Ginette Maddie

Ginette Maddie (1898-1980) was a French actress who acted in French and German silent films. Between 1922 and 1958, she appeared in 20 films with such notable directors as Alfred Machin and Julien Duvivier.


French postcard by Wyndham, Edit., Paris.


French postcard. Photo: Film Gaumont. Ginette Maddie in Vindicta (Louis Feuillade, 1923).


French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 107. Photo: Wyndham.

The second woman

Ginette Maddie was born Marcelle Namur in 1898 in Paris, France. She was the daughter of a dressmaker. Officially adopted at the age of seven, she took the name Marcelle Yvonne Gourier.

She started her film career in 1922 opposite Claude Mérelle in Le diamant noir/The Black Diamond (André Hugon, 1922). Her breakthrough was the 5-part serial Vindicta (1923), directed by Louis Feuillade. Maddie was the leading lady in Sarati le terrible/Sarati the Terrible (René Hervil, Louis Mercanton, 1923), La gitanilla (André Hugon, 1924) and the comedy Les héritiers de l'oncle James/The Heirs of Uncle James (Alfred Machin, Henry Wulschleger, 1924).

Other films in which she starred were L'ornière/The Rut (Édouard Chimot, 1924), Le coeur des gueux/The Heart of the Beggars (Alfred Machin, Henry Wulschleger, 1925), and La lueur dans les ténèbres/The Glow in the Darkness (Maurice Charmeroy, 1928) with Edmond van Daele.

Ginette Maddie also often played the second woman in French and German films opposite e.g. Dolly Davis, Madeleine Erickson, Xenia Desni, and Dita Parlo. In the early sound era, Maddie acted in two more films. She appeared opposite singer Damia in Sola/Alone (Henri Diamant-Berger, 1931) and opposite Gina Manès in L'Ensorcellement de Séville (Benito Perojo, 1931).

Years later, two more, small performances followed in 1943 and 1958. Ginette Maddie passed away at the International Hospital of the University of Paris in 1980. She was 82. She is buried in the Pantin cemetery in Paris, in the same vault as the singer Damia.


Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 113.


French postcard by Ciné Cartes, Paris, no. 3. Photo: Film Gaumont. Georges Biscot as Césarin at right, Ginette Maddie as Blanche, Michel Floresco as Morales at left and Fernand Hermann as Bajart in Vindicta (Louis Feuillade, 1923). Caption: La cour du faux marquis (The court of the false marquis).


French postcard in the Ciné-cartes series, Paris, no. 3. Photo: Film Gaumont. Ginette Maddie as Blanche and Henry Deneyrieux as Louiset in Vindicta (Louis Feuillade, 1923).


Spanish collector card in the Célebres Artistas Cinematográficos series by Chocolate E. Juncosa, Barcelona, Series D, no 10.


French postcard by Wyndham, Edit., Paris.

Sources: Wikipedia (French and English) and IMDb.