Henri Serre

Considering he headlined one of the seminal films of the French New Wave, Henri Serre is something of an enigma. He was spotted in a cabaret comedy duo by François Truffaut, who gave him a bit in the army romp "Tire-au-Flanc 62" before casting him as Jim in "Jules et Jim," because he resembled the author of the source novel, Henri-Pierre Roche. Alongside Oskar Werner and Jeanne Moreau, Serre exudes dapper dignity. But he became so associated with the role of the Frenchman suppressing his feelings so his Austrian chum could marry the woman of his dreams that he never really emerged from its shadow. He proved a less selfless friend to right-wing activist Jean-Louis Trintignant by stealing girlfriend Romy Schneider in Alain Cavalier's debut feature "Le Combat dans l'"le," but returned to loyalty as Emilio Pucci in "Il Processo di Verona," as he helped Mussolini's daughter Edda (Silvana Mangano) attempt to save her husband from the Gestapo. Following a minor role in Louis Malle's suicide drama "Le Feu follet," Serre guested in the thrillers "Mission to Tokyo," "Fantômas contre Scotland Yard" and Costa-Gavras's "Section spéciale." He also cropped up in co-productions like the Cossack drama "Romance of a Horsethief," the disaster movie "Concorde Affair" and the chilling killer profile "Mr Frost." But leads were confined to little-seen items like the "La Main," "La vie facile" and "Une Nuit r'vée pour un poisson banal," although he did take the title role in the TV-movie "Moi, Général de Gaulle."