Coco Chanel
As 1971 began, Chanel was 87 years old, tired, and ailing. She carried out her usual routine of preparing the spring catalogue. She had gone for a long drive the afternoon of Saturday, 9 January. Soon after, feeling ill, she went to bed early. She died on Sunday, 10 January 1971, at the Hotel Ritz, where she had resided for more than 30 years.
Her funeral was held at the Église de la Madeleine; her fashion models occupied the first seats during the ceremony and her coffin was covered with white flowers—camellias, gardenias, orchids, azaleas and a few red roses. She died in her infamous style, announcing: "You see, this is how you die."
Danielle Darrieux
In 1970, Darrieux replaced Katharine Hepburn in the Broadway musical "Coco", based on the life of Coco Chanel, but the play, essentially a showcase for Hepburn, soon folded without her. In 1971 and 1972 she also appeared in the short-lived productions of "Ambassador". She worked again with Demy for his film "Une chambre en ville" (1982), an opera-like musical melodrama reminiscent of the director's earlier work "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" ("Les Parapluies de Cherbourg", 1964). Once again, Darrieux provided her own vocals for her songs.