Editing Roger Vadim

{{short description|French filmmaker (1928–2000)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name             = Roger Vadim
| image            = Roger Vadim - still.jpg
| caption          = Vadim in 1971
| birth_name       = Roger Vadim Plemiannikov
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=yes|1928|1|26}}
| birth_place      = [[Paris]], [[French Third Republic|France]]
| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=yes|2000|2|11|1928|1|26}}
| death_place      = [[Paris]], France
| occupation       = Film director, screenwriter, producer
| years_active     = 1950–1997
| spouse           = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Brigitte Bardot]]|20 December 1952|6 December 1957|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Annette Stroyberg]]|17 June 1958|14 March 1961|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Jane Fonda]]|14 August 1965|16 January 1973|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Catherine Schneider|13 December 1975|10 June 1977|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Marie-Christine Barrault]]|21 December 1990}}
}}
| partner          = {{plainlist|
* [[Catherine Deneuve]] (1961–1964)
* [[Ann Biderman]] (1980–1987)
}}
| children         = 4, including [[Christian Vadim|Christian]]
}}

'''Roger Vadim Plemiannikov''' ({{IPA|fr|ʁɔʒe vadim|lang}}; 26 January 1928 – 11 February 2000) was a French screenwriter, film director and producer, as well as an author, artist and occasional actor.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55475623|title=Roger Vadim writes his "Memoirs of the Devil"|work=The Australian Women's Weekly|date=12 January 1977}}</ref> His best-known works are visually lavish films with [[erotic]] qualities, such as ''[[And God Created Woman (1956 film)|And God Created Woman]]'' (1956), ''[[Blood and Roses]]'' (1960), ''[[The Game Is Over]]'' (1966), ''[[Barbarella (film)|Barbarella]]'' (1968), and ''[[Pretty Maids All in a Row]]'' (1971).

==Early life==
Vadim was born '''Roger Vadim Plemiannikov''' (sometimes transliterated '''Plemiannikoff''') in Paris.<ref>{{cite book|title=501 Movie Directors|editor-first=Steven Jay|editor-last=Schneider|publisher=Cassell Illustrated|year=2007|page=309|isbn=9781844035731}}</ref> His father, Igor Nikolaevich Plemiannikov, a [[White émigré|White Russian]] military officer and pianist, had emigrated from the [[Russian Empire]] and become a naturalized French citizen. He was a [[Diplomatic consulate|vice consul]] of France to [[Egypt]], stationed in [[Alexandria, Egypt|Alexandria]], later posting to [[Mersin]], Turkey as a consul. Vadim's mother, Marie-Antoinette (née Ardilouze),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/72/Roger-Vadim.html|title=Roger Vadim profile at Filmreference.com|access-date=18 December 2012}}</ref> was a stage actress.<ref name="tcmbio"/> 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,<ref name="Bosworth2011"/> 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]].<ref name="tcmbio"/>

Vadim studied journalism and writing at the [[University of Paris]], without graduating.<ref name="tcmbio"/>

==Film career==
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 film)|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 film)|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 (film)|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 film)|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 (film)|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 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]].

[[File:Roger Vadim and Jane Fonda (Rome 1967, cropped).jpg|thumb|280px|Vadim and Fonda in Rome in 1967]]

Vadim tried another adaptation of a classic erotic text, ''[[La Ronde (1964 film)|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."<ref>{{Cite news|title=Vadim Is Frank On, Off Screen|author=Scheuer, Philip K.|work=Los Angeles Times|date=July 20, 1965|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/382358133}}</ref> 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 (film)|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.

[[File:Rock Hudson, Gene Roddenberry, Roger Vadim, and cast of Pretty Maids All in a Row.jpg|thumb|left|Cast of [[Pretty Maids All in a Row]] (L-R): (front row) [[June Fairchild]], [[Joy Bang]], Aimee Eccles; (middle row) [[Joanna Cameron]], [[Gene Roddenberry]], [[Rock Hudson]], Roger Vadim; (back row) [[Margaret Markov]], [[Brenda Sykes]], Diane Sherry, Gretchen Burrell]]
Vadim returned to France. He wrote and directed ''[[Hellé (film)|Hellé]]'' (1972), starring [[Gwen Welles]], which was a flop. He was reunited with Bardot for ''[[Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman]]'' (1973), which was Bardot's penultimate movie and a commercial disappointment. Not particularly successful either  were ''[[Charlotte (1974 film)|Charlotte]]'' (1974), and ''[[Game of Seduction]]'' (1976) with [[Sylvia Kristel]] and [[Nathalie Delon]]. He directed a TV movie ''[[Bonheur, impair et passe]]'' (1977), starring [[Danielle Darrieux]].

