Gerard Philippe is a French actor who has played more than 600 performances on the theater stage and has starred in dozens of films. He was awarded the prestigious César Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Cinematography. Gerard Philip passed away at the age of 36, but the image of the characters he created on the screen was loved by viewers all over the world for many years.
The older generation still remembers Gerard Philip from the films Fanfan Tulip and Parma Cloister, where he played the main roles. A handsome man, a hero-lover who has conquered more than one hundred women's hearts with his nobility and charm.
Childhood years of the actor
Gerard was born in France, in Cannes in 1922, on December 4. His short biography is filled with amazing events. The family of the future actor had nothing to do with art. My father was a lawyer and owner of a hotel, and my mother was a housewife who took care of two children. The boys were brought up in severity, their father did not allow them any pranks and tirelessly controlled everything that happened in their lives. Any emotions and weaknesses were nipped in the bud, so that, according to the father, the children would grow up as real men who know how to stand up for themselves. Mom could not resist such an upbringing and only ran the household, doing everything for her men.
The birth of Gerard was almost a miracle, because when the child was born, he was no longer breathing. Doctors were able to save the boy and actually give him a second life. Gerard was a weak child, grew up very slowly and in his development lagged significantly behind his peers. When the other children were already taking their first steps with might and main and beginning to speak, he just crawled and did not utter a single word.
When the boy went to a closed college at the behest of his father, who wanted to make him a serious person, his favorite pastime was playing tennis and listening to jazz. He hardly read books, and did not want to study. However, on one of the holidays, the boy recited poems by famous poets and there he was noticed by a former theater actress. Calling the child to her, she said that he was destined to be an actor and he must necessarily play in the theater, because his performance was great.
The creative path and theatrical career
After graduating from college, Gerard was going to become a doctor, but his father insisted on his admission to law school. He even submitted documents there, but at the last moment he changed his mind and, having entered one of the many theaters, of which there were a lot in France in those years, he asked to be hired and given at least some role.
The young man was lucky. The theater director - Jean Vall - was attracted by the young man's appearance, his charm and education, and he accepts the young man into the troupe. Jean also becomes his first mentor to teach Gerard acting. Soon the young man gets his first role in the play "A Quite Simple Adult Girl", where he plays a young lover. Gerard at that time only turned 20 years old.
At one performance, he is noticed by film director Marc Allegre, who has arrived in the coast of France to shoot his new film "The Babes from the Embankment of Flowers". He invites Gerard to the shooting and gives him a small role. It was this work of the actor that became in the future his kind of visiting card.
Gerard continues to perform on the stage of the theater, but gradually begins to understand that he cannot make a further career here. He decides to leave the troupe and goes to Paris. In the capital of France, the actor quickly finds a job and within a few months he plays on stage in the play by the famous playwright Jean Girodoux entitled "Sodom and Gomorrah".
Performing on the stage of the theater, the actor realizes that he lacks education for professional growth, and Gerard enters the Conservatory of Dramatic Art in Paris.
After graduation, his career goes up quickly. He plays leading roles in many performances and becomes the leading actor of the National People's Theater. His performance amazes even the famous Marlene Dietrich, who shone on the screens in those years. It was she who convinces Gerard to start a career in cinema, believing that the theater will not bring him such success as cinema.
Cinema
Gerard Philip has starred in many famous films and received popular love and recognition.
In 1947 he was invited to shoot the film "The Devil in the Flesh", and then to one of the main roles in the film "Parma Cloister". The picture was an overwhelming success with the audience. A few years later she was shown on the screens of Soviet cinemas and all the women who saw the picture fell in love with Gerard Philip. His game is recognized as a genius, and the image of the main character created by him went down in the history of cinema. Gerard played in the picture without understudies and stuntmen, and performed all the tricks on his own. So it was on the set of subsequent films. He was fearless and in perfect control of his body.
One of the starring roles of Gerard was the image of a handsome young man in the film "Fanfan Tulip". It is an adventure tape replete with humor, intrigue, pursuits and love affairs. The actor immediately agreed to shoot, anticipating that it was this work that would bring him fame for years to come. His hero has incredible charisma, lightness, irony. He is not just a hero-lover, but a true Frenchman that every woman dreams of. The film was a huge success not only in France. The audience revisited the picture dozens of times, and for many years it did not leave the screens.
Personal life and death of the artist
Gerard Philip was the object of adoration of a large number of women, but, despite the signs of attention shown to him, he was devoted to one woman all his life.
His love for Anne Nicole Fourcade arose in 1943, when the actor was visiting a friend in the Pyrenees. They met Anne Nicole at one of the friendly evenings, where the actor noticed a young slender girl. They became friends and spent a lot of time together. The woman struck him with her naturalness and ease, and very much reminded Gerard of his mother. Anne Nicole was married at that moment and was not going to part with her husband. But this did not stop Gerard from starting to care for her and seeking her love for more than one year.
Ultimately, the actor managed to charm Anne Nicole and in 1951 they became husband and wife. Gerard and Anne lived together a short but very happy life. In 1954, his wife gave birth to a girl, whom her parents named Anne-Marie. And in 1956 they had a boy - Olivier.
Husband and wife never parted for long. Gerard spent a lot of time with children, telling them fairy tales and amazing stories. Anne said that Gerard was the best father and husband that any woman can only dream of. After the death of Gerard, she wrote a book about him.
In 1959, the actor's health deteriorated sharply. Doctors performed an operation on him and found a tumor. Gerard Philip passed away on November 25. He was 36 years old.
The famous actor is buried in the costume of Rodrigo from the play "Sid", in which he performed one of his favorite roles. His grave is in France, and according to his will, there is no cross, no monument, no flowers on it.
