The French actress Ariel Besse, whose lightning-fast fame brought her role in the scandalous film “Stepfather” in 1981, has passed away.
According to the French TV channel BFM TV, the artist died on May 29 at the age of 65, but her death became known only now. The funeral took place in the commune of Draguignan in the department of Var.
Bess made her film debut at the age of 15 in the film Stepfather, where she played a teenager who was left under the care of her stepfather after the death of her mother. The film received scandalous fame – according to the plot, feelings arise between a stepfather and a teenager.
The poster for the picture also caused a lot of controversy – on the poster, Bess sits on the lap of actor Patrick Dewaer with her chest bare. Then the girl’s parents sued the distributors. However, the ruling was in favor of the defendants, arguing that some of the film’s scenes exploit Bess “obviously more than on the poster”.
Six months after the film’s release, Dewaera committed suicide. This event caused severe psychological trauma to Bess.
The actress played in several more films (“Mora”, “What a nightmare – we are in love”, etc.), after which she left the film industry for a long time. Years later – in 2003 – Bess reappeared on the screens, starring in the documentary “Patrick Daveer: Child of the Century” and in one of the episodes of the TV series La Crim’.