Catherine Spaak: The Year in Review - 1962

As we have seen over the last several posts, 1962 was a break-out year for Catherine's career.  She worked on one film La voglia matta at the end of 1961, which hit Italian theaters in 1962, and she worked on 3 movies during 1962 that hit Italian theaters that year:  Diciotenni al sole, Il sorpasso, and L'amore difficile.  She also worked on a fourth movie in 1962, La parmigiana, which hit Italian theaters in February of 1963.  Catherine really hit her stride, acting-wise, displaying charm, screen presence, comedic ability, and beauty.  Her success led to her being viewed as a spokesperson for her generation of European teenagers.  Heady stuff, for a 17-year old French girl working and living in Rome.

In addition, off-screen, Catherine was pursuing a romance with actor Fabrizio Capucci, who she met on the set of La voglia matta.  Fabrizio's brother and sister were part of the famous Paris-Rome Capucci fashion designing team.

On February 23, 1962 Catherine and Fabrizio attended the Teatro Sistina together.

In late March of 1962, press reports were that Catherine's mother had come to Rome to try to talk Catherine out of marrying Fabrizio, because she thought they were too young.  Here are two press photos associated with that visit:

 
Catherine was featured in the April 24, 1962 edition of Look, in an article on Paris fashion (and which included Fabrizio and his brother, Roberto).  Fabrizio was referred to as Catherine's "fiancee," and Catherine was erroneously referred to as an "18-year-old French film actress" (she was only 17 at the time).

  
Here is a press photo from April 1962.  I do not know the story behind it:

  

Here are three press photos of Catherine in July 1962.  She is out shopping with her mother during completion of filming for Eighteen in the Sun.

Here is a photo of Catherine with Fabrizio during the filming of Eighteen in the Sun:

This press photo is probably from the summer of 1962 during filming of Eighteen in the Sun:

Here are a couple of pictures of Catherine and Fabrizio in 1962, exact date not known:

 
Here is a press photo of Catherine and Fabrizio in Rome in August 1962.  The back of the photo states that the couple are "said to be marrying shortly." 

Over the course of the year, Catherine moved in with the Capucci family, and with an eye on marrying Fabrizio, began studying Catholicism.  Though she had not been exposed to religion in the Spaak family, Catherine was baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church in August of 1962.  Reportedly, she had an "emotional breakdown" (whatever that means) a few days later but quickly recovered.  Her emotional state could have also been impacted by the fact that, by the late summer of 1962, she was pregnant.  These clipping appears to show her baptism and first communion:

I am not sure about the dates for the following photos, but my guess is 1962 (rather than 1963):

Still being a minor, Catherine needed her parents' permission to marry, but her parents initially refused (even after her father was informed that she was pregnant).  Eventually, her father relented and gave his permission.   The wedding did not take place until after the end of  the year, so we will discuss it further in a future post (and it has already been discussed previously in The Empty Canvas post).

Here is a nice photo from an article in the August 12, 1962 edition of Epoca:

In 1962 (exact date not known at this time), Catherine signed a recording contract with the Ricordi label.  Perdono/Tu e io was her first record (arranged by Ennio Morricone), and it made the Italian top 20.  I have read in an Italian press retrospective on Catherine's career that she made her TV debut singing Perdono on a TV show called L'amico del giaguaro.  That TV show aired between 1961 and 1964, and each episode was a parody of a famous movie.  17 episodes aired in 1962 (between June 30 and October 27), so I presume that Catherine's appearance was during that time period.  I have not seen any photos or video footage of that appearance and have no other information on it at this time.

A four-song EP record was also released that year:

Here is a photo of Catherine in 1962 with Italian singer-songwriter, Gino Paoli:

 
Here are some modeling photos that I think are probably from 1962:

From Jours de France, October 13, 1962:

 
Here are some magazine clippings that appear to show Catherine in 1962:

  
Here are some magazines on which Catherine was featured in 1962:

An article and picture of Catherine appeared in the December 27, 1962 editon of Cine Tele-Revue: