CRESTÉ, RENÉ

(1881-1922)

Actor. René Cresté was a silent-film actor best known for his portrayal of Judex, the crime fighting hero ofLouis Feuillade's eponymous series. Cresté got his acting start in 1908 but did not appear in anything significant until 1912, whenLéonce Perretcast him in three of his films,L 'Amour et la lumière,La Bonne hôtesse, andLe Mariage de Suzie. Perret went on to cast Cresté in numerous other films, includingLe Roi de la montagne(1915),Les Mystères de l'ombre(1915),Le Retour du passé(1916), andDernier amour(1916).

In 1916, Cresté was cast by Feuillade as the title character inJudex. The series made him a film legend. Feuillade cast Cresté again in 1918, in hisTih-Minhseries, but his performance here could never rival his incarnation of Feuillade's legendary crime fighter. Cresté would forever remain Judex to the film public, a reality cemented by his reprisal of the role in the second series made by Feuillade in 1918. Cresté played in other Feuillade films, includingVendémiare(1918). But his untimely death from tuberculosis never afforded him the opportunity to create another legend onscreen.