Delphine Seyrig; Noted Actress in European Films

Delphine Seyrig, the Lebanese-born actress of European films whose first feature picture, “Last Year at Marienbad,” propelled her to stardom, has died in Paris after a long illness, associates said Tuesday. She was 58.

The Associated Press quoted friends as saying she died Monday at a Paris hospital, but no details of the illness were available.

Miss Seyrig, born in Beirut to European parents, became known for her expressive face and enigmatic personality. She began her career as a stage actress in Paris in 1952. In 1956, she moved to New York City, became affiliated with the Actor’s Studio and made her film debut in a 16-millimeter underground picture, “Pull My Daisy.”

She returned to France, where she appeared as a lascivious black-and-white phantom gliding through formless gardens in the Proustian “Last Year at Marienbad,” the acclaimed 1962 work by Alain Resnais. In it, what passes for a plot involves a man’s attempt to create in a woman’s mind a past that never existed in order to gain control over her present.

In another highly acclaimed performance, Miss Seyrig was featured in “India Song,” portraying a femme fatale in the grand French tradition.

She also starred in Joseph Losey’s “Accident” (1967), Francois Truffaut’s “Stolen Kisses” (1968), and two films by Spanish director Luis Bunuel--”The Milky Way” (1969) and “The Discreet Charms of the Bourgeoisie” (1972).

Miss Seyrig was fluent in English, performing English-speaking roles onstage and in films such as “The Day of the Jackal” (1973).

In 1963, she received a best-actress award at the Venice Festival for her work in “Muriel.”

In 1989, she starred in “Joan of Arc of Mongolia,” a tense tale of kidnaping on the trans-Siberian railroad.

During the past decade, she became active in the women’s rights movement and was involved in the creation of the Simone de Beauvoir Center, which produces documentaries on feminist issues.

Miss Seyrig was married to Jack Youn-Germain, a painter.