Vadim was born Roger Vadim Plemiannikov (sometimes transliterated Plemiannikoff) in Paris.[2] His father, Igor Nikolaevich Plemiannikov, a White Russian military officer and pianist, had emigrated from the Russian Empire and become a naturalized French citizen. He was a vice consul of France to Egypt, stationed in Alexandria, later posting to Mersin, Turkey as a consul. Vadim's mother, Marie-Antoinette (née Ardilouze),[3] was a stage actress.[4] He had one sister, Hélène Plemiannikov (1929–2022). Although Vadim lived as a diplomat's child in Northern Africa and the Middle East in his early youth,[5] the death of his father when Vadim was nine years old caused the family to return to France, where his mother found work running a hostel in the French Alps, which functioned as a way-station for Jews and other fugitives fleeing Nazism.[4]
At age 19, he became assistant to film director Marc Allégret, whom he met while working at the Theatre Sarah Bernhardt, and for whom he worked on several screenplays. He was an assistant director on Allegret's Blanche Fury (1948), a commercially unsuccessful melodrama which Allegret made for a British company in English. Vadim was one of several writers on Allegret's French-British The Naked Heart (1950), aka Maria Chapdelaine, starring Michèle Morgan, as well as serving as assistant director. It was shot in French and English versions. Blackmailed (1951) was another film Allegret directed in England, starring Mai Zetterling and Dirk Bogarde; Vadim was credited as one of the writers. He was also one of several writers on Allegret's, La demoiselle et son revenant (1952).
Vadim did the screenplay and commentary for a documentary, Le gouffre de la Pierre Saint-Marti (1953), and was assistant director on Allegret's Julietta (1953), a popular romance with Jean Marais, Dany Robin and Jeanne Moreau. Vadim wrote Allegret's Loves of Three Queens (1954), with Hedy Lamarr. Vadim had begun a relationship with model-actress Brigitte Bardot. She was given a good role in a drama directed by Allegret, School for Love (1953), aka Futures Vedettes, starring Jean Marais; Vadim wrote the script with Allegret. The film was a commercial disappointment. However the next collaboration between Allegret, Bardot and Vadim, Plucking the Daisy (1956), aka Mam'selle Striptease, was a huge success at the French box office. So too was Naughty Girl (1956), with Bardot. This allowed Vadim to get backing for his first movie as director.
Vadim's first film as director was based on an original story of his, And God Created Woman (1956). Starring Bardot, Curt Jurgens and Christian Marquand and produced by Raoul Levy it was not only a major success in France, but around the world, and established Bardot as a global icon. Vadim followed it with No Sun in Venice (1957) starring Françoise Arnoul and Marquand, produced by Levy, which was considerably less popular than And God Created Woman. Levy, Vadim and Bardot were to make Paris by Night with Frank Sinatra but Bardot refused to spend months in the US and Sinatra felt likewise about filming in France. Instead Vadim made The Night Heaven Fell (1958), starring Bardot and Stephen Boyd. He was one of several writers on Allegret's popular comedy, Be Beautiful But Shut Up (1958), starring Mylène Demongeot.
Vadims's next film was an adaptation of the book Les liaisons dangereuses (1959), which he wrote and directed. It starred Moreau, Gérard Philipe (in his final film) and Annette Stroyberg, a Danish model who became Vadim's second wife. The film became a huge hit in France. Stroyberg was also in the vampire film Blood and Roses (1960). Vadim was reunited with Bardot for Please, Not Now! (1961), a popular comedy. He was one of several directors of the anthology film, The Seven Deadly Sins (1962).
Vadim began a relationship with a young Catherine Deneuve. She starred in a segment of the anthology film Tales of Paris (1962), which was written by Vadim and directed by Allegret. She starred in a film Vadim helped write and produce, And Satan Calls the Turns (1962), and was also in Vice and Virtue (1963), which Vadim directed. Vadim had another success writing and directing for Bardot, Love on a Pillow (1962), but found less favour with Nutty, Naughty Chateau (1963) starring Monica Vitti.
Vadim and Fonda in Rome in 1967
Vadim tried another adaptation of a classic erotic text, La Ronde (1964). He said at the time, "When I make a picture about relations between people, something erotic comes through; I can't help it! But sex has been an inspiration, the greatest inspiration, since art exists."[6] One of the film's many stars was rising American actress Jane Fonda who began a romantic relationship with Vadim. Vadim devised a vehicle for Fonda, The Game Is Over (1966), based on a book by Émile Zola. Shot in French and English versions, it was very popular in France, though less so in the US.
