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France - culture
Actor and director Georges Wilson dies
Article published on the 2010-02-04 Latest update 2010-02-04 11:30 TU
Georges Wilson with his son, Lambert, at the 1989 Avignon festival
(Photo: AFP)
One of France's most famous theatre actors and directors has died aged 88. Georges Wilson interpreted some of the best-known roles in French theatre including Ubu in Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi and Cid in the play by Corneille.
Wilson was one of the last great figures of the Theatre National Populaire, TNP, founded by Jean Vilar and and Gerard Philipe after the Second World War.
He succeeded Vilar as director of the TNP from 1963 to 1972 where he continued to produce plays aimed at drawing the biggest possible audiences.
During his tenure at the TNP he staged both the Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giradoux and the The Devil and the Good Lord by Jean-Paul Sartre.
Wilson was a mainstay of French theatre for more than 60 years, but he also carved out a role for himself in cinema playing a number of diverse characters. These included Captain Haddock in the film version of Tintin in 1961 and a kidnapped millionaire in Mesrine in 2007.
He is the father of Lambert Wilson, one of today's most popular actors in France.
