Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant (born 22 March 1949) is a French actress. She has appeared in more than eighty motion pictures since 1976. Ardant won the César Award for Best Actress in 1997 for her performance in Pédale douce. Ardant was born in Saumur Maine-et-Loire, France, to a military attaché father. She grew up in Monaco until age 17 when she moved to Aix-en-Provence to study at the Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence. In her early twenties her interest turned to acting and in 1974 she made her first appearance on stage. By the early 1980s she was a major motion picture star, gaining international recognition for her role opposite Gérard Depardieu in La Femme d'à côté (The Woman Next Door). The film, directed by François Truffaut, brought Ardant her first César Award nomination for best actress in 1982 and in 1984 she was nominated again for Vivement dimanche!. Eventually she became Truffaut's companion, giving birth to their daughter, Joséphine Truffaut, on...