French actress Nathalie Bai has died at the age of 77.
Her family confirmed the news to AFP on Saturday, saying the “Downton Abbey: New Era” star died the day before at her home in Paris.
Bey passed away after battling Lewy body dementia. The “Catch Me If You Can” star was reportedly diagnosed with the disease last summer.
Lewy body dementia is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects movement and cognitive thinking and can cause hallucinations, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Bay’s career spanned more than 50 years, starting when he first started in the early ’70s.
The young talent landed a one-episode role in the television series “Au théâtre ce soir” in 1970 and rose to stardom three years later in the romantic comedy “Day For Night.”
“I’ve been fortunate enough to make a lot of films and work with some very talented directors, but the first film I made, Francois Truffaut’s Day for Night, was the one that made me discover and love movies,” she once said of the film, according to IMDb.
Bai continued to work steadily for the next 39 years, until joining the French political drama Spin in 2012. The actress played Anne Visage in six episodes.
In 2018, Bai starred in the six-episode miniseries thriller Nox, co-starring Malik Gidi and Maiwenn.
The French star has appeared in more than 80 films throughout her career, including playing Leonardo DiCaprio’s mother in the 2002 crime comedy Catch Me If You Can.
In 2022, Bey starred in the hit romance drama Downton Abbey: A New Era.
This decorated icon is also a four-time winner of the Cesar Award, France’s equivalent of the Oscars.
Bay won her first two supporting actress awards in quick succession. He won first for 1981’s Every Man for Himself and then again for 1982’s Strange Affair.
She won her first Best Actress award in 1983 for La Balance and her second win for The Young Lieutenant (2006).
Mr. Bayer has been nominated a total of 10 times.
“I try to go to the theater and do what I want to see,” she once said, according to IMDb. “My starting point is not my character, but the whole project. A movie is an adventure, the script, the director, the casting, everything.”
After news of her death broke, French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Ms. X, writing: “We loved Nathalie Bai very much.”
“With her voice, smile and grace, she has been a constant presence in French cinema over the past few decades, from Francois Truffaut to Tony Marshall,” he added. “(She was) the actress we loved and dreamed of and grew up with.”
Macron wrote in a heartfelt post: “An actress whom we love, dream of and have grown up with. Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones.”
Isabelle Adjani, who co-starred with Bai in the 1974 film La Giffre, also remembered the late star.
“When I found out you were going to be my partner in the film, I jumped for joy off the top of my 18-year-old head,” she recalled on Instagram, sharing a shot of the pair on the project.
Ms Adjani, 70, added that she had always been “part” of Mr Bayet’s “loyal audience”.
Bey leaves behind actress Laura Smet, 42, her daughter with French musician Johnny Hallyday.
The former lovers were together from 1982 to 1986.
