Françoise Pascal
Pascal in 2012
Born
Françoise Pascal

(1949-10-14) 14 October 1949
Vacoas, Mauritius
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
  • dancer
  • fashion model
  • producer
Years active1967–present
Known for
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Children1
Websitefrancoisepascal.co.uk

Françoise Pascal (born 14 October 1949) is a Mauritius-born British actress, singer, dancer, fashion model, and producer. She appeared in numerous film and television productions at her peak throughout the late 1960s to early 1980s.

Early life

Pascal was born in the Mauritius colony of the United Kingdom, to Marcel and Claire Pascal, who were French citizens. She grew up with her parents and four siblings in Mauritius, until age 6 when her family moved to London. She also lived in Paris for some time where she attended La Sorbonne. Her father died when she was 14.

Career

Acting

Her earliest films were Norman J. Warren's Loving Feeling and Pete Walker's School for Sex (both 1969), and she also appeared in a scene in Incense for the Damned (1970). She also played Paola in There's a Girl in My Soup (1970) with Peter Sellers. She also performed in Burke & Hare. (1972), playing Marie, and another Sellers film, Soft Beds, Hard Battles (1974).

After that appearance, she moved to France where she starred in such films as Et situ n'en Vex Pas (1974) and Les Raisins de la Mort (1978), directed by Jean Rollin. Later she returned to England to appear in Keep It Up Downstairs (1976) alongside Diana Dors, Jack Wild , and Mary Millington.

Her first television work came in October 1971 with a role in Coronation Street, playing Ray Langton's friend. Then came guest starring roles in an episode of Play of the Month for the BBC in "Don Quixote" (1973) with Rex Harrison and for ITV's Sunday Night Theatre "Giants & Ogres" (1971). She was cast in guest starring appearances in many television comedy series such as Happy Ever After (1976) with Terry Scott and June Whitfield, as well as My Honourable Mrs (1975) with Derek Nimmo for the BBC. She co-starred in an episode of the thriller You're on Your Own starring Denis Quilley, for the BBC.

She played Danielle Favre in the first three series of the ITV sitcom Mind Your Language (1977–79); she then took on her stage roles in Happy Birthday (reuniting with Frazer Hines), and starring in a pantomime of Aladdin. Pascal left for the United States in 1980, where she acted in Hollywood, returning to England in 1987.

In 2015, Pascal joined the cast for a new comedy series called For the Love of Ella. The series also starred Ewen Macintosh, Bobby Ball, Alex Reid, Daniel Peacock, Melanie Sykes, Darren Day, and Billy Pearce.[1]

Pascal is set to appear in and produce her first film Cold Sun, directed by Jason Figgis and starring Tara Reid, Patrick Bergin , and Ian Ogilvy, through her own MFC Productions Ltd and Pascal Productions Ltd.[2]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1968 Loving Feeling Model film debut
Sympathy For The Devil Self documentary
1970 There’s A Girl In My Soup Paola
1971 Incense For The Damned uncredited
The Anatomy of a Pin-Up Self documentary short
The Beloved uncredited
1972 Burke & Hare Marie
1973 The Iron Rose La femme
1974 Soft Beds, Hard Battles Madeline
1976 Le Body Shop Margot
Keep It Up Downstairs Mimi
Private Lives Louise television film
1978 The Grapes of Death Train passenger scenes deleted
1986 Lighting White Stallion Marie Ward Leeman
2013 Symbols and Signs Isabella short film
2015 For The Love of Ella Maitre’d television film
2016 Respectable: The Mary Millington Story Herself documentary film
2020 Jeepers Creepers Fantasy Lover voice
2021 Cold Sun Madeline Bouvier also producer

