Thank heaven for Leslie Caron

She starred in Gigi, danced with Fred Astaire and acted opposite Cary Grant. Hugo Vickers meets the great actress as she turns 90

Leslie Caron turns 90 on 1st July. On a spring afternoon, I talked to her from the very room in Wiltshire, where, in the 1950s, the songs of Gigi (in particular The Night They Invented Champagne) were regularly played on my parents’ gramophone, long before I ever had a sip.

Cecil Beaton dressed Leslie in Gigi (1958).

‘I was so fond of him and have such admiration for his behaviour, his huge talent and his discernment – he liked everything new, he was like a young person,’ she says. ‘He was the only designer I ever met who was there in the make-up room, saying “No, no. Take off that rouge.”

‘He just would not forgive any bad taste or vulgarity – would sit with the girls to stop them putting on too many eyelashes. He knew the girls never knew how to wear a hat! The hat was way back [to get seen] when it should be forward. Whenever people talk to me about Gigi, I always say that one of the most important actors in it is Cecil Beaton.’

When filming Gigi, she was a 26-year-old mother with an infant son, yet she carried off the part as a gamine 14-year-old. The costumes were made by Madame Karinska:

‘All the good theatre plays and films were being dressed by her. She had so much talent in interpreting sketches that Cecil trusted her. He went off on holiday with Greta Garbo. I was still feeding my little Christopher. My bosom was a little too voluptuous for a girl of 14 and I said to Madame Karinska, “Why don’t we have braids to keep this little gilet?” Otherwise I looked too maternal. We had military braids. I tried to explain to Cecil. He just clammed up – I had the feeling that he didn’t quite know about the details.’