Jacqueline Bisset is remarkable in a lot of different ways.
The 78-year-old actress has a 58-year career and a filmography that includes about 50 films, and she shows no signs of slowing down.
Jacqueline Bisset was one of my role models growing up since she was so beloved by my parents. She is one of the few actors working today who, in my opinion, fully captures the glamour of classic Hollywood.
I have always admired the way she has aged gracefully and thought she was incredibly seductive. Her use of cosmetics was never excessive.
The brown-haired beauty, who is renowned for her high cheekbones and mesmerizing green eyes, has proven her versatility throughout her illustrious career by portraying a variety of roles, including the seductive seductress Miss Goodthighs in the spy parody Casino Royale (1967), a loving mother in Sleepy Time Gal (2001), First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in America’s Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story (2003), and Anna Karenina (19
In 1966, Bisset made her feature debut in Roman Polanski’s Cul-de-Sac, and in 1968, after appearing in two consecutive movies, she rose to fame: She appeared in The Sweet Ride, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe, Detective with singer Frank Sinatra, and Bullitt with director Steven McQueen, and her Golden Globe-nominated performance in The Sweet Ride with Tony Franciosa and Bob Denver, who’s famously known as Gilligan on Gilligan’s Island.
You may also be familiar with her from her roles in Day for Night (1973), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Deep (1977), Wild Orchid (1990), Joan of Arc (1999), the miniseries Dancing on the Edge (2013), Miss You Already (2015), and Birds of Paradise, for which she received a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination (2021).
The highest state honour in France, the Legion of Honor, was given to the multilingual actor in 2010; she is trilingual (speaks English, French, and Italian). In 2023, the Sedona International Film Festival honored Bisset with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Bisset has never been married, despite working with some of Hollywood’s most attractive men. Frank Sinatra was interested in the attractive woman, and allegations of a relationship between her and the Hollywood bad boy co-star of Bullitt circulated. Steve McQueen. But Bisset, a proper English lady, said they were too different.
Referring to McQueen, she said in an interview with the Daily Mail, “He was attractive, but a little scary. I was very English and he was a hip American. The way he talked would have driven me mad–I didn’t know what a dude or a soul chick was!”
She admits she’s too independent for anything long-term despite having long-term relationships with Canadian actor Michael Sarrazin, ballet dancer Alexander Godunov, and actor Vincent Pérez.
In an interview with the Independent, Bisset said, “I’ve had some very interesting men in my life. They have been a handful. I don’t choose easy men, I’m told.” She continued, “Sometimes you get too much information when you spend time with people. You start to see things–bad habits. You start to discover them and then you have to marry bad habits and I’m not sure I can cope with them. I don’t ever have bad relationships. I haven’t broken up angry. I’ve just moved out of situations that have been overwhelming.”
Although Bisset, who is Angelina Jolie’s godmother, hasn’t been in the news for having scandalous affairs, she became well-known after winning the Golden Globe for her performance as Lady Cremone in the BBC series Dancing on the Edge.
Her acceptance speech, which was primarily made up of ramblings and played in the background to signify her exit from the platform, showed real gratitude on the part of the 69-year-old, who had been waiting 47 years to win since her first nomination for best newcomer.
She appeared in the French thriller The Lodger (2020) after that as a feisty femme fatale, and most recently she was in the movie Loren & Rose (2022). The main character Rose, played by Bisset, is a legendary actress striving to revive her career but is constrained by the perception that she is ““little zany and a bit unreliable.”
Russell Brown, the film’s director, claims that Rose, in real life, is Bisset’s polar opposite. “Viewers often assume that Jacqueline is ‘like she is in the movie.’ But this really isn’t the case–as an actress and a woman, I think she is quite different from Rose, and it’s a testament to her skill that the transformation feels so seamless.”
Bisset is a timeless beauty who embraces aging with grace. In her infamous Golden Globes speech, she said: ‘I believe, if you want to look good, you’ve got to forgive everybody. It’s the best beauty treatment.’
She’s also said that though in her youth she had “lots of complexes” she was never tempted by plastic surgery. “I don’t think it makes you look younger. It makes you different,” said Bisset.
Such a remarkable actress/artist who is also incredibly sincere, lovely, and giving—she is a beacon of light in the world of celebrities!
Jacqueline seems to be such a real person! She is one of my all-time favorite actors and such a nice lady.
Share your memories of Jacqueline Bisset, one of Hollywood’s greatest actors for 55 years.
