This sultry former model’s striking looks have highlighted a number of glossy features from the 1960s through the 80s. Though often used for decoration, Bisset has proved herself a talented actress when given the chance, particularly in Francois Truffaut’s “Day For Night” (1973), as an actress recovering from a nervous breakdown, and John Huston’s “Under the Volcano” (1983), opposite Albert Finney. Yet, overall, she has often been less than discriminating in her choices. Bisset, whose ancestors followed William the Conqueror from France to England, originally wanted to be a ballet dancer, but was too tall and too bony. Instead, she became a photographer’s model, and in 1965, made her screen debut playing a bit part in “The Knack…and How to Get It.” Roman Polanski cast her in a small role in “Cul-de-Sac” (1966) and she was on her way, although she played a character with the unfortunate name of Giovanni Goodthighs in the James Bond spoof “Casino Royale” (also 1966).
Signed by 20th Century Fox in 1967, Bisset won notice in her first role for the studio, playing the music student Albert Finney wants before he connects with Audrey Hepburn in the flashback sequence of “Two for the Road”. She replaced Mia Farrow opposite Frank Sinatra in “The Detective” (1968) after Sinatra and Farrow split, and had a chance to carry a film in the compelling “The Grasshopper” (1970), in which she was a bright-eyed Canadian girl who ends up a burnt-out Vegas call girl by the time she is 22. Fluent in French, Bisset made her first film in France, “L’eche le blanche/Secret World” in 1969. She was Gwen, the flight attendant carrying Dean Martin’s baby, in the all-star “Airport” (1970), her role memorable also for the scene in which she slaps the venerable Helen Hayes. Bisset was wife to Alan Alda, joining him in pacting with the devil in “The Mephisto Waltz” (1970). In 1973, Bisset was under the direction of Francois Truffaut in “Day for Night”, playing a Hollywood star whose headaches suggest she is on the verge of a breakdown. A year later, she was the wife of a Hungarian count (Michael York) and one of the potential murderers of Richard Widmark in Sidney Lumet’s classy “Murder on the Orient Express”. She followed with the slick comedy “Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?” (1976) and the highly commercial “The Deep” (1977), in which she was an innocent diver who stumbles on drugs and trouble, although she is probably better recalled for her diving scenes complete with clingy wet tee shirt. She erred in her choice of “The Greek Tycoon” (1978), in which she played a fictionalized Jacqueline Kennedy being romanced by a fictionalized Aristotle Onassis (Anthony Quinn). She developed, produced (uncredited) and starred in “Rich and Famous”, a 1981 remake of the Bette Davis-Mildred Hopkins vehicle “Old Acquaintance”. Directed by George Cukor, this version teamed Bisset with Candice Bergen as longtime friends and rivals. Bisset’s choices then became unfortunate. She starred in “Inchon” (1982), the disaster financed by the Unification Church and played the sex-crazed mother to prep student Rob Lowe who was sleeping with his roommate (Andrew McCarthy) in “Class” (1983). She was again opposite Finney in “Under the Volcano” (1984), directed by John Huston, which revived respect for her career. When, after a break of three years, Bisset returned to the screen it was as a photographer who becomes involved with sturm und drang on the Island of Rhodes in the forgettable “High Season” (1987). Other “lesser” films followed, including “Scenes From the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills” (1989), in which she was a woman who has just buried her husband but whose family–including herself–cannot think past their next sexual encounter. Her film work became sporadic in the 90s, but Bisset scored as a woman who returns to her Scottish town after 20 years in “September” and as a bourgeois housewife in Claude Chabrol’s thriller “La Ceremonie” (both 1996).
As with all actors, TV finally became the place where roles most frequently beckoned. Bisset made her TV miniseries debut in 1987 playing Josephine in “Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story” (ABC). She had appeared in her first TV-movie two years earlier, playing “Anna Karenina” (CBS, 1985) to Christopher Reeve’s Vronsky. More recently, she starred in “Leave of Absence” (NBC, 1995) and the period drama “End of Summer” (Showtime, 1996) as well as a pivotal role in the CBS miniseries “Joan of Arc” (1999), for which she earned an Emmy nomination.
- Also Credited As:
Jackie Bisset, Winifred Jacqueline Fraser-Bisset
- Born:
on 09/13/44 in Weybridge, Surrey, England
- Job Titles:
Actor, Model
Family
- Brother: Max Fraser-Bisset. lives in Florida
- Father: Max Fraser-Bisset. Scottish; divorced Bisset’s mother in 1968 after 28 years of marraige; died in 1982
- Mother: Arlette Fraser-Bisset. of French and English descent; escaped Germans in 1940 by cycling from Paris to the coast and boarding a British trooper; diagnosed with multiple sclerosis; husband divorced her in 1968 after 28 years of marriage; divides time between London and her daughter’s home in Beverly Hills
Significant Others
- Companion: Alexander Godunov. together c. 1982-88; died May 18, 1995 at age 45; death later attributed to acute alcoholism
- Companion: Emin Boztepe. Turkish; born c. 1963; together since 1994
- Companion: Michael Sarrazin. had long-term relationship
- Companion: Victor Drai. had long-term relationship
- Companion: Vincent Perez. dated in 1989
Milestones
- 1965 First film appearance (a bit) in “The Knack”; then another bit part in “Arrivederci, Baby” (1966)
- 1966 Made film acting debut in “Cul-de-Sac” (dir. Roman Polanski)
- 1967 Signed long-term contract with 20th Century-Fox; scored a bit with “Two for the Road”
- 1968 French-language debut in “La promesse” (also made in an English-language version, “Secret World”)
- 1973 Starred in “Day for Night”
- 1981 Produced (uncredited) and starred in “Rich and Famous”
- 1985 Made TV-movie debut as “Anna Karenina” (ABC)
- 1987 Made TV miniseries debut as Josephine in “Napoleon and Josephine” (ABC)
- 1996 Starred as returning Scottish woman in “September”
- 1998 Cast as the mother of Catherine McCormack in “Dangerous Beauty/The Honest Courtesan”
- 2000 Cast as the Virgin Mary in the CBS miniseries “Jesus”
- 2001 Earned praise for performance as terminally ill woman in “The Sleepy Time Gal”; premiered at Sundance
- 2001 Had recurring role on Fox’s “Ally McBeal”
- 2005 Portrayed Sophie Wynn, Domino’s mother, in the film “Domino” starring Keira Knightley as Domino Harvey, a model turned bounty hunter and directed by Tony Scott
- Began career aged 18 as professional model
