Beatrice Altarriba, a renowned French actress and model, was born Béatrice Florence Andrée Altarriba to Clément Altarriba, an art dealer, and his wife Émilienne Fort. Her great-uncle, Jules-Jean-Paul Fort, was a celebrated Symbolist poet.
Beatrice began her career in revues and musical theatre before making her screen debut in 1956. Her breakthrough came when she met comedian Darry Cowl, who helped her secure roles in two of his films, L'ami de la famille (1957) and Hardboiled Egg Time (1958).
Beatrice went on to co-star with Cowl in the screwball farce Le triporteur (1957) and appeared in other French classics, including Eyes Without a Face (1960),where she played the kidnapped victim Paulette, and Les Misérables (1958),in which she portrayed the orphaned Cosette, saved from abuse by Valjean.
In 1960, Beatrice starred alongside Jean-Paul Belmondo in Man Called Rocca (1961),playing the role of Maud, a gangster's moll who meets a tragic end.
From 1962, Beatrice expanded her filmography to include Italian cinema, starring in swashbucklers such as Le sette spade del vendicatore (1962) and The Four Musketeers (1964). Although she appeared in a few more films, including Roger Corman's The Young Racers (1963),her career began to decline by the mid-1960s.
Beatrice's final film appearance was in the minor spaghetti western Cemetery Without Crosses (1969),after which she retired from acting at the age of thirty.
