Capucine has appeared in more than fifty films and TV series in a lifetime of acting that spanned four decades. Considering the fact that she was a major French model as well, this is no small feat. Dead for close to thirty years now, Capucine has continued to be a subject of conversations, so we decided to take a closer look at her lifetime and career.
Capucine: Meaning of the name
Capucine’s given name is Germaine Helene Irene Lefebvre, a name with deep roots in Gaelic heritage. When Ms. Lefebvre became a model, she took the name, Capucine? Why Capucine? Why not? What does it mean? Let’s see.
Capucine is the French name for nasturtium. Nasturtium is a flower of the specie Tropaeolum majus, or just T. majus, from the family Tropaeloceae, from the Brassicales order, from the Angiosperms clade and the Plantae kingdom.
Does any of this make any meaning to you? Not even to us. We can see, however, that she was named after a flower and since flowers are totems of beauty and grace, we can make speculations to that regard.
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Seeing how soon Capucine went from riding horses in carriages in Paris to becoming a world-renowned model and actress, perhaps the fast-growing capucine flower which stems rises to as high as six feet and which leaves circumference reach 15cm defines her more than anything else.
There are name sources on the internet who claim that the name Capucine is a French name influenced by Italia and stands for “cowl monk” whatever that means. One thing these sources seem to agree on is that the name is a rare and unusual name. The fact that Capucine bore the name means we have added “famous” to the list adjectives the name aspires.
Capucine: Marriage Status
Capucine’s husband’s name is Pierre Trabaud. He was an actor and as these things usually play out, she met him on a movie set in 1949. The two actors wedded in 1950. Capucine who was born in 1928 was just 22 years old when she said her conjugal vows.
Perhaps she was too young, perhaps the couple was too inexperienced, perhaps they were too busy. We can’t say, we don’t even know enough to make striking speculations. What we do know however was that the marriage lasted just eight months. They wedded in January 1950 but by November the same year, Trabaud and Capucine were no longer man and wife.
Capucine never remarried.
Capucine’s Career: From worn-torn France to Hollywood
A photographer spotted Capucine on horseback and thought she would make a great model. True to his instincts, Capucine became a model and worked for some of the biggest fashion companies of her time.
From modeling, Capucine went on to appear in a handful of French movies. France had just gotten out of a humiliating war, the whole of Europe was in semi-ruins and recession, the movies Capucine acted in these times weren’t exactly covered in marbles and glories.
In 1957, the producer Charles K Feldman spotted her modeling in New York City and decided she would be a hit in Hollywood. He took her to Hollywood and paid for her English classes. The actress went on to feature in “Song Without End” (her first English-speaking movie, acted in 1960). Capucine was nominated for the Golden Globe Award in her debut year.
Her other movies include “North to Alaska” (1960), “The Pink Panther” (1964), “Walk on the Wide Side” (1962), etc.
The actor was what a producer once called a born princess. She was beautiful, shapely and sexy so she acted many exotic roles, ranging from a prostitute to a woman who was willing to drop her panties and reach for under the sheet at the drop of a hat or whatever actors depicted characters of dropping in the 1960s and 1970s.
Capucine shuttled between Europe and America, acting in her native French and also in English. As Capucine grew older, her English/American appearances became fewer and fewer. She took up a permanent residence in Switzerland where she passed away.
Capucine’s Cause of Death
Depression. Capucine died on March 17, 1990. She was 62 years old approaching the granny age with no child of her own. She was married for just 240 days and had had a handful of affairs and flings in her younger days. Now, she had no one to call hers romantically and biologically.
Capucine had only two things. Four things actually, three cats and her collection of books. After she retired from active acting in 1987, she lived a secluded life in her apartment in Lussane, Switzerland. She hardly went out and didn’t entertain visitors. Neighbors stayed away. Capucine became lonely from which depression found roots in her. Depression is among actors, here is an article on how much actors are in the risk of depression. It must have been a long and painful struggle for the star.
She gave up. She jumped from her eighth-floor apartment.
Image source: The Movie Store
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