Dino de Laurentiis wanted Fonda to star in a science fiction sex comedy, Barbarella (1968) and she agreed provided Vadim would direct. Following this he directed Fonda in a segment of the omnibus horror film Spirits of the Dead (1968) along with her brother Peter Fonda. During his marriage to Fonda, Vadim would accompany her back to the US periodically while she made movies there. He directed Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971) for MGM, starring Rock Hudson and Angie Dickinson. It was a commercial disappointment.
In the 1980s Vadim based himself in the US. He directed Night Games (1980), where he attempted to make a star of Cindy Pickett, with whom he became romantically involved. He directed a caper film in Canada, The Hot Touch (1981), starring Marie-France Pisier. Back in France he wrote and directed Surprise Party (1983). He directed episodes of Faerie Tale Theatre (1984) and Deadly Nightmares (1986). Vadim attempted to recapture his former success with a new version of And God Created Woman (1988), with Rebecca De Mornay. Very different from the original – it only really used the same title – it failed critically and commercially.
Vadim was celebrated for his romances and marriages to young beautiful actresses.[7] In his mid-30s, he lived with the still-teenaged Catherine Deneuve, by whom he had a son, Christian Vadim, prior to his marriage to Fonda.[8] He was also involved with Margaret Markov,[9]Sylvia Kristel[10] and Cindy Pickett.[11] Later, he cohabited with screenwriter Ann Biderman for several years, announcing their engagement in 1984,[12] but the couple never wed.[8]
Marriages
Brigitte Bardot, 20 December 1952 – 6 December 1957 (divorced)
Annette Stroyberg, 17 June 1958 – 14 March 1961 (divorced); 1 daughter (Nathalie) b. 7 December 1957
Jane Fonda, 14 August 1965 – 16 January 1973 (divorced); 1 daughter (Vanessa) b. 28 September 1968
Catherine Schneider, 13 December 1975 – 10 June 1977 (divorced); 1 son (Vania) b. 6 April 1974
He also had two stepsons from his marriage to Schneider (younger sister of novelist Dominique Schneidre and heiress to the Schneider-Creusot steel and armaments firm) as well as adult stepchildren from Barrault's first marriage to Daniel Toscan du Plantier, also a friend of Vadim's, who called him "a happy man. He was someone in whom there was so much satisfaction to the end of his life. The films merely reflected his happiness."[8] Nathalie, his eldest daughter, told Fonda biographer Patricia Bosworth: "Jane was the love of my father's life."[13]
Writing
In addition to Vadim's theatre and film work, he also wrote several books, including the memoirs "Memoires du Diable", "Le Gout du Bonheur: Souvenirs 1940–1958" and an autobiography, D'une étoile à l'autre (From One Star to the Next) as well as a tell-all about his most famous exes, Bardot, Deneuve & Fonda: My Life with the Three Most Beautiful Women in the World, published in 1986.[14] "My attitude is that if this book makes me a little money it will be a tiny compensation for all the money I helped those actresses make", Vadim explained.[15] He also wrote several plays and books of fiction, including L'ange affamé.
Death
Vadim died of lymphoma at age 72 on 11 February 2000. Widow Barrault and ex-wives Bardot, Fonda, Schneider and Stroyberg were all in attendance at his funeral; ex-girlfriends Biderman and Deneuve were not.[16] He is buried at St. Tropez Cemetery.
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot, often referred to by her initials B.B., is a French former actress, singer, and model as well as an animal rights activist. Famous for portraying characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she is one of the best known symbols of the sexual revolution. Although she withdrew from the entertainment industry in 1973, she remains a major pop culture icon. She has acted in 47 films, performed in several musicals, and recorded more than 60 songs. She was awarded the Legion of Honour in 1985.
Catherine Fabienne Dorléac, known professionally as Catherine Deneuve, is a French actress. She is considered one of the greatest European actresses on film. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her as one of the greatest actors of the 21st century.
