Background
Baye was born in Mainneville, Eure, Normandy to Claude Baye and Denise Coustet, two painters.
Baye was born in Mainneville, Eure, Normandy to Claude Baye and Denise Coustet, two painters.
At 14 she joined a school of dance in Monaco. Three years later she went to the United States.
On returning to France she continued with dance but also registered for the Simon Course and was admitted to the Conservatoire, from where she graduated in 1972 with a second prize in comedy, dramatic comedy and foreign theatre.
After having dance and dramatic education, Baye began acting in 1970. She appeared in Two People (1973) directed by Robert Wise.Her second cinema appearance was in Two People (1973) directed by Robert Wise. In 1981 she won her first César, for best supporting artist in Sauve qui peut (la vie) by Jean-Luc Godard. There then followed Le Retour de Martin Guerre and La Balance.
She won two more Césars (Best Supporting Female for Une étrange affaire (A Strange Affair), and Best Actress in 1982 for La Balance). Her four-year relationship with Johnny Hallyday made them a celebrity couple and their daughter Laura is now actress Laura Smet.
After changing image by playing a streetwalker in La Balance, she widened her scope with more obscure characters in J'ai épousé une ombre and En toute innocence. In 1986 she returned to the theatre with an interpretation of Adriana Monti.
In 1999 she was voted Best Supporting Actress at Venice Film Festival for Une liaison pornographique and in 2000 starred in the award-winning film Vénus Beauté (Institut) by Tonie Marshall
She has worked with Claude Chabrol and Steven Spielberg.
Filmography
Faustine et le bel été (1972) – Giselle, Two People (1973) (uncredited), La Nuit américaine (aka. Day for Night) (1973) – Joelle, La Gueule ouverte (1974) – Nathalie, la fille, La Gifle (1974) – Christine, Un jour, la fête (1975) – Julie, Le Plein de super (1976) – Charlotte, Le Voyage de noces (1976) – Sophie, La Dernière femme (1976) – La fille aux cerise, Mado (1976) – Catherine, La Communion solennelle (1977) – Jeanne Vanderberghe, L'Homme qui aimait les femmes (1977) – Martine Desdoits, Monsieur Papa (1977) – Janine, La Chambre verte (The Green Room) (1978) – Cecilia Mandel, Mon premier amour (1978) – Fabienne, Scénario de 'Sauve qui peut la vie' (1979), La Mémoire corte (1979) – Judith Mesnil, Je vais craquer!!! (1980) – Brigitte, Une semaine de vacances (1980) – Laurence Cuers, Sauve qui peut (la vie) (1980) – Denise Rimbaud, La provinciale (1981) – Christin, Beau-père (1981) – Charlotte, L'Ombre rouge (1981) – Anna, Une étrange affaire (1981) – Nina Coline, Le Retour de Martin Guerre (aka. The Return of Martin Guerre) (1982) – Bertrande de Rols, La Balance (1982) – Nicole Danet, J'ai épousé une ombre (1983) – Helene, Notre histoire (1984) – Donatienne Pouget/Marie-Thérèse Chatelard/Geneviève Avranche, Rive droite, rive gauche (1984) – Sacha Vernakis,Détective (1985) – Françoise Chenal, Le Neveu de Beethoven (1985) – Leonore, Lune de miel (1985) – Cécile Carline, De guerre lasse (1987) – Alice, En toute innocence (1988) – Catherin, Gioco al massacro (1989),Le Pinceau à lèvres (1990) – Elle, La Baule-les-Pins (1990) – Lena, The Man Inside (1990) – Christin, Un week-end sur deux (1990) – Camille Valmont, La Voix (1992) – Lorraine, From Time to Time (aka. The Timekeeper) (1992) – Madame de Pompadour, And the Band Played On (1993) – Dr. Françoise Barre, Mensonge (1993) – Emma, La Machine (1994) – Marie Lacroix, La Mère (1995) – La mère, Enfants de salaud (1996) – Sophie, Food of Love (1997) – Michele, Paparazzi (1998) – Nicole, Si je t'aime, prends garde à toi (1998) – Muriel, Vénus beauté (institut) (aka. Venus Beauty Institute) (1999) – Angèle Piana, Une liaison pornographique (1999) – Her, Selon Matthieu (2000) – Claire, Ça ira mieux demain (2000) – Sophie, Barnie et ses petites contrariétés (2001) – Lucie Barnich, Absolument fabuleux (2001) – Patricia, Catch Me If You Can (2002) – Paula Abagnale, La Fleur du mal (2003) – Anne Charpin-Vasseur, Les Sentiments (2003) – Carol, France Boutique (2003) – Sofia, Une vie à t'attendre (2004) – Jeanne, L'Un reste, l'autre part (2005) – Fanny, Le Petit Lieutenant (2005) – Commandant Caroline "Caro" Vaudieu, La Californie (2006) – Maguy, Ne le dis à personne (2006), Michou d'Auber (2007) -Gisèle, Mon fils à moi (2007), Le prix à payer (2007) – Odette, Passe-passe (2008) – Irène Montier-Duval, Les bureaux de Dieu (2008) – Anne, Cliente (2008) – Judith Visage (2009),De vrais mensonges (2010) – Maddy, Ensemble, c'est trop (2010)
She has appeared in more than 70 films.
She won four César Awards for Sauve qui peut (la vie) (1980), Une étrange affaire (1981), La Balance (1982), and Le Petit Lieutenant (2005). She has been nominated a further five times.
