Gérard Philipe

Studying at the Paris Conservatoire, Philipe achieved overnight stardom in 1945 creating the title role in Albert Camus's Caligula. In 1951, he joined Jean Vilar at the newly created Théâtre National Populaire (TNP), dedicating his immense fame to democratic, affordable popular theater.

His portrayal of Rodrigue in Corneille's Le Cid in the Cour d'Honneur of the Palais des Papes in Avignon became the defining theatrical legend of the era. In cinema, his radiant charm starred in Le Diable au corps (1947), Fanfan la Tulipe (1952), and Les Liaisons dangereuses (1959), before liver cancer took him at age thirty-six, buried in his Cid costume.