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1971 Coronation Street Françoise Dubois 1 episode
ITV Saturday Night Theatre Secretary 1 episode
1972 Go Girl Martine unaired series
1972–1973 BBC Play of the Month Harlot/Rosa González 2 episodes
1974 Napoleon and Love Elzunia 1 episode
Late Night Drama Cynthia Crumpet 1 episode
1975 You’re On Your Own Suzanne Fermont 1 episode
My Honorable Mrs Anna-Maria 1 episode
Rule Britanna! Colette 1 episode
1976 The Brothers Thérèse d’Alamber 2 episodes
Happy Ever After Michelle 1 episode
What’s on Next? Self 1 episode
1977 Whodunnit Vere Le Grand 1 episode
1977–1979 Mind Your Language Danielle Favre 29 episodes
1978 Celebrity Squares Herself 4 episodes
Those Wonderful TV Times Herself 1 episode
1979 Blankety Blank Herself 1 episode
1980 The Dick Emery Hour Herself TV special
1981 Mike Yardwood In Persons Louise 1 episode
Punchlines! Herself 1 episode
1982 Gavilan Carla 1 episode
1995 Doing Rude Things Herself Documentary TV movie

Discography

Title Year Album
"When It Comes To Love"[3] 1968 When It Comes To Love/Got It Badly-Single
"Got It Badly"[3]
"Woman Is Free"[4] 1979 Woman Is Free-Single
"Symphony Just For Me"[4]
"I Can’t Get Enough"[5] 1981 I Can’t Get Enough-Single
"Make Love To Me"[5]

Personal life

Pascal had a child, Nicholas Johnson, with actor Richard Johnson in 1989  the same year he divorced his third wife and married his fourth.[6][7]

On 4 December 2010, she joined Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood at Claygate Village to turn on the village Christmas lights[8] and sing a solo of "Silent Night".

In December 2012, Pascal took part in the ITV1 programme Storage Hoarders, in which she sorted and sold at auction some of her more valuable possessions which she had kept in storage for months.[9]

One of Pascal's closest friends was British actress, Lynne Frederick. She first became acquainted with Frederick in 1972, when they co-starred on an episode of the television anthology series, BBC Play of the Month.[10] The two actresses quickly became "firm friends"[10] and frequently saw each other during the height of their careers in the 1970s. Pascal recalled that they regretfully lost contact in 1977 after Frederick married Peter Sellers.[10] Frederick died in 1994. In April 2020, a few weeks before the 26th anniversary of Frederick's death, Pascal tweeted a photo of herself and Frederick, with the caption "I think of her very often! Always had that fresh baby face! RIP Lynne! Xxx".[11]

References

  1. "For the Love of Ella (2015)". IMDb. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  2. Yossman, K. J. (9 February 2022). "Tara Reid to Play MI6 Agent in British Spy Film 'Cold Sun' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  3. 1 2 When It Comes to Love / Got It Badly by Françoise Pascal, retrieved 8 October 2020
  4. 1 2 "Françoise Pascal - Woman Is Free". Discogs. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Francoise Pascal* - I Can't Get Enough". Discogs. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  6. Pendreigh, Brian (8 June 2015). "Obituary: Richard Johnson, actor". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016.
  7. "Family Album". francoisepascal.co.uk. MFC Productions Ltd. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  8. Luke Jacobs, "Ronnie Wood lights up Claygate for Christmas", Surrey News, 7 December 2010.
  9. £62,000 to Store Antiques | Storage Hoarders, retrieved 29 May 2022
  10. 1 2 3 Pascal, Francoise (13 April 2020). "We both worked in a BBC Play of the month called Summer and Smoke, we became firm friends. Then she met Peter S and she told me she was marrying Peter. I was happy for both of them. We lost touch and the last time I spoke to her is when Peter died. Never saw her again". @fpascal. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  11. Pascal, Francoise (13 April 2020). "I think of her very often! Always had that fresh baby face! RIP Lynne! Xxxpic.twitter.com/G7ckW91bgx". @fpascal. Retrieved 5 May 2020.

Further reading

  • As I Am, Published by Pegasus Elliot McKenzie (2012)
  • Sheridan, Simon. Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema (2011, fourth edition), Titan Publishing, London.
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