Charlotte Rampling OBE

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Biography

Tessa Charlotte Rampling, OBE known in flm as Charlotte Rampling, is a famous English actress. Since the 1960s she has appeared in numerous films in multiple languages, She is a four-time Cesar Award nominee and received an Honorary César in 2001, and France's Legion of Honour in 2002. Her most famous role was as the femme fatale to Paul Newman in The Verdict (1982). She was formerly married for 20 years to the famous composer Jean Michel Jarre.

Charlotte was born 5 February 1946 in Sturmer, Essex, the daughter of Isabel Ann (née Gurteen), a painter and heiress of the Gurteen men's fashion family, and Godfrey Rampling, a famous Olympic gold medalist and army officer. She grew up in Gibraltar, France and Spain. She had one sister, Sarah, who, after giving birth prematurely in 1966, committed suicide in Argentina at the age of 23. This was kept as a family secret until Charlotte's mother died in 2001.

Charlotte attended Académie Jeanne d'Arc in Versailles and St. Hilda's School, a boarding school in Bushey, Hertfordshire, England.

Her career began age 17 in a commercial role and as a model, then her first screen appearance was uncredited as a water skier in Richard Lester's film The Knack ...and How to Get It in 1965, which was followed a year later by the role of Meredith in the film Georgy Girl.

In 1972, Charlotte married the semi-legendary New Zealand publicist and minor actor Bryan Southcombe. They shared a London flat with a male model, Randall Laurence. Charlotte and Bryan had one child,

1. Barnaby Southcombe (now a successful television and film director and producer) before divorcing in 1976.

In 1976 Charlotte met and fell for the famous composer Jean Michel Jarre at a dinner party in St Tropez in 1976. Both were in failing marriages, but they each obtained a divorce in 1977. The two married in 1978, Jarre gaining custody of his daughter Émilie Charlotte, and Rampling her son Barnaby. Together they have a son,

1. David Jarre, a former magician and currently an acclaimed musician.

Charlotte also raised her stepdaughter Émilie Jarre, now a fashion designer.

In 1995 photographs in Hello! showed Charlotte's long-term husband Jean Michel Jarre apparently romantically involved with 31-year-old secretary Odile Froument, and in 1996 Jarre and Rampling separated, when Charlotte had a nervous breakdown as a result of the public infidelities of her husband. They divorced in 2002.

Charlotte had since been engaged to Jean-Noël Tassez, a French communications tycoon, since 1998. He was a former executive of RMC and CEO of the broadcasting company, la Société financière de radiodiffusion (SOFIRAD). The couple lived in Paris.

Jean-Noël died on Friday, October 2, 2015 at age 59, after a long illness.

Charlotte continues to live in Paris.

Sources

• International Movie Database (imdb.com), "Charlotte Rampling." (Accessed 2 September 2015.)

• Wikipedia contributors, "Charlotte Rampling," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charlotte_Rampling&oldid=678763641 (accessed September 3, 2015).

• The Daily Mail, Mail Online, "From epitome of decadence to Broadchurch battleaxe: Charlotte Rampling's taboo-shattering past even shocks her own family." Published 17 January 2015. (Accessed 2 September 2015.)

• Wikipedia article on her ex-husband, Jean Michel Jarre

• Obituary: Jean-Noël Tassez: Le compagnon de Charlotte Rampling est mort October 7, 2015