In the 1980s Vadim based himself in the US. He directed ''[[Night Games (1980 film)|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 (film)|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 film)|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.

His final years were spent working in TV, where he directed ''[[Safari (1991 film)|Safari]]'' (1991) and wrote and directed ''[[Amour Fou (1993 film)|Amour fou]]'' (1993), starring [[Marie-Christine Barrault]] who became his final wife. She was also in ''[[La Nouvelle tribu]]'' (1996) and its sequel ''[[Un coup de baguette magique]]'' (1997), which Vadim wrote and directed.

==Personal life==
===Romances===
Vadim was "celebrated" for his romances and marriages to young beautiful actresses.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SRsvAAAAIBAJ&pg=884,2994165|title=Roger Vadim is no braggart about his love life|work=Beaver County Times|date=11 July 1975|first=Earl|last=Wilson}}</ref> In his mid-30s, he lived with the teenage [[Catherine Deneuve]], by whom he had a son, [[Christian Vadim]], prior to his marriage to Fonda.<ref name="people">{{cite web|last=Smith|first=Kyle|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20130583,00.html|title=Sweet Svengali|work=People|date=28 February 2000|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814041504/https://people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20130583,00.html|archive-date=14 August 2016}}</ref> He was also involved with [[Margaret Markov]], [[Sylvia Kristel]] and [[Cindy Pickett]].<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/136635925 "Vadim's Next?"]. ''Democrat and Chronicle''. 24 October 1970.</ref><ref>Brown, Mick (18 October 2012). [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/9617574/Sylvia-Kristel-interview.html "Sylvia Kristel interview"]. ''The Telegraph''.</ref><ref>Wilson, Earl (25 March 1981). [https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/302217299 "Cindy Pickett's over Vadim, but says he's not over Fonda"]. ''The Miami News''.</ref> Later, he cohabited with screenwriter [[Ann Biderman]] for several years, announcing their engagement in 1984, but the couple never wed.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19840115&id=l7YsAAAAIBAJ&pg=6975,3341295&hl=en "Tipoff"]. ''Star-News''. 15 January 1984.</ref><ref name="people"/>

===Marriages===
* [[Brigitte Bardot]], 20 December 1952&nbsp; – 6 December 1957 (divorced)
* [[Annette Stroyberg]], 17 June 1958&nbsp; – 14 March 1961 (divorced); 1 daughter (Nathalie) b. 7 December 1957
* [[Jane Fonda]], 14 August 1965&nbsp; – 16 January 1973 (divorced); 1 daughter (Vanessa) b. 28 September 1968 
* Catherine Schneider, 13 December 1975&nbsp; – 10 June 1977 (divorced); 1 son (Vania) b. 6 April 1974
* [[Marie-Christine Barrault]], 21 December 1990&nbsp; – 11 February 2000 (his death)

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]]. He was a friend of Vadim's, and called him "a happy man". Vadim is said to have enjoyed great satisfaction throughout his life. The films merely reflected this happiness."<ref name="people"/> Nathalie, his eldest daughter, told Fonda biographer [[Patricia Bosworth]]: "Jane was the love of my father's life."<ref>{{cite book|last=Bosworth|first=Patricia|title=Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|year=2011|isbn=978-0-547-50447-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780547152578/page/207 207]}}</ref>

==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.<ref>Pulleine, Tim (11 February 2000). [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/feb/12/guardianobituaries.timpulleine "Film director with a lifelong penchant for beautiful blondes and glossy, erotic movies"]. ''The Guardian''.</ref> "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.<ref>Associated Press (30 March 1986). [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1696&dat=19860330&id=qn41AAAAIBAJ&pg=3955,6865830&hl=en "Vadim candid about reasoning behind book"]. ''Park City Daily News''.</ref>
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 all paid attendance at his funeral; ex-girlfriends Biderman and Deneuve were not.<ref name="My Life So Far">{{cite book|last=Fonda|first=Jane|title=My Life So Far|page=[https://archive.org/details/mylifesofar00fondrich/page/141 141]|publisher=Random House|year=2005|isbn=9780375507106 }}</ref> He is buried at [[St. Tropez]] Cemetery.

