Jocelyne LaGarde

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Jocelyne LaGarde , Tahitian Tetuanuira (* 1924 in Tahiti , † September 12, 1979 in Papeete , Tahiti) was a French-Polynesian actress. The amateur actress gained fame through her only film role in the Hollywood production Hawaii (1966), which earned her a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination.

Life

Jocelyne LaGarde was born in 1924 in Tahiti, the largest island in French Polynesia. She was a descendant of Pomaré V , the last king of Tahiti. Her Tahitian name was Tetuanuira . Although she had never worked as an actress before and had no knowledge of English, LaGarde received the role of Queen Malama Kanakoa in George Roy Hill's 1966 movie Hawaii (1966). The historical drama with Julie Andrews and Max von Sydow in the leading roles is based on the novel of the same name by James Michener from 1959 and tells of a missionary couple from New England who in the middle of the 19th century on Lāhainā , Maui with the problems of the Christianization of the Hawaiian indigenous people is faced. LaGarde's character was modeled after the real Hawaiian Queen Kaʻahumanu .

At the time of her discovery, the amateur actress lived in a large, colonial-style house in Papeete, which she shared with an aunt and numerous other relatives. One brother worked as an accountant in Paris . For the English-language production, which cost around US $ 15 million at the time and was filmed on original locations in Hawaii and Tahiti from February to October 1965, the French-speaking Jocelyne LaGarde had to learn her dialogue phonetically with the help of a language teacher. Director George Roy Hill refused to give LaGarde professional acting lessons. She should act as naturally as possible in front of the camera and only learn her text by heart. LaGarde had previously only known French films. She counted Jean Delannoy's And It Was Light (1946) to her favorite films and had a crush on Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux . She was known, however, with Marlon Brando and Tarita Teriipaia , who shot the film Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) together in Tahiti in the early 1960s .

Less than a year after filming was finished, Hawaii premiered in the US on October 10, 1966. To promote her film, LaGarde first left her homeland of Tahiti and traveled to Asia, Europe and North America. She was also invited to appear on the Johnny Carson TV show . However, George Roy Hill's production found little approval from critics. Vincent Canby , journalist for the New York Times , headlined in his film review a day after the premiere that the plot of the film had to be subordinated to the paradisiacal locations. In fact, the film's screenwriters, Dalton Trumbo and Daniel Taradash , had only used the 1821-1840 portion of Michener's epic novel, Hawaii , for their work . Nevertheless, the critics praised the acting performances of the ensemble, especially that of the amateur actors, which also included Jocelyne LaGarde. The 1.83 m tall and 136 kilogram actress was nominated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1967 and surprisingly won the award against such renowned American actresses as Geraldine Page ( Big Boy - Now you will a man ) or Shelley Winters ( the seducer sends his regards ).

Less than two months later, at the 1967 Academy Awards , Hawaii was nominated for seven Academy Awards . From the cast, only Jocelyne LaGarde was nominated for her role as a tribal queen in the Best Supporting Actress category. At the ceremony on April 10, 1967 in the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium , however, the Polynesian had to admit defeat to the American Sandy Dennis ( Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ).

Despite the great success that she achieved with her first film role, Jocelyne LaGarde were no longer offered any further film roles. Thereupon she returned to her homeland ( "I will live the same life as before. I am happy that I know the life that the new generation will not see. [...] Today everyone has to work to eat. No feeding more of breadfruit and coconuts . ” ) LaGarde died in 1979 at her home in Papeete, Tahiti. To date, she is considered the only actress in Oscar history who was nominated for the Academy Award for her only film appearance.

Filmography

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Andrew Horton: The films of George Roy Hill , McFarland 2010, ISBN 0-7864-4684-6 , page 58.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Thomas, Kevin: She's Very Big in and on Film 'Hawaii' . In: Los Angeles Times , Feb.4, 1967, p. 19.
personal data
SURNAME LaGarde, Jocelyne
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tetuanuira
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French Polynesian actress
DATE OF BIRTH 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Tahiti
DATE OF DEATH September 12, 1979
Place of death Papeete , Tahiti