Gerard Philip

Most of all he was afraid of old age - and died at 37 years old. He was the idol of millions of women - and remained faithful to his wife. I went to the actors because of money - and became a star. He played a lot of serious roles, but in the people's memory he always remained a reckless Fanfan-Tulip.

GĂ©rard Philip was born on December 4, 1922 in France, in Cannes. His parents wanted him to become a lawyer and Gerard's father was categorically opposed to the son becoming an actor, but he still had to accept this.
In 1942, Gerard began acting in the theater of Jean Vilar, where he soon became a leading performer. His first film is "Little babies from the embankment of flowers". In 1943, he starred in his first film, "The Baby with the Embankment of Flowers." True fame came to the actor in 1947 in the tape K. Otan-Lara "The Devil in the Flesh."

The success in this film determined the further role of the actor of the romantic hero. In the films of Stendhal's novels The Parma Cloister (directed by Christian-Jacques, 1948) and Red and Black (directed by K. Otan-Lara, 1954), he played young ambitious people whose desire for a career and wealth ran into the power of love, that and led to tragic finals.
In total, Gerard Philip has appeared in 28 films. His only directorial work "Til Ulenspiegel" critics found unsuccessful.
In May 1959, for the first time Gerard Philip complained of poor health. Having discovered liver cancer, on November 9 he underwent an operation. On November 25, 1959, Gerard Philip died in Paris. He was only 37 years old
Brought him the whole of France. After the death of Philip from cancer, his wife Anne wrote a memoir "One Moment" (1966), and also published a collection of "Gerard Philip: the memories collected by Ann Philip".

Brutal games

Gerard was the son of a mother-hen and a sadistic father. Marcel Philip taught his wife and two sons under any circumstances to hide their emotions, considering slander as the most terrible sin. Sometimes he arranged examinations for the family - he informed his wife and one of his sons that another seriously fell ill or was injured, - was interested in their reaction. Young Gerard took over Marcel's passion for violent rallies. One of his lovely children's fun was pretending to be drowned during a family bathing in the sea.

Real love

The personal life of France's "first lover" has always remained a secret for reporters, although there was nothing to do with the secret. Just one sluggish affair with the beautiful Maria Casares on the set of the Parma monastery, which soon came to naught.
But in 1948 a close friend kicked Gerard out on vacation - playing simultaneously in the cinema and the theater, the actor brought himself to a lamentable state. Resting in the mountains, Philip met with documentary filmmaker Anne Nicole Fourcade. She was five years older than him, and besides, she is married to a child. Anne Nicole resisted for a long time, but for the first time in love, Gerard finally managed to direct all his charm, previously manifested only on the set, to a living object.
In 1951, at the rehearsal, Philip falls from a three-meter height, receives a serious injury, but a day later, beaten with painkillers to numbness, plays almost the best in his career performance. This finally broke the resistance of Anna Nicole. In November, on a modest, almost secret ceremony, she becomes Madame Philip. At the same time, there is an event that Gerard does not know yet, but it will forever change his life. On the table, the producer of the film company "Film Arian", the Russian emigre Alexander Mnushkin, lies the script called "Fanfan-Tulip."

Lollo in the hat and Philip in the scars

Scenario Mnushkin identified as "rubbish incredible, as much as cheekbones reduces." But the idea itself to remove the picture of the adventures of the hero of the famous French song was not bad, and Mnushkin phoned Philip, who was vacationing in Morocco. Luckily for the audience, the actor, without giving Mnushkin and mouth to reveal, shared with him a dream to rest from serious roles and take off in something more cheerful. "Like" Fanfan-Tulip? "- Gelara was a naughty producer. "And the Purku would not be na?" - said the actor, who was distraught on the African sun.
Having obtained consent, Mnushkin developed rabid activity. He needed to turn rubbish into a decent script, find a director and, most importantly, a partner. From budgetary considerations, production was divided into two countries - France and Italy, which promised to provide the heroine. After numerous tests, Mnushkin was offered to look at another girl-quite inexperienced, almost speaking French, but very beautiful. Mnushkin Gina Lollobrigida liked, but "she had too big breasts, which no corset could hide." At that time, it was considered unacceptably vulgar, especially for the lyrical heroine. However, the girl so touchingly asked to take her at least some role, that Mnushkin "signed" it was her. Despite the "frivolity" of the genre, Philippe reacted to the role of Fanfan with the same obsession that all directors who worked with him noted. Although he was never an athlete and did not go in for sports, all the fights and chases of the picture are real, without any insurance or understudy. Fortunately, and a scar on his forehead, and a propped hand he then managed to heal.

Rovesnik own car

Neither Gina Lollobrigida, nor other partners of Gerard on the set could not shake his adultery. Daniel Darya once in her heart compared Gerard with a stone wall, cold and sterile. But it did not touch him. Previously, he hurried after work to his mother (father, during the occupation of the fascist league of the Iron Cross and sentenced to death, Gerard managed to illegally transfer to Spain). Now he also hurried to his wife and children - the daughter of Anne-Marie and the son of Olivier. Anne Nicole never accompanied him to the shooting, thus expressing his full confidence.
The family lived rather modestly. The car on which Gerard traveled was: his same age. From real estate, he had a three-story house opposite the Bois de Boulogne and the estate "Ramantiuel" in the south of France. After his death, it became clear that the widow inherited no more and no less than if the husband was an ordinary mortal of average prosperity.
Philip himself almost did not communicate with reporters, and once received the "Lemon" award as the most non-contact star. The veil over his personal life rose only once when the partner in the "Great Maneuvers" Dani Carrel boasted that she had managed the impossible - to lure Gerard into his bed. But who is Carrel and who is Philip, the national pride and symbol of France? Actresses very few people believed.