# Casablanca: Madeleine LeBeau still alive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 17, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600 "2009-12-17T04:52:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/1 "2009-12-17T04:52:55Z")
I’ve just watched _Casablanca_ on TCM. What’s-his-name – Robert Osborne – said that Joy Page, who died last year, was the last surviving member of the cast. But I’d looked up Madeleine LeBeau (‘Yvonne’) earlier, and Wiki says she’s still alive. So who’s right? Osborne, or Wiki? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/2 "2009-12-17T05:01:14Z")
[IMDb](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0495495/)also says she’s still alive, so I’d say Osborne messed up. Nobody’s perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/3 "2009-12-17T06:20:35Z")
Even if LeBeau has died recently she was still alive when Page died, so Page was definitely not the last surviving cast member. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/4 "2009-12-17T16:35:41Z")
Lebeau was the prettiest member of the cast. Her passion shown in the short shot of her as she sings _La Marseillaise_ is one of my favourite shots. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/5 "2009-12-17T17:19:55Z")
I’m assuming that by “last surviving member of the cast” he meant “last surviving member of the important part of the cast” (that is, Rick, Ilsa, Louis, Victor, Strasser, Ferrari, Ugarte, Karl, Sam). ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/6 "2009-12-17T18:11:44Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > I’m assuming that by “last surviving member of the cast” he meant “last surviving member of the important part of the cast” (that is, Rick, Ilsa, Louis, Victor, Strasser, Ferrari, Ugarte, Karl, Sam). Which wouldn’t be accurate for Joy Page either, who was the young Bulgarian wife saved by a rigged roulette wheel. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/7 "2009-12-17T19:34:29Z")
> [@Dan\_Norder](#): > > Which wouldn’t be accurate for Joy Page either, who was the young Bulgarian wife saved by a rigged roulette wheel. Y’know, I really can’t blame Renault for wanting a piece of that… ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/8 "2009-12-18T19:26:07Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Lebeau was the prettiest member of the cast. Her passion shown in the short shot of her as she sings _La Marseillaise_ is one of my favourite shots. Yeah I love that shot. I just realized from Wiki that she was married to Marcel Dalio (who played the croupier in Casablanca) and the two fled Paris before the Germans came. > [@](#): > > In June 1940, LeBeau and the Jewish Dalio fled Paris ahead of the invading German army and reached Lisbon. It took them two months to obtain visas to Chile. However, when their ship stopped in Mexico, they were stranded (along with around 200 other passengers) when the visas they had purchased turned out to be forgeries. Eventually, they were able to get temporary Canadian passports and entered the United States. Making Casablanca and the Marseillaise scene in particular must have been a special experience though apparently Dalio filed for divorce while she was shooting her scenes. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/9 "2009-12-18T20:33:32Z")
> [@Dan\_Norder](#): > > Which wouldn’t be accurate for Joy Page either, who was the young Bulgarian wife saved by a rigged roulette wheel. A slight hijack. I loved that scene. Rick says, “Nobody ever love me that much.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/10 "2009-12-18T21:37:38Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Lebeau was the prettiest member of the cast. Concur. She was gorgeous. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/11 "2009-12-18T21:53:03Z")
I love this movie. As I understand it, Casablanca received lukewarm reviews and mediocre performance. What, in y’all’s opinion, makes this a classic? For me: Vibrant characters, often snappy dialogue, good vs. evil, intrigue, the death (and rebirth) of idealism, redemption, forgiveness, _true_ love…yep, that’s all I got. What about you? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/12 "2009-12-18T21:56:46Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > What about you? The dialogue is what makes this film a classic for me. I’d listen to it like a book on tape. In fact, it is my understanding that there is at least one radio station that airs it regularly and has for decades. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/13 "2009-12-19T02:00:22Z")
Are my eyes really brown? I came for the waters …I was misinformed Yeah, I’ve heard a lot of stories, they all went along with the sound of a tinny piano being played downstairs. Is it just me, of does it seem like Paul Henried doesn’t really know the words to Le Marseillaise, there’s only one shot where it’s even mouthed convincingly. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/14 "2009-12-19T20:30:52Z")
I just saw it for the first time. Based on description alone, it sounds like something that wouldn’t appeal to me. Despite that, I found it immediately compelling in a way few films have been. Everything in that movie is perfect. The look, the sound, the direction. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/15 "2009-12-19T20:35:18Z")
> [@Purd\_Werfect](#): > > Everything in that movie is perfect. I’ve never liked the way Sydney Greenstreet swats the fly, after telling Paul Henreid to go see Rick. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/16 "2009-12-19T21:03:25Z")
ExTank writes: \> As I understand it, Casablanca received lukewarm reviews and mediocre \> performance. No. That’s simply wrong: > **[Casablanca (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casablanca_(film))** > > Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, and starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid. Filmed and set during World War II, it focuses on an American expatriate (Bogart) who must choose between his love for a woman (Bergman) and helping her husband (Henreid), a Czechoslovak resistance leader, escape from the Vichy-controlled city of Casablanca to continue his fight against the Germans. The screenplay is based on Everybody Comes to Rick's, ... It was fairly successful at the box office, if not a blockbuster. It got generally good reviews, if not great ones. It won the Best Picture Oscar. During its production, it was considered an A-picture (i.e., not a cheap one just tossed off by the studio). Nobody involved with making it thought that it would be a classic, but then when does anyone ever correctly predict what will and what won’t be a classic? It took perhaps a decade and a half before it became a cult film, but again that’s not so uncommon. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/17 "2009-12-19T21:46:41Z")
Ok, thanks. I was probably misremembering stuff again. ---
**Author:** ![filmandcinema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@filmandcinema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmandcinema)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/18 "2015-10-10T23:34:09Z")
If anybody has an address for her could you leave us a message on [www.filmandcinema.uk](http://www.filmandcinema.uk) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/19 "2015-10-12T16:55:51Z")
According to [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0495495/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1), LeBeau is still alive, almost six years after this thread was started, and turned 92 in June. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600/20 "2015-10-12T17:10:10Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > According to [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0495495/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1), LeBeau is still alive, almost six years after this thread was started, and turned 92 in June. Well, make sure she gets home safely. _And come straight back_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-still-alive/521600.md?page=2)