British actress of enormous popularity between the 30s and 40s of the 20th century, she reached the peak of her success in 1935 when she starred in the film “39 Steps” by Alfred Hitchcock. She was the first Englishwoman with a big contract in Hollywood and there she starred in films with Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda and Bob Hope. A tireless worker (she made more than 40 feature films), she stated that her idea of ??happiness was working all the time. A philologist by training, she was a woman of great culture (she mastered four languages) and always demonstrated a great commitment to the most disadvantaged. He created his own orphanage to shelter children orphaned by war in his French Château de Saudreville in Villeconin.

A terrible event would mark his life; His only little sister died in a Luftwaffe bombing of London during World War II. Since then, she would interrupt her career to join the United Seamen's Foundation (1943) and work as a nurse for the American Red Cross (1944-1945) with the pseudonym "Nurse Hamilton."

As Madeleine would affirm, “I am going to fight Hitler with everything I have and with every ounce of my strength.” And so it was, formally renouncing his theater work during the war to assist those affected by the war and support various charitable causes.

His commitment and generosity was awarded with the French “Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur” and the “American Freedom Medal”, two of the most important civilian distinctions. She was also the first female speaker for Rotary International alongside UNICEF in 1949.

Her relationship with Spain was very close, since, in love with the Costa Brava, she decided to build, together with one of her husbands, a castle that became known as “Villa Madeleine.” After another hard blow, after the death of his very young daughter Anne Madeleine at the age of 33, he moved to the Costa del Sol where he went to live in another large residence near Marbella. He died there in 1987 but finally his remains ended up resting in his beloved town of Calonge.

Her legacy was to her last caregiver and friend. And now Balclis has the pleasure of offering some of his personal objects and hundreds of beautiful and emotional photographs (some unpublished) of his life career as well as albums with abundant documentation about his career and activities. Let us also remember that in our room his two best oil portraits, the work of Herbert James Gunn and Philip de Laszlo, were already auctioned.

Among the most notable lots, we find a silk dress or a Louis Vuitton suitcase that belonged to the actress; as well as dozens of photographs by renowned photographers such as Arnold Newman, Don English, Stathy Smith, Henry Talbot, Irving Newman, “Sasha” or Florence Vandamm, among others.