French actress Josette Day's best-known role was that of Beauty in Cocteau's 1945 version of Beauty and the Beast. Born Josette Dagory in Paris, she started acting in films at age five and later went on to work in the theater and to dance in the Paris Opera. She began her adult film career in the early '30s and went on to play in French films through 1949 when she retired to marry a wealthy Belgian industrial magnate.