Christine Pascal

About Christine Pascal

Christine Pascal was a French actress, screenwriter, and film director. She began her career in the 1970s, appearing in films like The Clockmaker (1973), Let Joy Reign Supreme (1975), and Félicité (1979, which she also directed). She was known for her work in French cinema, including directing Le Petit Prince a dit (1992), and had a recurring theme of depression and suicide in her personal life and artistic output (e.g., her debut directorial film opened with a suicide scene). She was married to producer Robert Boner from 1982 until her death.
She died on August 30, 1996, at age 42 in Garches, Hauts-de-Seine (a Paris suburb), France. Reliable sources—including Wikipedia, IMDb, The New York Times, Le Monde, and contemporary obituaries—confirm her death as suicide by jumping from a window. At the time, she was a patient in a psychiatric hospital in Garches, where she had been receiving treatment for severe depression. Her husband filed a complaint against the hospital and her treating psychiatrist (Dr. Daniel Tap), who was later convicted in 2003 of partial responsibility (sentenced to a suspended year in prison and fine) for failing to adequately supervise her despite expressed suicidal intentions. Suicide had been a contemplated theme in her life and work for years.