July 17, 2009 | 9:00 am

Los Angeles Times file photo

Update: As many people guessed, this is Annabella. Above, Feb. 14, 1937: "Wings of the Morning,

Annabella; French Actress Appeared in Gance's 'Napoleon'

September 20, 1996

From Times Staff and Wire Reports

PARIS -- Suzanne Charpentier, the French actress better known by her screen name Annabella for such films as "Napoleon" and "Hotel du Nord," has died of a heart attack. She was 86.

Annabella, who was once married to American actor Tyrone Power, died Wednesday at her home in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine while she was having her morning tea, her friend Jose Sourillan said.

"She was just sitting there fine and was dead a second later," he said.

Annabella's career began in 1926 with Abel Gance's silent epic-length "Napoleon," which was restored in the mid-1980s by American director Francis Ford Coppola.

She also starred in a string of 1930s talkies that took a sentimental view of working-class Paris, including the 1938 classic "Hotel du Nord."

Among her other films were "Wings of the Morning" with Henry Fonda in 1937, "Suez" with Power and Loretta Young in 1938 and "13 Rue Madeleine" with James Cagney in 1946.

"Annabella is the sparkle that makes 'Wings of the Morning' different," wrote Times film critic Edwin Schallert. "Pretty and versatile, she displays unrivaled naturalness in her work."

Annabella returned to France after her divorce from Power in 1948. She made her final film, "Le Plus Bel Amour de Don Juan" (The Most Beautiful Love of Don Juan), in 1952.

The actress is survived by a daughter, Anne Werner Power, who lives in Boston.

Just a reminder on how this works: I post the mystery photo on Monday and reveal the answer on Friday ... or on Saturday if I have a hard time picking only five pictures -- sometimes it's difficult to choose. To keep the mystery photo from getting lost in the other entries, I move it from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday, etc., adding a photo every day.

I have to approve all comments, so if your guess is posted immediately, that means you're wrong. (And if a wrong guess has already been submitted by someone else, there's no point in submitting it again.) If you're right, you will have to wait until Friday. There's no need to submit your guess five times. Once is enough. The only prize is bragging rights.

The answer to last week's mystery star: Noreen Nash!

Los Angeles Times file photo

Update: June 15, 1939: Annabella in "Sacrifice d'Honneur."

Here's another picture of our mystery star. Please congratulate Steven Bibb and Dewey Webb for identifying her!

Los Angeles Times file photo

Update: Annabella, Oct. 23, 1937.

Here's another picture of our mystery woman. Please congratulate Jeff Hanna for identifying her!

Los Angeles Times file photo

Annabella and James Cagney in a publicity still for "13 Rue Madeleine," Feb. 19, 1947.

Here's our mystery woman with (not much of) a mystery companion. Please congratulate Jane Ellen Wayne, Mike Hawks, Anne Papineau, Claire Lockhart, Rance Ryan, Carmen, Cinnamon Carter, "Laura" fan Waldo Lydecker and Mary Mallory and co-worker Sue for identifying her. (And Zabadu, whom I overlooked earlier!)

Los Angeles Times file photo

Nov. 20, 1946: Annabella and husband Tyrone Power at the premiere of "The Razor's Edge" in New York.

Please congratulate Sonny King, William, Michael Ryerson, Sue, Annie Frye, Sam, Megan Bailey and Stacia for identifying her.