Anna Karina was born Hanne Karin Bayer on September 22 1940 in Solbjerg, Denmark. Her father left the family when she was only about a year old. Her grandparents cared for her until she was four years old. She was in foster care for four years until she was finally returned to her mother. She was a teenager when she began working, singing in cabarets and working as a model. She moved to Paris when she was 17 and began working as a model there. She appeared in such magazines as Elle.
It was a series of ads for Palmolive that brought Anna Karina to the attention of director Jean-Luc Godard. He offered a role in À bout de souffle (1960--in English, Breathless), but she refused because it would have required a nude scene. She then made her film debut in Ce soir ou jamais (1961) before appearing in Mr. Godard's film Un femme est un femme (1961). Miss Karina would be very much in demand in the Sixties. She appeared in Jean-Luc Godard's feature films Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux (1962), Le petit soldat (1963), Bande à part (1964), Alphaville (1965), and Pierrot le fou (1965), Made in U.S.A (1966). She also appeared in the anthology film Le plus vieux métier du monde (1967), in the segment "Anticipation," directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Anna Karina also appeared in Agnes Varda's Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962), Pierre Gaspard-Huit's Shéhérazade (1963), Roger Vadim's La ronde (1964), and Jean Aurel's De l'amour (1964). She also appeared in the films She'll Have to Go (1962), Le soleil dans l'oeil (1962), Les quatre vérités (1962), Dragées au poivre (1963), Le voleur de Tibidabo (1965), Le soldatesse (1965), Un mari à prix fixe (1965), La religieuse (1966), Zärtliche Haie (1967), Lamiel (1967), Lo straniero (1967), The Magus (1968), Before Winter Comes (1968), Michael Kohlhaas - Der Rebell (1969), Laughter in the Dark (1968), Justine (1969), Dämonische Leinwand (1969), Le temps de mourir (1970), and L'alliance (1970). On television she guest starred on the American series I Spy, as well as the show Les fables de La Fontaine. She also appeared in the TV movie based on the musical of the same name, Anna.
In the Seventies Anna Karina appeared in the films Rendez-vous à Bray (1971), The Salzburg Connection (1972), Vivre ensemble (1973), Pane e cioccolata (1974), L'invenzione di Morel (1974), L'assassin musicien (1976), Les oeufs brouillés (1976), Chinesisches Roulette (1976), Chaussette surprise (1978), Olyan, mint otthon (1978), Ausgerechnet Bananen (1978), Historien om en moder (1979), and Charlotte, dis à ta mère que je l'aime (1980). On television she guest starred on the British TV show Z Cars as well as the TV shows Cinéma 16, Dossiers: Danger immédiat, and Madame le juge. She also appeared in several TV movies.
In the Eighties Anna Karina appeared in the movies L'ami de Vincent (1983), Regina Roma (1983), Ave Maria (1984), Treasure Island (1985), Last Song (1987), Dernier été à Tanger (1987), Cayenne Palace (1987), L'oeuvre au noir (1988), and Manden der ville være skyldig (1990). She appeared in the TV movies Chambre 17, La dame des dunes, and Moravagine.
From the Eighties into the Naughts she appeared in the films Haut bas fragile (1995), The Truth About Charlie (2002), Moi César, 10 ans 1/2, 1m39 (2003) and Victoria (2008--she also directed). She appeared in the TV movie Chloé.
Anna Karina also had a career as a singer. In the late Sixties she had hits with Serge Gainsbourg's songs "Sous le soleil exactement" and "Roller Girl." She recorded the albums Une histoire d'amour and Chansons de films. She also wrote four novels: Vivre ensemble (1973), Golden City (1983), On n'achète pas le soleil (1988), and Jusqu'au bout du hasard (1998).
Perhaps no other actress has ever been as connected with the French New Wave than Anna Karina. She not only made several films with Jean-Luc Godard (to whom she was married from 1961 to 1964), but she also made films with several other major figures in the movement. On the screen Anna Karina was a true chameleon. She could project charm, vulnerability, and self-confidence, sometimes all at the same time. She could be mysterious or straight-forward. Anna Karina played characters who were young and impetuous as well as characters who were extremely serious Anna Karina was an actress with a good deal of depth, something made her very much in demand throughout her career.
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