FAQ
Common questions
Who was Cathy Ménard?
A French actress in the adult films of the 1980s, born on June 17, 1954, in Saint-Brieuc, Brittany, and died on May 1, 2022, at Levallois-Perret. Retrospective writing counts her among the most celebrated performers of the country's Golden Age of porn.
Where was she from?
Saint-Brieuc, in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany, in north-west France. That is where she was born, on June 17, 1954, and all of the strong sources agree on the place.
When did she start in adult film?
Her first shoots are dated 1980 by French reference writing, for Michel Barny and Michel Baudricourt; IAFD dates her active years from 1981. She was 26 or 27, which is why the answers differ by a year.
When did she stop?
Her core run ends in 1985, the last year recorded by IAFD. Two final new titles appeared in 1987, «Diamond Baby» and «Danger femmes libérées !», and magazine work continued into 1988.
What was she known for?
The bourgeoise roles: a respectable, outwardly cold woman, played with a restraint that the material around her kept testing. Her signature titles are «Bourgeoise… et pute», «Dans la chaleur de Saint-Tropez» and «L'initiation d'une femme mariée».
Was Danielle Guegard another actress?
No. It is a credited name used for Cathy Ménard in two 1983 productions by José Bénazéraf, and the databases carry it as one of her alias credits. She also appears as Kathy Menard and as Sylvia Cyranno elsewhere.
How many films did she make?
IAFD records 52 performer credits, and Italian reference writing gives the same count. French lists run to about seventy entries, which include alternative titles and compilations, and one French database counts 44. Treat the numbers as indexes, not totals.
Did she win any awards?
No awards or nominations are documented for her, and AVN, the main trade outlet in the English-speaking market, has no profile of her. Later writing about the era values her for the films, not for trophies.
When did she die?
On May 1, 2022, at Levallois-Perret in the Hauts-de-Seine, near Paris, at the age of 67. The date is cross-checked against the French national death file and against IAFD.
Did she have social media or an official site?
No. She retired decades before social media existed, and no official site of hers is known. Only platform catalogue pages carry her name, and those pages are unclaimed. They appear on this site as platform archives, not as accounts.
Why is the name sometimes written Menard?
English-language databases usually drop the accent and write Cathy Menard; the French form is Cathy Ménard. Both refer to the same performer, and this site uses the French spelling.