Nathalie Baye and her daughter Laura Smet at the premiere of “Marie-Octobre” during the 10th Festival of Fiction Television in La Rochelle on September 20, 2008.
After the death of Nathalie Baye on Friday night at her home, taken by Lewy body disease, tributes are pouring in to honor the memory of the 77-year-old actress.
One of the most anticipated tributes was from her only daughter, Laura Smet, born in 1983 from her relationship with Johnny Hallyday.
“Mom, I have lost half of my heart, you were the best mother in the world. I share these few words without really believing it yet, but I wanted to thank you for all your testimonies and words that touch me deeply,” wrote the 42-year-old actress on her Instagram account on Sunday, April 19. “I love her so much, take care of yourselves and your loved ones, especially since it is so precious,” she concluded, sharing a photo of herself as a child in her mother’s arms.
This is the first time since Friday that Laura Smet has publicly spoken in her own name about the passing of her mother.
“From Truffaut to Godard, from Daniel Vigne to Spielberg, Nathalie was the French actress type, the good friend. Loved by all, she acted, she lived,” Gilles Jacob, the former president of the Cannes Film Festival, reacted to the news.
“Nathalie, you take with you our laughter and the tender memories of our beginnings,” actor Richard Berry addressed her on Instagram, while Xavier Dolan recalled their ‘Montreal conversations in the editing room’ with her and greeted her with a few verses from Victor Hugo.
Culture Minister Catherine Pégard lamented the loss of an “immense actress.”
Sandrine Kiberlain remembered her voice, “that tone that marked my adolescence and my life.” Producer Dominique Besnehard, her former agent, reminded on RTL that “women adored her and men respected her.”