Jean-Alfred Villain-Marais, known professionally as Jean Marais, was a French actor, film director, theatre director, painter, sculptor, visual artist, writer and photographer. He performed in over 100 films and was the lover, muse and friend of acclaimed director Jean Cocteau. In 1996, he was awarded the French Legion of Honor for his contributions to French cinema.
Barbarella is a fictional heroine in a French science fiction comic book created by Jean-Claude Forest.
Christian Plemiannikov known as Christian Vadim, is a French actor. He is the son of actress Catherine Deneuve and film director Roger Vadim.
Sylvia Maria Kristel was a Dutch actress and model who appeared in over 50 films. She was the eponymous character in five of the seven Emmanuelle films, including originating the role with Emmanuelle (1974).
Annette Susanne Strøyberg was a Danish actress. Her films included Les Liaisons dangereuses (1959), which was directed by her first husband, Roger Vadim.
And God Created Woman is a 1956 French romantic drama film directed by Roger Vadim in his directorial debut and starring Brigitte Bardot. Though not her first film, it is widely recognized as the vehicle that launched Bardot into the public spotlight and immediately created her "sex kitten" persona, making her an overnight sensation.
Françoise Paulette Louise Dorléac was a French actress. She was the elder sister of Catherine Deneuve, with whom she starred in the 1967 musical, The Young Girls of Rochefort. Her other films include Philippe de Broca's movie That Man from Rio, François Truffaut's The Soft Skin, Roman Polanski's Cul-de-sac, and Val Guest's Where the Spies Are.
Marc Allégret was a French screenwriter, photographer and film director.
Barbarella is a 1968 science fiction film directed by Roger Vadim, based on the French comic series by Jean-Claude Forest. The film stars Jane Fonda as the title character, a space traveler and representative of the United Earth government sent to find scientist Durand Durand, who has created a weapon that could destroy humanity. The supporting cast includes John Phillip Law, Anita Pallenberg, Milo O'Shea, Marcel Marceau, Claude Dauphin, David Hemmings and Ugo Tognazzi.
Circle of Love is a 1964 French drama film directed by Roger Vadim and based on Arthur Schnitzler's 1897 play Reigen. The film generated minor controversy because of Jane Fonda's nude scene, the first by a major American actress in a foreign film.
Spirits of the Dead, also known as Tales of Mystery and Imagination and Tales of Mystery, is a 1968 horror anthology film comprising three segments respectively directed by Roger Vadim, Louis Malle and Federico Fellini, based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe. A French-Italian international co-production, the film's French title is derived from a 1856 collection of Poe's short stories translated by French poet Charles Baudelaire; the English titles Spirits of the Dead and Tales of Mystery and Imagination are respectively taken from an 1827 poem by Poe and a 1902 British collection of his stories.
No Sun in Venice is a 1957 French-Italian drama film directed by Roger Vadim and starring Françoise Arnoul, Christian Marquand and Robert Hossein. It was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival. The soundtrack for the film was composed by pianist John Lewis, and performed by the Modern Jazz Quartet. The soundtrack album was released in 1957 on Atlantic. It was shot at the Billancourt Studios in Paris and on location in Venice. The film's sets were designed by the art director Jean André.
Julietta is a 1953 French romantic comedy film directed by Marc Allégret and starring Dany Robin, Jean Marais and Jeanne Moreau. The film was based on a novel of Louise de Vilmorin. In United Kingdom the film was known under the title "Julieta" (Mexico), "Biljett till Paris" (Sweden), "Il peccato di Giulietta" (Italy), "Ștrengărița" (Romania). It was shot at the Billancourt Studios with sets designed by the art director Jean d'Eaubonne.
Night Games is a 1980 erotic thriller film directed by Roger Vadim. It was released in France as Jeux de Nuit.
Naughty Girl, also released as Mam'zelle Pigalle, is a 1956 French CinemaScope musical film starring Brigitte Bardot.
Plucking the Daisy is a 1956 French comedy film directed by Marc Allégret and starring Daniel Gélin and Brigitte Bardot.
Babette Goes to War is a 1959 French CinemaScope film starring Brigitte Bardot. It was Bardot's first movie since becoming a star where she did not take off her clothes.
Victoria Mercanton, or Victoria Spiri-Mercanton (1911–2007), was a French film editor and director, born Viktoria Aleksandrovna Pozner on 25 January [O.S. 12 January] 1911, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, active from the 1930s to 1970s.
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