Matinee Classics - Jean Seberg Biography & Filmography

Jean Seberg ACTOR

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JEAN SEBERG BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Jean Seberg was born on November 13th, 1938 in Marshalltown, Iowa, to parents Dorothy Arline and Edward Waldemar Seberg. After high school she began her involvement in the entertainment industry by attending a number of summer stock theater programs.

Seberg debuted in her first film in 1957 as the lead role in, "Saint Joan" starring with Richard Widmark, John Gielgud and Richard Todd, which sadly was not as successful as many had hoped. She did however, continue working as an actress appearing on the big screen in additional film roles such as, "Bonjour tristesse" (1958), "The Mouse that Roared" (1959) and "Breathless" (1960).

Up until this point not all of her roles were successful and she had even spent some time in France working on films there making quite a name for herself. However by the mid 60's, Seberg had begun to finally catch the attention of Hollywood and she began to receive more substantial role offers.

She began appearing in such big screen films as, "Lilith" (1964) co-starring Warren Beatty, Peter Fonda, Kim Hunter, Jessica Walter and Gene Hackman, A Fine Madness (1966) starring with Sean Connery, Joanne Woodward, Colleen Dewhurst and Patrick O'Neal and one of her most well known roles followed in 1969 in he film, "Paint Your Wagon" (1969) starring alongside Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood and Ray Walston. Things were looking up for her career, but then another disastrous film role in 1970, "Airport" with an allstar cast of Dean Martin, Jacqueline Bisset, Van Heflin, Maureen Stapleton, Helen Hayes, George Kennedy, Lloyd Nolan, Barry Nelson, Barbara Hale, Dana Wynter, Gary Collins and Burt Lancaster, set her popularity back again.

Seberg was disappointed in the direction her career was heading and it did not help that some thought she was blacklisted due to an issue with the FBI and her personal life. It was later actually revealed that Jean Seberg was under constant surveillance and was wiretapped by the FBI.

In 1974, she was cast in her last American film role on the television movie, "Mousey". She then for the most part turned her focus back to working on European films.

Some of her latest roles were in the films, "Bianchi cavalli d'Agosto" (1975), "Le Grand Délire" (1975) and "Die Wildente" (1976). Sadly, she passed away before her time at the young age of forty on August 30th, 1979. She was found dead in the back seat of a car, eleven days after she took her own life in, in Paris, France and her death was ruled as barbiturate overdose.

Throughout her lifetime she married a total of four times. Her first husband was Francois Moreuil whom she wed in 1958 but divorced just two years later. She then married Romain Gary in 1962 and they had one child together before the marriage came to an end in 1970. Her third husband was Dennis Berry whom she married in 1972 however by 1978 another marriage ended in divorce. Her fourth and final husband was Ahmed Hasni and they married on May 30th, 1979 and were together until she passed away.

Her remains are buried in the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris, France. Beginning in 2011, her hometown of Marshalltown, Iowa began holding an annual Jean Seberg International Film Festival.