Meet Jacqueline Bisset — Legendary Actress And Angelina Jolie's Godmother
She is a legend.
getty Stars are just like us in that they miss their kids when they go off to college. Angelina Jolie is feeling this with her son Maddox, who is off in college in South Korea. Jolie seems to be seeking support where she can to deal with her semi-empty nest feelings. (She still has five other children at home.) Her mom, Marcheline Bertrand, passed away after a battle with ovarian cancer in 2007. So Jolie turned to the next best thing, her mother's great friend and her own godmother, actress Jacqueline Bisset. Jolie was spotted out in Paris on a rainy night dining at the Laperouse restaurant with Bisset.
Jolie is reportedly very close to the 75-year-old French actress. In fact, a source told People: They’ve very close, and Jacqueline is someone Angelina has admired for a long time. And of course, there is the connection to her mom.”
Who is Jacqueline Bisset AKA Angelina Jolie's godmother?
1. She's British
Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset was born on September 13, 1944, in Surrey, England. Her mom was French and English and her dad was Scottish. She grew up in a 17th-century cottage, which she still owns. Her mom taught her to speak French fluently and she went to the Lycee Francaise in London. She started taking acting lessons and working as a fashion model as a teenager.
2. Early career and rise to fame
Bisset's official film debut was in 1966's Cul-de-sac, a Roman Polanski film. In 1967, she appeared in Two for the Road with Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney. She then played Miss Goodthighs in the James Bond satire Casino Royale in 1967. Other notable films of the late 60s and early 70s include Bullitt in which she played Steve McQueen's girlfriend and Airport, in which she played the pregnant stewardess carrying Dean Martin's baby. In 1969, Bisset had the starring role in The First Time, a sex comedy. In 1970, she starred in The Grasshopper. In 1971, she appeared opposite Alan Alda in The Mephisto Waltz. In 1973, she was the female lead in The Thief Who Came to Dinner opposite Ryan O'Neal.
3. Sex symbol to a new generation
Jacquline Bisset became a sex symbol to the men of Generation X when she starred in 1983's Class. In the film, Bisset played Rob Lowe's bombshell mom who has an affair with her son's roommate at prep school, played by Andrew McCarthy.
4. She never married
Bisset has never been married. She has had a number of lengthy romances. She was with French-Canadian actor Michael Sarrazin from 1967 to 1973. She was with Moroccan real estate tycoon Victor Drai from 1975 to 1980, followed by Russian dancer Alexander Godunov from 1981 to 1988. Next was Swiss actor Vincent Perez 1988 to 1992 and finally Turkish martial arts instructor Emin Boztepe from 1995 to 2005 and again from 2007 to 2008.
5. She has thoughts on being called a cougar
Two of her boyfriends — Perez and Boztepe — were 20 and 18 years younger than Bisset. The press often called them her "toy boys," a term she found offensive. In an interview with the Daily Mail in 2015, she said: "I remember reading an article that referred to Emin as a "toy boy" and thinking "What on earth is that?" That phrase is one of the most insulting things — it's so rude and comes from pure jealousy, I think. He was younger than me, but he was so much a man that calling him a toy boy was ludicrous! And I was so embarrassed for him because it was highly inappropriate. It's also disrespectful to talk about women as cougars. It's very derogatory and silly and all part of this negative kind of thinking that I try very hard to ignore. But they do say that sexually, a man is at his [sexual] height at 18 and a woman at 35, so that's nature's way. I just think that people are attracted to what they want and need for however long it works."
6. Jolie and Bisset
Jolie and Bisset last caught up in July 2019 when Angelina took a break from filming the action/thriller Those Who Wish Me Dead. The actress and her godmother seem to be trying to spend time together more frequently. Prior to the July visit, it had been four years since they last saw each other. At that time, Bissett said: "I see her very rarely. I’m fascinated with her life as everyone else is."
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based writer and editor covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.