Emmanuelle Béart

Béart was born Emmanuelle Béhart-Hasson in Gassin, on the French Riviera, the daughter of Geneviève Galéa (pseudonym of Geneviève Guillery), a former model who is of Croatian, Greek and Maltese descent, and Guy Béart, a singer and poet. Her Egyptian-born father's family was of Sephardic Jewish descent, who later sought refuge in Lebanon during his childhood.

She has a half-sister, Ève (born 1959), on her father's side and six half-siblings on her mother's side; Ivan, Sarah and Mikis Cerieix from her mother's relationship with Jean-Yves Cerieix and Olivier Guespin, Lison and Charlotte from her mother's relationship with Jean-Jacques Guespin.

In her late teens, she spent her summer vacation with the English-speaking family of a close friend of her father in Montreal. She stayed with Beverly Mellen and William Sofin and their two children Andrew and Sean Sofin, who took her in as their own. At the end of the summer, the family invited her to stay with them and complete her baccalauréat at Collège International Marie de France. They have remained close friends. Béart got an acting role in 1976 film Tomorrow's Children. In her teens she appeared in bit parts in television. Upon graduating from the Collège International Marie de France in Montreal, she returned to France to attend drama school in Paris. A short time later, she was cast in her first adult role in a film, and in 1986 she achieved fame with her role opposite Yves Montand, playing the avenging daughter in French hit Manon des Sources. For her performance, she won the 1987 César Award for Best Supporting Actress. In the 1987 film Date with an Angel, she starred as the Angel. In 1995, she won the Silver St. George award for Best Actress at the 19th Moscow International Film Festival for her starring role in film A French Woman.

In addition to her award for Best Supporting Actress, she has also been nominated for another seven César Awards for Most Promising Actress and Best Actress. Béart received Most Promising Actress nominations for A Strange Passion and Love on the Quiet; followed by Best Actress nominations for Children of Chaos, La Belle Noiseuse (The Beautiful Troublemaker), Un cœur en hiver (A Heart in Winter), Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud (Nelly and Mr Arnaud), and Les Destinées Sentimentales (Sentimental Destinies)

In the 5 May 2003 issue of the French edition of Elle magazine, Béart, aged 39, appeared nude: The entire run of 550,000 copies sold out in just three days, making it the biggest-selling issue in the fashion glossy's long history.