Legendary actress Nathalie Baye has died at the age of 77. Her health deteriorated last summer as she battled Lewy body dementia. Baye passed away at her home in Paris on Friday (April 17), her family told French news agency AFP. A stalwart of French cinema, Baye appeared in more than 80 films across her distinguished career.

She received 10 nominations for the César Award for Best Actress - France's equivalent of the Oscars - and won four of them, including three consecutive victories from 1981 to 1983. Her first victory was for Best Supporting Actress in Every Man for Himself in 1981. She was also awarded the gong for her roles in Strange Affair (1982), La Balance (1983), and The Young Lieutenant (2005).

Her most notable roles include playing Leonardo DiCaprio's mother in the 2002 film Catch Me if You Can and French aristocrat Madame de Montmirail in Downton Abbey: A New Era in 2022.

Her breakthrough role came in François Truffaut's 1973 film Day for Night. She said this was the role that made her fall in love with cinema after she initially strived for a career in theatre.

In 2010, Baye told France 24: "I've been lucky to make a lot of films, to work with very talented directors. But it was the first movie I made, 'Day for Night' by François Truffaut, that allowed me to discover cinema and made me love cinema. I was working toward a career in theatre rather than in film. But with Truffaut, working on a story about a film shoot, it was magical.

"It was a very important moment in my career. That said, a career is something that is built little by little. It's like a puzzle, with new pieces added to older ones. There is not one role that will forever be the most important role of my life. It's an ensemble of work."

After that, she went on to work with legendary directors including Steven Spielberg, Jean-Luc Godard and Claude Sautet.

In 1982, she starred in The Return of Martin Guerre, directed by Daniel Vigne, portraying a 16th-century peasant drawn into a famous case of identity theft. The story later inspired the Hollywood adaptation Sommersby, starring Jodie Foster.

Beyond her film career, Baye maintained a strong presence on stage, appearing in productions such as La Parisienne and Hiver.

Her final on-screen role came in the 2023 Franco-Lebanese drama The Night of the Glass of Water. That same year, she joined more than 100 people in signing a petition calling on Emmanuel Macron to reform France's end-of-life legislation.

Baye was married to French actor Philippe Léotard from 1972 to 1982. She tied the knot with rock and roll singer Johnny Hallyday the same year her divorce was finalised, but the couple split four years later.

They share a daughter, Laura Smet, 42, who is also an actress.

Heartbroken fans rushed to pay tribute to Baye online, with one writing: " What sadness, this morning the beautiful Nathalie Baye leaves us. On tiptoe, discreetly, I constantly compared her to my mom. For her gentleness and her beauty."

Another said: "This morning, our hearts ache a little more tightly. Nathalie Baye left us yesterday, April 17, 2026, at the age of 77, taken by Lewy body disease. What an immense actress. What a luminous, elegant, authentic woman. Behind the talent, there was a discreet woman, a loving mother, an artist who crossed the eras without ever betraying her soul.

"Today, it's all of French cinema that mourns one of its most beautiful voices, one of its most radiant lights. Thank you, Nathalie. Thank you for all those emotions, those laughs, those tears, those silences that said everything. You will remain forever in our memories and in our hearts."

A third shared: "France loses a great figure. Nathalie Baye has passed away, embodying a certain idea of French cinema-demanding, elegant. Four César awards, unforgettable roles: it is a part of our heritage that vanishes."