Jean Dorothy Seberg (November 13, 1938 – August 30, 1979) was an American actress who lived half her life in France. Her performance in Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 film Breathless immortalized her as an icon of the French New Wave.
She was also one of the best-known targets of the FBI COINTELPRO project. Her targeting was in retaliation for her support of the Black Panther Party and was a smear directly ordered by J.Edgar Hoover.
Seberg was found dead in Paris at the age of 40, with the police ruling her death a probable suicide from an overdose of barbiturates. The novelist Romain Gary, Seberg's second husband, called a press conference shortly after her death, where he publicly blamed the FBI's campaign against Seberg for her death. Gary noted that the bureau had planted false rumors in US media outlets claiming her 1970 pregnancy was a Black Panther's child, the trauma from which had led to her miscarriage. Gary also stated that Seberg had previously attempted suicide on numerous anniversaries of the child's death, August 25.
Jean was portrayed by Kristen Stewart in the political thriller film Seberg, which was released in the US by Amazon Studios on February 21, 2020, after its Oscar-qualifying theatrical run on December 13, 2019.
Notable roles include:
- Joan of Arc in Saint Joan (1957)
- Cécile in Bonjour Tristesse (1958)
- Helen Kokintz in The Mouse That Roared (1959)
- Patricia Franchini in Breathless (1960)
- Lilith Arthur in Lilith (1964)
- Elizabeth in Paint Your Wagon (1969)
- Tanya Livingston in Airport (1970)
Media
Film- Film/Seberg: Portrayed by Kristen Stewart.
