Odile Versois

Docile, delicately beautiful, light-haired Parisian actress Odile Versois was born Katiana de Poliakoff-Baidaroff on June 14, 1930, the second of four Poliakoff sisters, all of whom became renowned actresses in their own right. From an artistic family (her father was opera singer Vladimir de Poliakoff), Versois began her career as a child ballerina with the Paris Opera Corps de Ballet. She subsequently turned to film acting at age 18 and proved a natural with a major debut in The Last Vacation (1948) [The Last Vacation]. Of the numerous films in which she undertook leading lady parts, she moved audiences most with her portrayals of fragile, often tragic heroines in romantic drama. Her more notable pictures include Paolo e Francesca (1950), Beautiful Love (1951) [Beautiful Love], the title role in Domenica (1952), Grand gala (1952) and director/actor Robert Hossein's Blonde in a White Car (1958) [Nude in a White Car], which also co-starred sister Marina Vlady -- known for her sultry ro