Emmanuelle Riva (born Paulette Germaine Riva; 24 February, 1927) is a French actress, best known for her roles in the films Léon Morin, Priest, Hiroshima mon amour, and Amour. She was BAFTA nominated in 1960 for her role in Hiroshima mon amour, and in 2013, Emmanuelle received Academy Award and BAFTA nominations for her role in Amour. She is the oldest actress ever to have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Riva was born in Cheniménil, France, the daughter of Jeanne (née Nourdin) and René Riva, a painter of sign letters. Riva started her acting career on the Paris stage after having worked as a seamstress. Her best known role was as the (unnamed) female lead in Hiroshima mon amour (1959).
She has also appeared in Adua e le compagne, Léon Morin, prêtre, Thérèse Desqueyroux (for which she won the Volpi Cup for best actress at the Venice Film Festival), Thomas l'imposteur, The Eyes, the Mouth, Three Colours: Blue as the mother of Juliette Binoche's character, and Venus Beauty Institute. She has continued to act in films in the 21st century.
While filming Hiroshima mon amour, Riva photographed Hiroshima; a half-century later these photographs were exhibited at the Nikon Salon and were issued in book form in France and Japan.
Riva is also a published poet.
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