==Filmography==
===Writer or director===
*''[[The Naked Heart]]'' (1950)
*''[[Blackmailed (1951 film)|Blackmailed]]'' (1951)
*''[[Plucking the Daisy]]'' aka Mam'selle Striptease (1956)
*''[[And God Created Woman (1956 film)|And God Created Woman]]'' (1956)
*''[[No Sun in Venice|Sait-on jamais?]]'' (1957)
*''Sois belle et tais-toi/Be Beautiful but Shut up'' (1957)
*''[[The Night Heaven Fell|Les Bijoutiers du Clair de Lune/The Night Heaven Fell]]'' (1958)
*''[[Les liaisons dangereuses (film)|Les liaisons dangereuses/Dangerous Liaisons]]'' (1959)
*''[[Blood and Roses]]'' (1960)
*''[[La Bride sur le cou|La Bride sur le cou/Please Not Now!]]'' (1961)
*''[[Les Sept péchés capitaux|Les Sept péchés capitaux/Seven Capital Sins]]'' (1962)
*''Les Parisiennes/Beds and Broads'' (1962)
*''[[Love on a Pillow]]'' (1962)
*''Un château en Suède/Castle in Sweden'' (1963)
*''[[Vice and Virtue|Le vice et la vertu/Vice and Virtue]]'' (1963)
*''[[La Ronde (1964 film)|La Ronde/Circle of Love]]'' (1964)
*''[[The Game Is Over|La Curée/The Game is Over]]'' (1966)
*''[[Spirits of the Dead]]'' (1968)
*''[[Barbarella (film)|Barbarella]]'' (1968)
*''[[Pretty Maids All in a Row]]'' (1971)
*''[[Hellé (film)|Hellé]]'' (1972)
*''[[Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman|Don Juan ou Si Don Juan était une femme]]''  (1973)
*''La jeune fille Assassinée/The Murdered Young Girl'' (1974)
*''[[Une femme fidèle]]'' (1976)
*''Bonheur, impair et passe'' (1977)
*''[[Night Games (1980 film)|Jeux de Nuit/Night Games]]'' (1980)
*''[[The Hot Touch]]'' (1981)
*''[[Surprise Party (film)|Surprise Party]]'' (1983)
*''[[Faerie Tale Theatre]]'' (1984 TV, segment "Beauty and the Beast")
*''[[The Hitchhiker (TV series)|The Hitchhiker]]'' (1986 TV, segment "Dead Man's Curve")
*''[[And God Created Woman (1988 film)|And God Created Woman]]'' (1988)
*''[[Safari (1991 film)|Safari]]'' (1991, TV movie)
*''Amour fou'' (1993, TV movie)
*''La Nouvelle tribu'' (1996, TV mini-series)
*''[[Mon père avait raison (1996 TV film)|Mon père avait raison]]'' (1996, TV movie)
*''Un coup de baguette magique'' (1997, TV movie)

===Actor===
* ''[[Pétrus (film)|Pétrus]]'' (1946)
*''School for Love'' (1955)
*''[[Sweet and Sour (1963 film)|Sweet and Sour]]'' (1963)
*''[[Ciao! Manhattan]]'' (1972)
*''The Assassinated Young Girl'' (1974)
*''[[Rich and Famous (1981 film)|Rich and Famous]]'' (1981)
*''[[Into the Night (1985 film)|Into the Night]]'' (1985)

==References==
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name="tcmbio">{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/196161%7C134189/Roger-Vadim/#biography|title=Biography for Roger Vadim|publisher=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=24 September 2024}}</ref>
<ref name="Bosworth2011">{{cite magazine|title=Jane Fonda: The She Decade|author=Bosworth, Patricia|date=15 August 2011|magazine=Vanity Fair|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/09/jane-fonda-201109}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|671862}}
* [http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz0002w46v Image of Rock Hudson, Gene Roddenberry, and Roger Vadim posing with women cast members for motion picture "Pretty Maids All in a Row", California, 1970.] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, [[Charles E. Young Research Library]], [[University of California, Los Angeles]].

{{Roger Vadim|state=uncollapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vadim, Roger}}
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of France]]
[[Category:French film producers]]
[[Category:French male film actors]]
[[Category:French male stage actors]]
[[Category:Paris Match writers]]
[[Category:Male actors from Paris]]
[[Category:20th-century French male actors]]
[[Category:Deaths from lymphoma in France]]
[[Category:Fonda family]]
[[Category:Film directors from Paris]]
[[Category:French people of Russian descent]]