- Gianni Esposito, Pardonnez-nous nos offenses, France 1956. Acteur-realisateur Robert Hossein rejected both of the bold new young turks: Terzieff and Jean-Paul Belmondo. Two years later they started their fame together in Marcel Carné’s Les Tricheurs. Old-timer or not, his film helped start la nouvelle vague… Ironic, considering that with his first short, in 1929, Carné had been called by critic Jean Mitry, “a kind of new wave.”
- Georges Poulouly, Ascenseur pour l’echafaud (UK: Lift to the Scaffold; US: Frantic), France, 1957. For the punk killer in his first feature, new French realisateur Louis Malle looked over the similarly new young turks – Terzieff, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Richard Bohringer, Sami Frey. However, when shooting started on September 23, it was with the ex-child star of René Clément’s 1951 classic, Jeux interdits/Forbidden Games. Like having Shirley Temple play Lizzie Borden.
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Classe tous risques, France, 1959. Early on, Paris producers never thought much of Belmondo – his looks, in particular. Realisateur Claude Sautet was asked, pressured, to sign up Gérard Blain, Alain Delon, Terzieff or even the chubby, sweaty, cha-cha-mambo singer Dario Moreno! The polar opened one week after A bout de souffle exploded – in March 1960 – and “Bebel” left Terzieff behind (and far happier) in the theatre.
- Gérard Philipe, Les liaisons dangereuses 1960, France, 1959. For the New Wavers, Philipe had been a great Fanfan la Tulipe during their childhood but was now a (tres) theatrical star. Therefore, realisateur Roger Vadim’s first choice for his updated Valmont was the star of Les tricheurs (hailed as part of la nouvelle vague although helmed by an icon of the l’ancienne vague, Marcel Carné). Philipe pushed harder and Vadim’s 1959 shoot lasted from February 23 to April 30. After one more film, La fievere monte à El Pao, Philipe died on November 25.
- George Hamiton, Viva Maria, France, 1965. Brigitte Bardot got her way the following year and Terzieff became her co-star in A couer joie/Two Weeks In September. He never looked very pleased about it.
- Maurice Ronet, La Scandale (The Champagne Murders), France, 1966. Paris producteur Raymond Eger suggested Terzieff or Jean-Claude Brialy to his realisateur, Claude Chabrol. Terzieff was evasive, Brialy refused and then, Ronet was free – and he also made Chabrol’s next, the WWII thriller, La Ligne de démarcation, 1966.
- Paul Smith, Dune, 1984.
Birth year: 1935Death year: 2010Other name: Casting Calls: 7