Biography for
Annette Vadim More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

7 December 1936, Fyn, Denmark

Date of Death

12 December 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark (cancer)

Birth Name

Annette Susanne Strøyberg

Mini Biography

Pouty-lipped, kittenish Annette (Susanne) Stroyberg was best known, and briefly known, as the sexy young nubile blonde who replaced bombshell Brigitte Bardot in the late 1950s as the wife and object of exploitation of Svengali-like French director Roger Vadim. Possessing Bardot's similar erotic balance of melancholy and fragility within her Lolita-like stunning looks, Vadim married Annette in June of 1958. Billing her as Annette Vadim, he was unable, however, to recreate the same Bardot magic and their marriage and her career quickly fell by the wasteside.

The beautiful Stroyberg was born on the island of Fyn, in Denmark, on December 12, 1934. Her father was a physician who died when she was quite young. She and her sister then moved to Copenhagen where she was raised. She found her way to Paris in her late teens where she worked at couture houses as a model, later finding employment with such fashion notables as Chanel. Annette hooked up with Vadim during the filming of his legendary first feature Et Dieu... créa la femme (1956) [...And God Created Woman], the movie that catapulted BB to mythic status. When BB started up a heated affair with young co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant, Vadim moved in with Annette, who subsequently gave birth to their daughter Nadine in 1957. Vadim then proceeded to build and groom a replica of BB with Stroyberg. Her biggest chance for fame was when he put her on display in the film of the classic novel Les liaisons dangereuses (1959) as Marianne de Tourvel, the virtuous victim of the evil Jeanne Moreau and Gérard Philipe. Making her debut, Annette was stunning, of course but found herself quite outclassed by her cast, hardly ready for such a demanding role. She earned far more recognition when Vadim cast her as a society girl-cum-lesbian vampire Carmilla (catch the cozy scene with "victim" Elsa Martinelli) in the exploitive Et mourir de plaisir (1960). By the time of the film's release, however, her marriage to Vadim was history. He had moved on to try and conquer up-and-coming actress Catherine Deneuve and she put designs on guitarist Sacha Distel.

Annette subsequently packed her bags for Italy where she made a few unmemorable pictures, reverting to her maiden name of Stroyberg on the marquee boards. In between she managed to amass a number of love affairs with such available (and unavailable) playboy actors as Vittorio Gassman, her co-star in Roberto Rossellini's Anima nera (1962), Alain Delon, Omar Sharif and Warren Beatty. Her last film was Lo scippo (1965). Giving up on her career, she turned socialite and married a French Moroccan, dividing her time between Paris and Africa. When that marriage failed, she married a Greek shipping magnate, Gregory Callimanopulos, and settled for a time in America. She returned to Europe after their divorce. Stroyberg died at age 71 of cancer in 2005, and was survived by her three children, one from each of her marriages. Of her children, daughter Nathalie Vadim, became a second assistant director of films and, interestingly, worked on her father's remake of And God Created Woman (1988) starring Rebecca De Mornay.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

Spouse

Roger Vadim

(1958 - 1960) (divorced)

Trivia

Mother of Nathalie Vadim

Stroyberg was born on the Danish island of Fyn, the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen.

Subsequently became a friend to Brigitte Bardot, visiting often in St. Tropez.

All of Roger Vadim's wives -- past (Bardot, Stroyberg, Fonda, Catherine Schneider) and present (Marie-Christine Barrault), attended his funeral in 2000.

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