Stars Michel Mercier: how the star “Angelica – Marquise of Angels” was disappointed with men

The actress’ parents dreamed of a son who would inherit the family pharmaceutical company, and when she was born as a girl, she immediately became a certain disappointment. The girl’s name was Jocelyn, Michelle became much later. Meanwhile, she grew up – a naughty hooligan, stubborn and very headstrong – and dreamed of becoming a ballerina. Her dream was not just a whim, she stood at the machine for hours and practiced, practiced, practiced. After the operation to remove the appendix, she did not go to lie down and rest, but went to an important competition. It didn’t even stop her when one of her opponents put small nails in her pointy shoes. Weakened and literally on her nails, she danced and took first place. True, she went straight from there to the hospital – she passed out right after the number ended.

When she was 16, she went to Paris, hoping to pursue a career as a dancer. She was even accepted into the troupe, but it soon fell apart, it was impossible to find another, and Jocelyn decided to go to London. Everything seemed fine there until the artistic director called her to “discuss the repertoire”. He presented her with a list of sponsors and patrons who wanted to get to know the young ballerina better. Of course, she refused such an “honor” and a few days later she was already returning to France.

Yet Jocelyn did not die in darkness. When she returned home and mourned her ballet career, the director Denis de La Patelière arrived in Nice. She went to her father’s pharmacy, noticed the bored beauty and immediately offered her a role in his film “The Turn of the Knob”. The only condition was a name change, and her father chose the stage name Michelle. That was the name of their youngest daughter, who died in infancy.

After his debut in Patelier’s film, the directors literally tore the artist apart. She starred in horror films, comedies and even starred with Francois Truffaut himself. But her main role was yet to come.
In the mid-1950s, the bestseller by Anne and Serge Golon, which tells about the adventures of Angelica, became a real sensation. It is logical that the film rights were bought and the producers started looking for the perfect actress. Brigitte Bardot, Annette Stroyberg, Catherine Deneuve, Jane Fonda offered this role. Someone refused because they considered the picture too frivolous and fleeting, someone could not because of other projects. But the role eventually went to Michelle Mercier. It is said that when she put on the wig, the director gasped, “There she is, our Angelica.”

“Angelica in anger”, “Angelica and the King”, “Untameable Angelica”, “Angelica and the Sultan” – for five parts of the film saga, they tried to kill, seduce, deceive the main character, and the audience followed her adventure with bated breath. It was a real success. But this success for Mercier was also a punishment: from this moment on, she was forever linked to Angelica. Despite the fact that the actress starred in a huge number of films, none of them became as popular as this one.

Michel Mercier’s first true love was actor Giani Esposito, star of Les Misérables. He courted very beautifully: poems, riding a horse, passionate declarations of love… But very quickly the relationship turned into a kind of spiritual drama. He disappeared for weeks, explaining it as “finding myself”, then demanded that Michelle burn the shirt and toys to get rid of the burden of the past that prevented her from moving on. The actress waited quite a long time for her beloved to recover and return to the real world, but he never did.

Her next chosen one was assistant Andre Smaggi – smart, handsome, charming and with a great sense of humor. They were inseparable, the actress followed Andre everywhere and it seems that she was even ready to give up her career. But after the official ceremony, everything changed. Now Andre was disappearing on set and she was bored at home. I didn’t have to be bored for long, Michelle was invited to the role of Angelica and became famous all over the world. But only her success had a negative impact on relations with her husband: he was insanely jealous, rolled up scandals and endlessly criticized all her roles, especially, of course, Angelika. He literally could not handle the fame of his wife, started drinking and ended up in a psychiatric clinic. Michelle started divorce proceedings, as a result of which all the property went to her ex-husband, who had gone insane.

Another attempt was made by a man far from the world of cinematography – racing driver Claude Burilo. He was in love with the actress for a very long time and was just waiting for the right moment to talk about his feelings. Michelle gave in under the onslaught of “great love”, but Claude was completely unprepared for life with an actress who had thousands of fans, he was crazy with jealousy. Rumor has it that he somehow broke into the set of “Our Husbands” and almost beat Michelle’s partner Jean-Claude Briali, who was not at all interested in women.

But that was not all: Claude himself was not limited to one woman and was not a faithful husband. Maybe Michelle would have forgiven him for this double standard if he hadn’t robbed her one day by transferring funds from his wife’s accounts to his own. She extinguished it, but there was literally nothing left.
It seemed that happiness was possible with businessman Adrian Janek, who won the heart of the actress with his tenderness and care. Adrian was 8 years younger and raised two children on his own after the death of his wife. They had an idyll at home: Mercier befriended his children and gave her a white Rolls-Royce, the same one her beloved grandfather Rene had. But the happiness was short-lived – Janko died of brain cancer and Michelle returned to Paris to work. In addition, the businessman’s relatives forbade communication with his children, fearing that she would claim the inheritance.

Michelle’s next lover was a real prince. She was 45 years old and still believed in fairy tales, and then he appeared – Nicola Bocompagni Ludovisi, an Italian prince. He convinced the actress to stop filming and move in with him, but very soon, like many of her men, he began to torment Michelle with jealousy. After another scandal, she ended up on the street and decided she had had enough. He doesn’t play those games anymore.

Now Jocelyn-Michel lives alone in the south of France.