The Prix Romy Schneider (Romy Schneider Award) is the most prestigious award for promising upcoming actresses in the French film industry.

It was initiated in 1984 by the French journalists Marlène and Eugène Moineau and is named after the actress Romy Schneider (1938–1982). The prize is awarded by a jury each year in Paris in conjunction with the Prix Patrick Dewaere (formerly the Prix Jean Gabin).

In 1994, the German actress Sandra Speichert was the first non-French –and so far the only German– recipient. The youngest recipient was Vanessa Paradis at 17 years in 1990, the oldest Mathilde Seigner at 31 years in 1999.

Romy Schneider (23 September 1938 – 29 May 1982) was an Austrian-born German film actress who also held French citizenship.

Schneider was born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach in Nazi-era Vienna, six months after the Anschluss, into a family of actors that included her paternal grandmother Rosa Albach-Retty, her Austrian father Wolf Albach-Retty and her German mother Magda Schneider. After her parents' divorce in 1945, Magda took charge of Romy and her brother Wolfi, eventually supervising the young girl's career, often appearing alongside her daughter. Her career was also overseen by her stepfather, Hans Herbert Blatzheim, a noted restaurateur who Schneider indicated had an unhealthy interest in her.

Romy Schneider's first film, made when she was 15, was Wenn der weiße Flieder wieder blüht (When the White Lilacs Bloom Again) in 1953, credited as Romy Schneider-Albach. In 1954, Schneider for the first time portrayed a royal, playing a young Queen Victoria in the Austrian film Mädchenjahre einer Königin (known in the U.S. as The Story of Vickie and in Britain as Victoria in Dover). Schneider's breakthrough came with her portrayal of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, in the romantic biopic Sissi (1955) and its two sequels, Sissi – The Young Empress (1956) and Sissi – Fateful Years of an Empress (1957), all with Karlheinz Böhm, who became a close friend. Less stereotypical films during this busy period include Robinson soll nicht sterben (The Legend of Robinson Crusoe) (1957) putting her among a stellar cast and opposite a young Horst Buchholz, and Monpti (1957), directed by Helmut Käutner and again opposite Buchholz.

Patrick Dewaere (26 January 1947 – 16 July 1982) was a French film actor. He was born in Saint-Brieuc, Côtes-d'Armor, son of French actress Mado Maurin. His five siblings, Jean-Pierre Maurin (1941-1996), Yves-Marie Maurin (b. 1944), Dominique Maurin (b. 1949), Jean-Francois Maurin (b. 1957) and Marie-Veronique Maurin (b. 1960), also became actors, with varying degrees of success.

Patrick was a promising and popular French actor in the late 1960s and 1970s. In 1968, he joined Café de la Gare, the troupe of performers which also included such future stars as Gérard Depardieu and Miou-Miou. After initially appearing under the pseudonym Patrick Maurin, he finally opted for Dewaere, which was his grandmother's maiden name.^{[citation needed]}

Onscreen from 1971 in various bit parts, Dewaere made the breakthrough with his first major role in Bertrand Blier's anarchic comedy Les Valseuses (1974) where he and Depardieu starred as two young delinquents. He teamed up again with Depardieu in Blier's Oscar-winning comedy Préparez vos mouchoirs (1978).

Audrey Dana (born February 14, 1979) is a French actress. She studied drama in Orléans and Paris. After two years in New York, she came back to France where she acted in various plays, especially in Nos amis, les humains by Bernard Werber. She was also cast in the movie adaptation Nos amis les Terriens, and Roman de Gare by Claude Lelouch. In 2008, she was nominated for this role to the César for Most Promising Actress (meilleur espoir féminin) and won the Prix Romy Schneider. She is married to French movie director Mabrouk El Mechri.

Charles Aznavour, OC (born Shahnour Vaghenag Aznavourian; Armenian: Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրեան; Shahnour Vaghinak Aznavurian; May 22, 1924) is an Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat. Besides being one of France's most popular and enduring singers, he is also one of the best-known singers in the world. Charles Aznavour (pronounced in French as Sharl Aznavoor) is known for his unique tenor voice: clear and ringing in its upper reaches, with gravelly and profound low notes. He has appeared in more than sixty movies, composed about a thousand songs (including 150 at least in English, 100 in Italian, 70 in Spanish, and 50 in German), and sold well over 100 million records.

In 1998, Charles Aznavour was named Entertainer of the Century by CNN and users of Time Online from around the globe. He was recognized as the century's outstanding performer, with nearly 18% of the total vote, edging out Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. He has sung for presidents, popes, and royalty, as well as at humanitarian events, and is the founder of the charitable organization Aznavour for Armenia along with his long-time friend impresario Levon Sayan.