Micheline Presle, born Micheline Nicole Julia Émilienne Chassagne on August 22, 1922, was a French actress who sometimes billed herself as Micheline Prelle. Starting in 1939, she appeared in over 50 French and English language films produced in Hollywood and France.
Born in Paris, Presle developed an early passion for acting and began taking classes at the age of 13. She made her film debut at 15 in the 1937 production of La Fessée. In 1938, she was awarded the Prix Suzanne Bianchetti for most promising young actress in French cinema. Her European stardom led to Hollywood offers, and in 1950, she was signed by 20th Century Fox.
The studio changed her last name to Prell, which was later altered to Prelle due to a soap company's use of the name Prell shampoo. Her first Hollywood production was Under My Skin, opposite John Garfield, directed by Jean Negulesco. In 1950, she starred opposite Tyrone Power in American Guerrilla in the Philippines, directed by Fritz Lang.
Presle married American actor William Marshall in 1950, with whom she had a daughter, Tonie. Marshall had collaborated with actor Errol Flynn and his production company, and in 1951, he directed Flynn and Presle in the film Adventures of Captain Fabian. The marriage did not last, and Presle returned to France, divorcing Marshall in 1954.
Her career flourished in French films, and in 1957, she was a guest on the American Ed Sullivan Show. In 1959, she performed in the United Kingdom English-language production of Blind Date, directed by Joseph Losey. She returned to Hollywood in 1962 for the role of Sandra Dee's mother in the Universal Studios film If a Man Answers, alongside Dee's husband, singer Bobby Darin.
The following year, Presle acted again in English in The Prize, starring Paul Newman. She did not make another English film but continued performing in more than 50 French films. In 1989, she appeared in the French-made bilingual production I Want to Go Home, for which she was nominated for the César Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
In 1971, Presle signed the Manifesto of the 343, publicly declaring she had an illegal abortion. Micheline Presle died on February 21, 2024, at the age of 101, at the Maison des Artistes, a retirement home for artists, without specifying the cause.
