Ludmila
Mikaël

Ludmila Mikaël was born into a family of artists, a painter for a father and a pianist for a mother, and from a highly mixed cultural background, namely of Slavic, Greek and Latinorigins. At the Conservatoire’s entrance examination in 1966, while attending the class of Louis Seigner, she won two second prizes (one for tragedy in the role of Hermione, in Racine’s Andromache, and another for classical comedy, in the role of Camille, in Alfred de Musset's Don’t Trifle with Love (On ne badine pas avec l’amour)), and a first prize (in the role of Grouchenka, in Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov).

She joined the Comédie-Française on January 1, 1967, and made her debut in the role of Elvire in Molière’sDon Juan under the direction of Antoine Bourseiller, a role for which she was instantly awarded with the Gérard Philipe Award.
Soon after, in 1968, her performance of the role of the Queen in Victor Hugo’s Ruy Blas, staged by Raymond Rouleau, met with great success. Ludmila Mikaël then interpreted the tenderness and violence of Claudel's characters, Lumîr in Le Pain dur, put on stage by Jean-Marie Serreau in 1970, and, later on, that of Ysé in Partage de Midi (The Break of Noon) directed by Antoine Vitez in 1975.
At the same time, she magnificently performed the characters of Montherlant, that of Benedetta of Narniain Malatesta, staged by Pierre Dux in 1969, of Mariana in The Master of Santiago, under the direction of Michel Etcheverry in1972, and of Sister Gabrielle in Port Royal directed by Jean Meyer in 1973. It was during this period that Ludmila Mikaël embarked on a long series of collaborations with her husband, director Terry Hands, mainly centering on Shakespeare's plays; hence, she performed the roles of Lady Anne in Richard III in 1972, and of Taïsa and of Marina in Pericles, Prince of Tyre in 1974. She was named a sociétaire of the Troupe on January 1, 1975, thus becoming the 454th one, and, in 1976, she renders with grace, elegance and a lot of ascendancy the disconcerting ambiguity of Viola in Twelfth Night, Or As You Like It.
From among the repertoire she performed, it is worthwhile mentioning authors such as Rostand (Roxane inCyrano de Bergerac directed by Jean-Paul Roussillon in 1976), Courteline (Valentine in La Paix chez soi [Peace at Home] staged by Alain Pralon in 1977), Goldoni (Giacinta in The Villeggiatura Trilogy directed by Giorgio Strehler in 1978), and de Musset (Marianne in The Moods of Marianne - Les Caprices de Marianne directed by François Beaulieu in 1980).
Ludmila Mikaël radiated forth an air of fragility, a grace, and retrained passion when she played the role of Nina in Chekhov's The Seagull directed by Otomar Krejca in 1980. Throughout her career, she has always remained faithful to the characters of classical tragedies, wishing to interpret as best as possible their tears: those of Camille in Corneille’s Horace directed by Jean-Pierre Miquel in 1971; or those of Chimène in Corneille’s Le Cid staged in 1977 by Terry Hands, or those of three immense roots: Phèdre (in the eponymous play, directed by Jacques Rosner in 1978), Junie In Britannicus, staged in modern costumes by Jean-Pierre Miquel the same year), and Berenice (in the Berenice of Klaus-Michaël Grüber, in 1984).
Ludmila Mikaël left the Comédie-Française on December 31, 1986, and was named a sociétaire honoraire on January 1, 1987.

Alongside her theatrical career, Ludmila Mikaël has always occupied an important place in the cinematographic landscape, ever since her first appearance in a film soon after leaving the Conservatoire in 1967. It is worthwhile mentioning her participation in Voyage of Silence (Le Saut) directed by Christian de Chalonge, in Boys and Girls (Des Garçons et des filles) directed by Étienne Périer in 1968, in John Flynn's The Sergeant also in 1968, in The Royal Chase (La Chasse Royale) by François Leterrier (1969), in Horace by Jean-Pierre Miquel and Olivier Ricard (1972), in Vincent, François, Paul and the Others of Claude Sautet (1974), and in The Man Who Sleeps (Un homme qui dort) by Bernard Queysanne released in 1974. She also took part in Robin Davis' The Police War (La Guerre des polices) in 1979, in Molière’sLe Bourgeois gentilhomme, in an adaptation by Roger Coggio in 1982, in Bernard Cohn’s Natalia (1989), in Jean-Claude Brisseau’s Noce blanche (1989), Pierre Schoedoerffer’s Diên Biên Phú (Die Schlacht von Dien Bien Phu) in 1992, in Antonio-Pedro Vasconcelos’ Aqui D'El Rei! (1992), in Ann Le Monnier’s Vagabond (1992), in Pierre Granier-Deferre’s Archipel (1993), in Robert Enrico’s Vent d'est (1993), Xavier Gélin’s Coup de jeune (1993), in Jean-Loup Hubert’sÀ cause d'elle (1993), in Jacques Bral’s Mauvais garçon (1993), and in Pierre Granier-Deferre’s The Little Boy (Le Petit Garçon) in 1995. Furthermore, she starred in L'Art (délicat) de la séduction by Richard Berry (2001), in _15__th_ _August_ (_15 août_) by Patrick Alessandrin (2001), in _Seaside_ (_Bord de mer_) by Julie Lopes-Curval (2002), in _Le Cœur des hommes_ by Marc Esposito (2003), in _Rashevski's Tango_ (_Le Tango des Rashevski_) by Sam Garbarski (2003), in_Why (Not) Brazil?_ (_Pourquoi (pas) le Brésil_) by Laetitia Masson (2004), in _Aux abois_ by Philippe Colin (2005), in _Fissures_ (_Écoute le temps_) of Alanté Kavaïté (2007), and that same year in _Le Cœur des hommes_ 2 by Marc Espositio (2007).

Ludmila Mikaël was granted the Suzanne Bianchetti Award for the television movie Les Eaux mêlées, and the Critics' Union Award for Best Actress in 1975/1976. In 1992, she was awarded the Molière for Best Actress for her performance in Jacques Rampal’s Celimène and the Cardinal.

Ludmila Mikael was granted the distinction of Commander in the Order of Arts and Letters.