Madeleine LeBeau, widely believed to be the last surviving credited cast member from the classic film “Casablanca,” has died, her stepson said. She was 92.
LeBeau played Yvonne, the jilted mistress of Humphrey Bogart’s character, Rick.
In a memorable scene from the World War II-era film, her eyes fill with tears as “The Marseillaise” plays, and she cries out, “Vive la France!”
LeBeau died May 1 in Spain after breaking her thigh bone, her stepson, Carlo Alberto Pinelli, told CNN.
In addition to her role in “Casablanca,” LeBeau also appeared in the 1950 film “Cage of Gold” and in Federico Fellini’s 1963 film “8 1/2,” according to CNN sister network Turner Classic Movies.
According to IMDB.com, there were parallels between LeBeau’s role in “Casablanca” and her life. The French actress escaped Nazi-occupied France, fleeing with her then-husband, Marcel Dalio, who also had a role in “Casablanca.”
“While the plot of Casablanca traces the movements of European refugees through Morocco, a look at the actors involved in the production also tells a story of émigrés,” the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences noted in a 2014 article about LeBeau and other artists who fled Europe and appeared in the film.
Records indicate that actors from 34 different countries participated in “Casablanca,” according to the Academy.
LeBeau was born in 1923 in Hauts-de-Seine, France, according to IMDB. She was married to Dalio, who played a croupier in Casablanca, from 1938-1942.
She later married Italian screenwriter Tullio Pinelli, whose writing credits included “La Dolce Vita,” “8 1/2” and “La strada.”
