1. – Gérard Philipe, L’Idiot, France, 1946. Philipe’s first movie break (leading to Le Diable au corps and instant superstardom) happened when realisateur George Lampin persuaded his producers to drop Barrault for another stage star. And so, Philipe was Caligula every night on-stage and Prince Lev Nikolayvich Myshkin on-set by day. Lampin had never actually seen Philipe in the play. Indeed, I wondered if he ever read L’Idiot. Being Russian-born was not enough to make him a Dostoievskian expert; he made a similarly dullard Crime and Punishment in 1956.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 1