France's Mylene Demongeot Dies after 70 Years of Screen Stardom

Mylene Demongeot starred in big-grossing comedies from the 1960s right up to 2022. AFP/File
Mylene Demongeot starred in big-grossing comedies from the 1960s right up to 2022. AFP/File
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France's Mylene Demongeot Dies after 70 Years of Screen Stardom

Mylene Demongeot starred in big-grossing comedies from the 1960s right up to 2022. AFP/File
Mylene Demongeot starred in big-grossing comedies from the 1960s right up to 2022. AFP/File

French actress Mylene Demongeot, a box office star from the 1950s right up to the present day, who also appeared in several British productions, died on Thursday at the age of 87.

Her 70-year career included turns as Milady de Winter in the 1961 version of "The Three Musketeers" and alongside David Niven in Otto Preminger's "Bonjour Tristesse" in 1958, AFP said.

In France, she was best known for comedies, especially two trilogies that appeared half a century apart -- the "Fantomas" films in the 1960s and "Camping" franchise in recent years.

She also appeared in more serious fare, and was nominated for a BAFTA for best newcomer for her part in 1957's "The Crucible", adapted by Jean-Paul Sartre from the famous play by Arthur Miller.

She stayed popular to the end, starring in "Retirement Home" alongside Gerard Depardieu, one of the biggest box office hits of 2022 in France.

Demongeot was often compared to her contemporary Brigitte Bardot in her early years, and was similarly a passionate advocate of environmental and animal charities.

She died in a Paris hospital, with no cause of death immediately given.



Betty White Forever: New Stamp Will Honor the Much-Beloved 'Golden Girls' Actor

Betty White speaks on stage at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Phil McCarten/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images, File)
Betty White speaks on stage at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Phil McCarten/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images, File)
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Betty White Forever: New Stamp Will Honor the Much-Beloved 'Golden Girls' Actor

Betty White speaks on stage at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Phil McCarten/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images, File)
Betty White speaks on stage at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Phil McCarten/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images, File)

The United States Postal Service might have found a way to unite a nation bitterly divided after this month's election: It's releasing a Betty White stamp.

The beloved actor known for roles in "The Golden Girls,The Mary Tyler Moore Show,Boston Legal," and others will be on a 2025 Forever stamp, USPS announced Friday.

White died in late December 2021, less than three weeks before her 100th birthday. The Postal Service hasn't announced a release date for the stamp.

"An icon of American television, Betty White (1922–2021) shared her wit and warmth with viewers for seven decades," the Postal Service said in announcing the stamp, which depicts a smiling White based on a 2010 photograph by celebrity photographer Kwaku Alston. "The comedic actor, who gained younger generations of fans as she entered her 90s, was also revered as a compassionate advocate for animals."

Boston-based artist Dale Stephanos created the digital illustration from Alston's photo.

"I’d love to send a letter back to my 18-year-old self with this stamp on it and tell him that everything is going to be OK," Stephanos posted on Facebook.

Regardless of personal politics, self-proclaimed supporters of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris reacted with delight on social media.

"Betty White was my hero, all of my life! I actually had a doll when I was a little girl I named Betty White," one Trump supporter posted on X, formerly Twitter.

"Something to make this awful week a little better: We’re getting a Betty White stamp," posted a pro-Harris X account.

White combined a wholesome image with a flare for bawdy jokes. Her television career began in the early 1950s and exploded as she aged.

"The only SNL host I ever saw get a standing ovation at the after party," Seth Meyers posted on Twitter after her death.