Famous People from Paris, France

• Balthus

  20th century French painter of The Guitar Lesson

• Bardot, Brigitte

  Sexy French star of And God Created Woman

• Bergerac, Cyrano de

  Long-nosed literary hero

• Bernhardt, Sarah

  Legendary French theatrical superstar of the 1800s

• Binoche, Juliette

  Hana the nurse in The English Patient

• Chirac, Jacques

  President of France, 1995-2007

• Colbert, Claudette

  Clark Gable's co-star in It Happened One Night

• Cotillard, Marion

  The Oscar-winning star of La Vie En Rose

• Curie, Pierre

  The scientist husband of Marie Curie

• David, Jacques-Louis

  Court painter of Napoleon

• de Branges, Louis

  The deep thinker who proved the Bieberbach Conjecture in 1984

• Degas, Edgar

  The French painter/sculptor of ballet dancers

• Delpy, Julie

  Celine in Before Sunrise

• Deneuve, Catherine

  The mysterious French beauty who starred in Belle du Jour

• Diesel, Rudolf

  Inventor of the diesel engine

• Gaugin, Paul

  The Post-Impressionist painter of Tahitian girls

• Godard, Jean-Luc

  Existentialist, Marxist French movie director

• Green, Eva

  Vesper Lynd in the 2006 Bond film Casino Royale

• Hazanavicius, Michel

  The director of the 2011 silent film The Artist

• Henry, Thierry

  The superstar whose handball put the French into World Cup 2010

• Huppert, Isabelle

  Star of Entre Nous and The Piano Teacher

• Lagarde, Christine

   The head of the International Monetary Fund, 2011-present

• Lavoisier, Antoine

  French chemist who proved the law of conservation of mass

• Legrand, Michel

  The French film composer who scored The Thomas Crown Affair

• Longet, Claudine

  The wispy French singer who shot Spider Sabich

• Manet, Edouard

  French realist who painted 1866's The Fifer

• Maugham, W. Somerset

  The author of Of Human Bondage

• Ma, Yo-Yo

  The Grammy-winning Franco-Chinese celebrity cellist

• Monet, Claude

  Impressionist painter of water lilies

• Parillaud, Anne

  The star of the film La Femme Nikita

• Piaf, Edith

  French singer known as "the waif sparrow"

• Polanski, Roman

  Director of Chinatown and The Pianist

• Richelieu, Cardinal

  The power behind the throne of Louis XIII

• Rodin, Auguste

  The sculptor who did The Thinker

• Sand, George

   The unconventional 19th century French author of 1 July 1804

• Sarkozy, Nicolas

  President of France, 2007-2012

• Sarte, Jean-Paul

  The existentialist author of Being and Nothingness

• See, Lisa

  Author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

• Seydoux, Léa

  The star of Blue is the Warmest Color and Spectre

• Smithson, James

  The man whose money founded the Smithsonian Institution

• Truffaut, François

  The French filmmaker who did 'The 400 Blows'

• Vadim, Roger

  Director of And God Created Woman

• Voltaire

  Witty playwright and author of Candide

• Watson, Emma

  Hermione in the Harry Potter movies

• Zola, Emile

  The author of "J'Accuse"

See also: Born in France