French character actress Lilyan Chauvin may be one of those actors or actresses whose face you know without knowing their names. Chauvin was a long time veteran of the European stage, and was adept at playing strict, but sometimes loving characters. To horror fans, she might be best known as the sinister Mother Superior in Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), but her career started back in the 1950s when she was plucked from the stage to appear in small minor roles in motion pictures. One notable film was with John Wayne in North to Alaska (1960). For about thirty years, Chauvin was one of the busiest character actresses in Hollywood, appearing in over forty films as well as on television. Her many film credits include Private Benjamin (1980), Predator 2 (1990), No Place to Hide (1992), Universal Soldier (1992) as Jean-Claude Van Damme's mother, and Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can (2002) with Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Filmography

• 2011The Passing — Rebecca Naibert
• 2007Sublime — European Nurse
• Ugly Betty — Yolanda
• 2004Illusion Infinity — Nurse
• 2002Catch Me If You Can — Mrs. Lavalier
• 2002Duty Dating — Dr. Hartley
• Alias — Signora Ventutti
• 2001Missing Pieces — Serena
• 2001The Man Who Wasn't There — Medium
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation — Mrs. Aloyna Ivanovna
• Malcolm in the Middle — Marica
• 2000Skeleton Woman — Bone Gatherer
• 2000Stanley's Gig — Grace
• 1999Five Aces — Grandmother Kalliope
• The Pretender — Mrs. Nikkos, the Greek Lady
• 1995Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings — Miss Osie
• 1995Tyson — Camille Ewald
• 1994Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 Women — Coach
• ER — Nurse Edna
• Earth 2 — Katrina
• Friends — Grandma Tribbiani
• 1994Tonya & Nancy: The Inside Story — Skating Judge
• Cafe Americain — Madame Dussolier
• Frasier — Mama
• Saved by the Bell: The New Class — Old Woman
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Vedek Yassim
• The X-Files — Golda
• 1992No Place to Hide — Mother Superior
• 1992Round Trip to Heaven — Chaperone
• 1992Stormy Weathers — Mrs. Comden
• 1992Universal Soldier — Mrs. John Devreux
• 1991For the Very First Time — Sister Eugenia
• 1990Bad Influence — Art Gallery Patron
• 1990Predator 2 — Irene Edwards
• Baywatch — Dr. Lester
• 1989Death Doll — Madame Zerba
• 1989Listen to Me
• 1987Born in East L.A. — German Woman
• Nutcracker: Money, Madness & Murder
• 1987Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 — Mother Superior (archive footage)
• Murder, She Wrote — Dispatcher
• 1984Silent Night, Deadly Night — Mother Superior
• Masquerade — Dept. Store Customer
• 1982Beyond Reason — Nurse Johnson
• 1982The Junkman — French Reporter
• Darkroom — Madame LeClerc
• Falcon Crest — Sister Jeannette
• Magnum, P.I. — Maria
• 1980Private Benjamin — Mrs. Trémont
• Hart to Hart
• 1979Portrait of a Stripper — Yvette
• The Facts of Life
• 1978Child of Glass — Madame Dumaine
• 1978Flying High — Miss Simmons
• Kaz
• 1978Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women — Louise
• 1977The Other Side of Midnight — Mrs. Page
• 1976Victory at Entebbe — French Nun
• 1975Funny Lady — Mademoiselle
• Cool Million — Party guest
• The Bob Newhart Show — Olga
• 1971Once Upon a Dead Man — Madame Jarnac
• 1971The Mephisto Waltz — Woman Writer
• McCloud
• To Rome with Love
• The Outcasts
• 1968Yours, Mine and Ours — French Actress on TV Screen
• Mannix
• Mission: Impossible — Mrs. Beruch
• 1965Tickle Me — Ronnie
• Daniel Boone — Madame Simon
• Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
• 1962Two Weeks in Another Town — Bar Girl (uncredited)
• 1961Bloodlust! — Sandra Balleau
• 1960North to Alaska — Jenny Lamont, Jenny Lamont (uncredited)
• 1960Walk Like a Dragon — Mme. Lili Raide
• Adventures in Paradise — Foridita
• One Step Beyond — Francesca
• 1959The Peter Tchaikovsky Story — Fanny Durbach
• 1958King Creole — Catherine (uncredited)
• 1958Lost, Lonely and Vicious — Tanya Pernaud
• 1958The Perfect Furlough — French Nurse
• Harbor Command
• Maverick — Sydney Sue Shipley
• Panic!
• Perry Mason — Matron
• Richard Diamond, Private Detective — Clara
• 1957Silk Stockings — Dancer Sonia (uncredited)
• 1957Ten Thousand Bedrooms — Reporter (uncredited)
• The Walter Winchell File
• The Adventures of Jim Bowie
• The Man Called X
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents — Sybil Delamont
• Adventures of Superman
• Omnibus
• Dragnet
• Hallmark Hall of Fame — Old Woman
• Studio One

Appearances as themselves (1)

• 2006Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film — Self