 She started her acting career in small film roles at the end of the 1940s.Her first 'main' role came when she portrayed Gilberte Doinel, the mother of the main character in François Truffaut's 1959 film "The 400 Blows".Another notable early role of hers was as Christiane Colombey, the bigamist wife of the main character in the 1963 film "".