If you like this person, let us know!
Birth name Camille Élisa AndriotNationality FranceBirth 23 august 1886 at Paris (
France)
Death 13 may 1942 (at 55 years) at Antibes (
France)
Josette Andriot was a French film actress of the silent era, best known for playing the role of Protéa in the series of espionnage films made between 1913 and 1919.
She was born Camille-Élisa Andriot on 23 August 1886, in Paris (20e), the fifth of six children whose father was a dyer and their mother a florist. (Her youngest brother Lucien Andriot [1892-1979] became a noted cinematographer.) She joined the Éclair studios as an actress first in 1909, and then from 1911 she made around 60 films exclusively for that studio. She had no theatrical training, and the skills that she brought to the film studio were those of an accomplished sportswoman - in riding, cycling, and swimming. She proved to be a natural actress.
Her early films were made principally with the director Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset, for whom she became a favourite performer. In his Zigomar series, she played Rosaria, the title-character's accomplice, forever escaping from threatening predicaments. In 1913 Jasset made Protéa, a spy adventure with the distinction of being the first to have a woman as the central action figure. Although Jasset died shortly after completion, the film had considerable success and Andriot went on to make four more films in the series with other directors. After the last one was released in 1919, she retired from acting. She died on 13 May 1942 in Antibes.
Her appeal rested on her physical ability as a woman of action and her cool resourcefulness. "Whatever this most dauntless of women dares to do, she undertakes it with a smile on her lips": the observation of a reviewer in 1913. In her role as Protéa, she also wore a characteristic costume of a close-fitting black jersey, two years before Musidora achieved cult status with her similar appearance as Irma Vep in Feuillade's Les Vampires. Biography
Camille-Élisa Andriot est née le 23 août 1886 dans le 20e arrondissement de Paris, cinquième des six enfants d'un teinturier et d'une fleuriste — son benjamin Lucien Andriot (1892-1979) devint directeur de la photographie —. Elle fut engagée en 1909 par les Laboratoires Éclair, où elle fit toute sa carrière d'actrice, apparaissant dans une soixantaine de films en dix ans. Elle n'avait pas de formation théâtrale, mais était une sportive accomplie (natation, cyclisme, équitation) et se révéla une actrice-née.
Elle tourna ses premiers films sous la direction de Victorin Jasset, dont elle devint une des actrices préférées. Dans la série Zigomar elle joue Rosaria, la complice de Zigomar qui échappe toujours à un sort funeste. En 1913, elle fut la vedette de Protéa, le premier film d'espionnage dont le héros est une femme, qui rencontra un grand succès. Victorin Jasset mourut peu après le tournage et Josette Andriot poursuivit sa carrière avec d'autres réalisateurs, tournant notamment quatre suites de Protéa. Elle abandonna le cinéma à la sortie de la dernière (L'Intervention de Protéa) en janvier 1919. Mariée trois fois, elle mourut le 13 mai 1942 à Antibes.
Elle était appréciée pour son personnage de femme d'action flegmatique et pleine de ressources. « Tout ce que peut oser la plus intrépide des femmes, elle l'entreprend le sourire aux lèvres » observait un critique en 1913.
Usually with