Nathalie Baye, the veteran actress who appeared in Downton Abbey: A New Era and Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can, has passed away.
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The French actress died at her home in Paris on the evening of April 17 after a battle with Lewy body dementia, her family told Agence France-Presse. According to Deadline, Baye was 77.
Born in Mainneville, Normandy, on July 6, 1948, Baye graduated from France’s National Academy of Dramatic Arts (Conservatoire national supérieur d’art dramatique) in 1972. She made her film debut the same year in Robert Wise’s Two People, which starred Peter Fonda and Lindsay Wagner.
Baye’s filmography includes French films like Day for Night (1973), Jean-Luc Godard’s Every Man for Himself (1980), Strange Affair (1981), The Return of Martin Guerre (1982), La Balance (1982), Venus Beauty (2000), Feelings (2003), The Young Lieutenant (2006), and It’s Only the End of the World (2017).
Nathalie Baye Had an Impressive Film Career in the United States
Per IMDb, Baye also had a notable career in the U.S. In the 1993 Emmy-winning TV film And the Band Played On, she portrayed French virologist Françoise Barré-Sinoussi. She later worked with Spielberg in the Oscar-nominated film Catch Me If You Can, playing Paula, the mother of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Frank Abagnale Jr. The film also starred Christopher Walken as Frank’s father and Tom Hanks as the FBI agent pursuing him.
Baye’s most recent role was as Madame Montmirail in Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022), where she appeared alongside the late Maggie Smith in one of the iconic actress’s final film roles.
Baye is survived by her daughter, actress Laura Smet, whom she had with her former partner, musician Johnny Hallyday.