Gérard Philipe

French actor

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History

Gérard Philipe (born Dec. 4, 1922, Cannes, France—died Nov. 25, 1959, Paris) was one of France’s most popular and versatile actors, whose brilliant performances on both stage and screen established his international reputation.

Philipe attended the Conservatory of Dramatic Art in Paris and made his debut in Nice at the age of 19. Consequently, he was invited to Paris, where he played Angel in Sodome et Gomorrhe (1943), a performance that made him an overnight star. His success on the stage led to film offers, and within five years his screen appearances brought him international fame. Two of his earliest film roles—as the obsessed prince in L’Idiot (1946; adapted from Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel) and as the soulful 17-year-old tragically in love with an older woman in Claude Autant-Lara’s Le Diable au corps (1946; Devil in the Flesh)—fixed the dual image that came to be associated with Philipe throughout his career. In the former role, his portrayal of the tormented hero revealed his intelligence and innovative talent; in the latter, his good looks and latent sensuality attracted a following that saw him as a “pinup.” Other films, which brought him into contact with such great directors of the period as René Claire, Max Ophüls, and Luis Buñuel, include La Beauté du diable (1949; Beauty and the Devil), La Ronde (1950), Fanfan la tulipe (1951), Les Belles de nuit (1952; Night Beauties), and Grandes Manoeuvres (1955; Summer Manoeuvres).

Film stardom did not diminish Philipe’s enthusiasm for the stage. In 1951 he joined the Théâtre National Populaire to portray Le Cid and continued to work there until his death. He created particularly memorable roles in Caligula (1945; by Albert Camus), Prinz Friedrich von Homburg (1951), Lorenzaccio (1952; by Alfred de Musset), Ruy Blas (1954), and Richard II (1954). He also appeared in the first French production of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children (1951). He was president of the French actors’ union at the time of his death.