She was so funny, so sunny. So much so that no one suspected that she was plagued by the disease. On September 2, 2013, Valérie Benguigui died at the age of 47, died of breast cancer which she had never mentioned existed. She had just been awarded the César for Best Supporting Actress for her unforgettable performance in the film. First name, by Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte, in which she gave the reply to Charles Berling, Guillaume de Tonquédec or even Patrick Bruel. It is the latter, moreover, who agreed to say more about the struggle led by his colleague and friend.
She came to the end of what she could do
He was there on September 6, 2013, to tell him “goodbye“during the funeral organized at the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris. Faced with the extraordinary ardor of Valérie Benguigui, Patrick Bruel nevertheless thought that she would manage to tame this damn crab. “She fought so hard. She’s been fighting this filth for three years, he explained at the microphone of Europe 1. And there she went to the end of what she could do. ” In a relationship with Eric Wapler for twenty years, mother of two sons, César and Abraham, the actress was to play a mother in the film 24 Days by Alexandre Arcady. Hospitalized, she had, unfortunately, to be replaced at short notice by Zabou Breitman.
Even his role in the film First name, in which she plays Elisabeth – the sister of Patrick Bruel’s character – was far from obvious. “We expected her for the film, his partner recalled. She had done two remissions and then recently it totally deteriorated. It’s terribly sad. ” A funny anecdote, despite everything: Valérie Benguigui had been confronted with a scenario similar to that of the film … in real life. When her second son was born, she was afraid of the consequences of the first name Abraham and called her son Eli during a morning at the clinic. Until she changed her mind again. “And today, everything is going well for everyone!”, she amused herself repeating …
Find Valérie Benguigui in the film The Name, October 26, 2021 on W9.