Béatrice Romand was born in Algeria, and moved to France with her parents when she was eight. She studied classical dance, art, and photography in Paris, where her photographs were exhibited. At the age of sixteen, she performed "Mauregard" for television under the direction of Claude de Givray.

She first attained real fame at the age of eighteen with her performance as Laura in Eric Rohmer’s "Claire’s Knee" (1970)—a role that quickly made her, in the words of one critic, the "symbol, argumentative and sexy," of the intellectual youth of those years. She was awarded the prize of Most Promising Actress by the Arts Club of New York for her performance.

She has starred in many films (French, Italian, and English) and telefilms since that time. She has been directed by Joseph Losey, Claude Berri, Claude Faraldo, Carlo Lizzani, and Roy Boulting, and has co-starred with Michel Piccoli, Peter Sellars, Erland Josephson, Michael Caine, André Dussollier, and Glenda Jackson.

Béatrice Romand won the prize for Best Interpretation by an actress at the Venice Film Festival for her role as Sabine in Eric Rohmer’s "The Good Marriage" (1982). Her most recent performance in a Rohmer film was as Magali in "Tale of Autumn" (1998). There is an interview of Béatrice Romand and Marie Rivière, her co-star in "Autumn Tale," in Les Cahiers du cinema No. 527, "En compagnie des femmes: rencontre avec Béatrice Romand et Marie Rivière."

Béatrice Romand has directed a number of prize-winning short films and documentaries: "Who Knows How to Kiss Inside?" (1988, Special Prize, Jury Festival of Dunkerque), "The Expected Fiancée" (1995; CNC, Festival of Venice, Val de Loire; preview and soirée at the Cinemathèque Française and Les Cahiers du Cinema), She has produced or co-produced two films: "Florimont" and "Histories in Franche-Comté." She is currently working on a longer film, "My Mother" (Pyramide Productions, Ministry of Culture, Limousin, France), which is in production.

She has acted in the theater, including a production by Peter Zadek at the Odeon Theater in Paris of Shakespeare’s "Measure for Measure," in which she co-starred with Isabelle Huppert. She has returned to the boards with her "La Sachette," a reading-interpretation of the mother of Esmeralda from Victor Hugo’s "Notre Dame de Paris". "La Sachette" has been acclaimed by audiences and critics internationally (France, Scandinavia, Spain, Turkey). In 2002, she will take her reading-interpretation of "La Sachette" on tour to Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, and West Africa.

Béatrice Romand lives in Paris, France.