Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthdate
1907-03-22
Day of Death
1984-01-20
Place of Birth
Neuilly-sur-Seine, Seine [now Hauts-de-Seine], France
Roger Blin
Biography
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.
Filmography (73)
Le Fantôme de Laurent Terzieff
2020
The Hospital of Leningrad
1983
Vendredi ou la vie sauvage
1983
Five and the Skin
1982
The King and the Mockingbird
1980
The Adolescent
1979
The Old Country Where Rimbaud Died
1977
Nevermore, Forever
1976
One Must Live Dangerously
1975
Aloïse
1975
That Most Important Thing: Love
1975
The Shadow Line
1973
Too Small My Friend
1971
