Claude Jade, byname of Claude Marcelle Jorré (8 October 1948 – 1 December 2006) was a French actress, best known by starring fictional character Christine Darbon-Doinel in François Truffaut's films Baisers volés (1968), Domicile conjugal (1970) and L'amour en fuite (1979).

From stage to François Truffaut

The daughter of a professor, she spent three years at Dijon's Conservatory of Dramatic Art, where in 1964, she won a best actress prize for her portrayal of Agnès in Molière's L'école des femmes and in 1966 the "Prix de comédie" for Jean Giraudoux' Ondine, which was performed at the "Comédie Boulogne". She subsequently moved to Paris and became a student of Jean-Laurent Cochet at the Edouard VII theater, and also began acting in a number of television productions, including a role as Sylvie Massonneau in TV series Les oiseaux rares (The Rare Birds). It was while she was performing as Frida in Pirandello's Henri IV as part of Sacha Pitoëff's production at the Théâtre Moderne that Claude Jade was discovered by François Truffaut, who was "completely taken by her beauty, her manners, her kindness, and her joie de vivre" and cast her in the role of Christine Darbon in Stolen Kisses (1968). During the working for Stolen Kisses Jade and Truffaut were engaged at one point. Stolen Kisses earned great acclaim, and placed Jade in the international spotlight, thanks to her strong performance, at most her teaching Antoine the best way to butter toast in the morning, their writing each other little notes. The American critic Pauline Kael remarked that Claude Jade "seems a less ethereal, more practical Catherine Deneuve." It was the first of three movies by Truffaut in which she appeared.