the illness broke out. “She never complained,” he confided to Parisian. “We saw each other regularly, we went for walks, we went to restaurants together. As she was loyal to her friends, I was loyal to her to the end,” he says. “She faced everything with dignity.”
“She changed my life […]. She was the founder of the man and the director that I became,” adds the 58-year-old Parisian, who met Nathalie Baye in 1999 when he was a journalist. “She taught me a lot, gave me a lot. She was very generous. And so bright, laughing. She was the queen of giggles.” Thierry Klifa gave her the leading female role in A life waiting for you (2004).
In a tribute message published on Instagram, he evokes their last exchange: “The last time I saw you, you asked me how long we had known each other. I answered you and with a smile, which today breaks my heart, you whispered How time flies ».
Laura Smet “was of exemplary courage”
For his part, Michel Drucker confided on Saturday on Europe 1 not having been “surprised” by the news of her death, because he knew that the latter “had not been well” lately. “I saw Nathalie again not long ago at a dinner, and she was already very tired. I feel a lot of sadness for her, for those around her,” said the presenter of Looking forward to Sundaymoved.
In Paris Match, Dominique Besnehard, a long-time friend, evokes the last moments of the actress and the presence of her daughter Laura Smet, born from her affair with Johnny Hallyday, who was “of exemplary courage with her mother” until the end.
“In eight years, Laura became an orphan of both her parents,” adds the man who was Nathalie Baye’s agent at Artmedia. On Sunday, the actress’ daughter spoke for the first time on Instagram: “I lost half of my heart, she was the best mother in the world, I’m sending you these few words without really believing it.”
The actress’s last television appearance dates back to September 2024, on TV5 Monde, on the sidelines of the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival, where she already appeared weakened.
Last year, she also had to cancel her participation in the “Rose Days”, a charity event of which she was the godmother, due to a “health problem” requiring hospitalization, then reported West France.
The funeral of Nathalie Baye will take place at the Saint-Sulpice church, before a private burial.
To make tribute to Madame Nathalie BAYEyou can leave a message of condolence or share a memory in his memory on the site Libra Memory.
To date, 415 tributes have been published.
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