French actress worked with Bogey

Michele Morgan, a French actress who starred with Humphrey Bogart and Frank Sinatra and was the first winner of the Cannes best actress award, has died at 96.

President Francois Hollande said Morgan, whose sea-blue eyes captivated French audiences, was “a legend who marked numerous generations.”

In 1992, she was given an Honorary Cesar Award for her contributions to French cinema.

Her family said that she died Tuesday, without giving a cause of death.

Born Feb. 29, 1920, as Simone Roussel in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, a wealthy suburb of Paris, she grew up in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, France.

Morgan left home at the age of 15 for Paris determined to become an actress. She took acting lessons from Rene Simon while serving as an extra in several films to pay for her drama classes. She was noticed by director Marc Allegret, who offered her a major role in the film Gribouille (1937), opposite Raimu. Then came Le Quai des brumes (1938) directed by Marcel Carne (1938), opposite Jean Gabin, and Remorques (1941) directed by Jean Gremillon.

Upon the Nazi invasion of France in 1940, Morgan left for the United States and Hollywood, where she was contracted to RKO Pictures in 1941. Her career there proved rather disappointing, apart from Joan of Paris (1942) opposite Paul Henreid, and Higher and Higher (1943) opposite Sinatra. She was tested and strongly considered for the female lead in Casablanca but RKO would not release her for the amount of money Warner Bros. offered (the role went to Ingrid Bergman.) Morgan did work for Warner Bros. in Passage to Marseille (1944) with Bogart.

She also starred in movies including Carol Reed’s The Fallen Idol, and married Hollywood director William Marshall.

After the war she returned to France. She was awarded Cannes’ first best actress award for her portrayal of a blind woman in Pastoral Symphony in 1946.