Madeleine Lebeau

Biography

Madeleine LeBeau, was a French actress who played Humphrey Bogart’s jilted mistress Yvonne, in “Casablanca,” In “Casablanca,” LeBeau gets teary-eyed when “La Marseillaise” is played and shouts “Viva la France!” She was among several cast members who were actually refugees from the German occupation. Her life echoed the film: After she made her screen debut in French film “Girls in Distress” in 1939, LeBeau and her husband, actor Marcel Dalio, fled Paris for Portugal. They were said to have received transit visas that allowed them to enter Spain and then Portugal before continuing on towards Chile. They were stranded in Mexico when their visas turned out to be forgeries and were able to enter the United States with temporary Canadian passports. 

Known For

Casablanca

as Yvonne

8½

as Madeleine, the French Actress

Angelique

as La Grande Mademoiselle

Gentleman Jim

as Anna Held

Hold Back the Dawn

as Anni

La Parisienne

as Monique Wilson

Napoleon

as Emilie Pellapra

Cadet Rousselle

as Marguerite de Beaufort

Life Together

as Peggy

Lightly and Shortly Dressed

as Jacqueline Vermorel