Annie Girardot, grande dame of French cinema, remembered for Visconti’s “Rocco and His Brothers”, has died aged 79

Annie Girardot, the perky, gravely-voiced actress who became one of France's most acclaimed stars, has died. She was 79.

Girardot had suffered since 2006 from Alzheimer's disease, and died today in a Paris hospital.

With an enthusiastic nature that never seemed to fail, Girardot captured the hearts of French lovers of cinema and theatre. Former Culture Minister Jack Lang called her a “legend” and film director Claude Lelouch said she was the equivalent on stage of singing great Edith Piaf.

She starred with Alain Delon in Luchino Visconti's “Rocco e i suoi fratelli” (“Rocco and His Brothers”) in 1960 and during her career performed in over 100 films. In 1962 she married Italian actor Renato Salvatori who co-starred with her in Visconti's film.

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.