What To Know
- French actress and Downton Abbey star Nathalie Baye is dead at age 77.
- Baye’s five-decade career included over 80 films and four César Awards.
- French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Baye.
Nathalie Baye — the French actress who starred in Downton Abbey: A New Era, Catch Me If You Can, and more — is dead at 77.
On Friday, April 17, Baye died after a battle with Lewy body dementia, her family confirmed to the news agency AFP, per the BBC. Her five-decade acting career kicked off in ’70s with the TV series Au Théâtre Ce Soir, with her breakthrough performance in 1973’s Day For Night. She went on to appear in more than 80 movies.
In 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era, Baye played a French aristocrat, Madame de Montmirail. Her character’s husband was an old friend of Violet Crawley (Maggie Smith). She also played Leonardo DiCaprio‘s mother in 2002’s Catch Me If You Can. Other notable acting credits included La Balance (1982), The Young Lieutenant (2006), Laurence Anyways (2012), It’s Only the End of the World (2016), and more.
Baye snagged her first César Award in 1981 for Best Supporting Actress in Every Man for Himself, going on to win three more Césars in her lifetime.
Nous aimions tant Nathalie Baye. Elle a accompagné par sa voix, ses sourires et sa pudeur ces dernières décennies du cinéma français, de Francois Truffaut à Tonie Marshall. Une comédienne avec qui nous avons aimé, rêvé, grandi. Nous pensons à sa famille et à ses proches. pic.twitter.com/7A3mug2aGP
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) April 18, 2026
In the wake of Baye’s death, French President Emmanuel Macron took to X to share a tribute. “We loved Nathalie Baye so much,” he wrote, translated from French, in the post. “She accompanied, through her voice, her smiles, and her reserve, these last decades of French cinema, from François Truffaut to Tonie Marshall.”
Macron concluded, “An actress with whom we loved, dreamed, and grew up. We think of her family and her loved ones.”
Baye is survived by a daughter, actress Laura Smet, 42, whom she welcomed with French musician Johnny Hallyday.