It was the winter of 2001 when Catherine Deneuve, the impossibly beautiful actress and enduring symbol of French elegance, came to Greece as a guest of Status magazine for its “Men of the Year” awards night.
The ceremony was held at the theater of Athens College, and Deneuve was the undisputed star of the evening; the moment she walked in, the glamour quotient soared. Despite the presence of leading figures from the arts, business and politics, all eyes were on her. At fifty-eight, the French screen icon was still the dazzling beauty the camera had adored at the start of her career.
Photo: Mara Desypri
She posed for a photograph with the evening’s hosts, Thodoris Atheridis and Antonis Kafetzopoulos. Beyond her appearance at the awards, Deneuve was also photographed at her hotel by Mara Desypri for Life&Style magazine. Although she had been adamant that she would not give an interview, she ultimately could not resist the gentle persistence of the magazine’s editor, Christos Zambounis.
The actress spoke of her love for Greece and her ties to the country, and revealed a little-known detail: in Paris, she had lived in the same luxury apartment building as Maria Callas. “I remember her voice rising up through the fireplace on the evenings she rehearsed,” Deneuve recalled of her divina neighbor…
