Editing Leslie Caron (section)

== Early life and family ==
[[File:Margaret Petit.png|thumb|left|Caron's mother, the ballet dancer Margaret Petit, on the front cover of ''Theatre Magazine'' in October 1921.]]
[[File:An American in Paris (1951) trailer 1.jpg|thumb|left|Leslie Caron and [[Gene Kelly]] in ''[[An American in Paris (film)|An American in Paris]]'' (1951).]]
Caron was born in [[Boulogne-sur-Seine]], [[Seine (department)|Seine]] (now [[Boulogne-Billancourt]], Hauts-de-Seine), the daughter of Margaret (née Petit), a Franco-American dancer on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]], and Claude Caron, a French chemist, pharmacist, perfumer and boutique owner.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |last=Kisselgoff |first=Anna |title=DANCE; The Ballerina in Leslie Caron The Actress |date=March 12, 1995 |url-access=subscription |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE0DA1531F931A25750C0A963958260}}</ref> Claude Caron was the founder of the artisanal perfumier Guermantes.<ref>[https://www.perfumeintelligence.co.uk/library/perfume/g/g5/g5p6.htm "Guermantes"], ''Perfume Intelligence''. Retrieved March 27, 2022.</ref> While her older brother, Aimery Caron, became a chemist like their father, Leslie was prepared for a performing career from childhood by her mother.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fandango.com/people/leslie-caron-108323| title=Leslie Caron Biography| website=Fandango| access-date=February 1, 2019}}</ref> The family lost its wealth during World War II and could not provide a [[dowry]] for Caron. "My mother said: 'There's only one profession that leads you to marrying money and becoming a princess or duchess, and that's ballet.' ... My grandfather whispered heavily: 'Margaret, you want your daughter to be a whore?' I heard it. This has always followed me".
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Of the lost fortune, Caron recalled, "My mother died of it". Her mother, who had grown up in poverty, could not cope with their reduced circumstances. She became depressed and an alcoholic and, at age 67, killed herself.{{r|hattenstone20210621}}