Roger Blin
Roger Blin (Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, 22 March 1907 – Évecquemont, France, 21 January 1984) was a French actor and director. He staged world premieres of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot in 1953 and Endgame in 1957.
Blin was the son of a doctor; however, despite his father's wishes, Blin forged a career in the theatre. As a teenager he was 'fascinated' by the Surrealists and their conception of revolutionary art.
He was initially part of the left-wing theatre collectives The Company of Five and The October Group. In 1935 Blin served as Antonin Artaud's assistant director for his production of Les Cenci [The Cenci] at the Folies-Wagrams theatre in 1935. Following his work with Artaud, Blin focused on 'political street-theatre.'
During the war, Blin was a liaison between the Resistance and the French Army.
His extensive career as both director and actor in both film and theatre has been largely defined by his work and relationship with Artaud, Samuel Beckett and Jean Genet. In addition to being a close friend and confidant of Artaud during the latter's nine years of internment, he directed the first performances of Beckett's Waiting For Godot, Happy Days and Endgame as well as directing the initial performance of Genet's The Blacks and the controversial The Screens. Genet's key correspondences to Blin have been published by Editions Gallimard.
The 1986 Faber and Faber publication, "Samuel Beckett: The Complete Dramatic Works" carries only three dedications from Beckett: "Endgame" is dedicated to Blin, while "Come and Go" is for John Calder, and "Catastrophe" is for Václav Havel.
Source: Article "Roger Blin" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Known for
Douce
Man of the theater (uncredited)
Orpheus
The Poet
Adrienne Lecouvreur
The Adolescent
Romain
Paris Blues
Fausto the Moor (uncredited)
Le Colisée
The Crowd
The World Will Shake
Le Condamné
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Mathias Hungadi
Volpone
Un vénitien
The King and the Mockingbird
L’aveugle (voice)
That Most Important Thing: Love
Servais' Father
The Time of the Cherries
Dupuis son
Quatrevingt-treize
Tellmarc’h
Le Corbeau
François
Beating Heart
(credit only)
Life Is Ours
Un métallo
The Devil's Envoys
The Monster Showman
Captain Fracasse
Fagotin
The Sunday of Life
Jean Sans-Tête
The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird
Blind Man (Voice)
Five and the Skin
Récitant (voice)
A Taste for Women
Larsen
Vagabonds imaginaires
Narrator (segment 'Les amours jaunes') (voice)
Colonel Chabert
Cleric
Le Fantôme de Laurent Terzieff
Self (archive footage)
Little Claus and Big Claus
Le grand Claus
The Life and Loves of Beethoven
De Ries
Aloïse
Le professeur de chant
Pasha's Wives
Mair
The Curtain Rises
Dominique, le gardien du château de la famille de Cécilia
Nevermore, Forever
Daniel
Checkerboard
Slim, le guide
Under Western Eyes
Unnamed Character
The Bohemian Life
Man of the puppet
Marie Soleil
Karl / Boss
Unusual Tales
Guillaume
Vendredi ou la vie sauvage
Jenny
le malade solitaire
Adieu Léonard
Bohemian leader
Too Small My Friend
Boris
The Devil's Tricks
Monsieur de Beaurepaire
The Trump Card
Aspirant
Wicked City
Emilio
First in Line
Paul Moury
Adventures of Captain Fabian
The Knight of the Night
le valet
Passionnelle
Julien
The Last Judgment
Calligraphie Japonaise
Narrator
The Ideal Couple
The sleepwalker
The Amazing Mr. Callaghan
Wladimir
Alibi
Kretz, Winckler's henchman
The Shadow Line
Burns
Stars at Noon
Self
The Convict
Convict
The Old Country Where Rimbaud Died
Jeanne's father
Louise
(uncredited)
Street Without a Name
One Must Live Dangerously
Murdoc
L'âge d'or
Egypt, oh Egypt: Images of Heaven
Narrator (voice)
La Plaie et le Couteau, Charles Baudelaire
The Hospital of Leningrad
Nestor
Piédalu fait des miracles
Torticola versus Frankensberg
Doctor Frankenstein
Qui donc a rêvé?
L'illusion comique
Alcandre
Les Trois Sœurs
Verchinine
Law of Survival
Pao
The Citadel of Silence
Officer (uncredited)
The Star Ship
Curtway
The Invitation to the Waltz
Guillaume l'égorgeur