The famous French actress Annie Girardot died at the age of 79 in Paris today, February 28, a relative told FRANCE24.

Annie Girardot (25 October 1931 - 28 February 2011 Paris) was a French actress. She began performing in 1954, making her film debut in Treize a table.

She won the Prix Suzanne Bianchetti in 1956, and in 1977 won the Cesar Award for Bes Actress portraying the title character in Docteur Francoise Gailland. In 2002, she was awarded the Cesar Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Piano Teacher. She collaborated with director Michael Haneke again, in the 2005 film Cache.

Another of her famous roles is Nadia the prostitute in Luchino Visconti's epic Rocco e i suoi fratelli (1960). Nadia's beauty drives a wedge between Rocco and his brother Simone (Renato Salvatori), who eventually rapes her. In contrast to their violent on-camera relationship, Girardot and Salvatori married in 1962. They had a daughter, Giulia, and later separated but never divorced.

The 21 September 2006 issue of magazine Paris Match revealed that she is suffering from Alzheimer's disease.