Claude Laydu

Claude Laydu klod lɛjdy 10 March 1927 29 July 2011 was a Belgianborn Swiss actor on stage and in films He was renowned for his performance in his film debut in the role of the young priest in Robert Bressons Diary of a Country Priest 1951 which has been described as one of the greatest in the history of film Laydu was born and grew up in Brussels He moved to Paris to study at the National Academy of Dramatic Arts He became a member of Madeleine Renaud and JeanLouis Barraults company at the Théâtre Marigny when he was selected by director Robert Bresson for his first role in a film as the titular young priest in Diary of a Country Priest based on the 1936 novel of the same name by Georges Bernanos They met to discuss the role and Laydu prepared by spending time in a monastery and losing weight While Bresson sometimes suggested acting got in the way of his moviemaking Laydu a practicing Catholic brought his own spirituality instinctive presence and intense ascetic looks to the role Claude Laydus performance in the title role has been described as one of the greatest in the history of film Jean Tulard in his Dictionary of Film wrote of him in this work No other actor deserves to go to heaven as much as Laydu Laydus next film Le Voyage en Amérique Trip to America 1951 was a light comedy but he was seen to have an austere style His next film was Au Coeur de la Casbah Heart of the Casbah 1952 where he struggled in an affair he played a lawyer of a man condemned to death in Nous Sommes Tous des Assassins We Are All Murderers the director André Cayattes protest against the death penalty and in Le Chemin de Damas The Road to Damascus Laydu played Saint Etienne Saint Stephen He played roles as a priest in La Guerra de Dios I Was a Parish Priest 1953 and as the title character the Russian Orthodox Rasputin 1954 Over the next decade Laydu worked in film steadily until Mafia alla sbarra 1963 His only two film projects after that were Le Destin de Priscilla Davies 1979 and Nounours 1995 which he cowrote with his wife Christine In 1962 he and his wife developed a puppet show for television called Bonne nuit les petits Good Night Little Ones Five minutes long it was shown nightly and its characters Nounours Pimprenelle and Nicolas became known by generations of French children as it was produced for more than a decade Laydu performed the voice of the Sandman who spoke the title each night Laydu and his wife revived it in 1995 as Nounours and it ran for several years There was associated development and marketing of numerous related books records videos and dolls He and costar Linette Lemercier who voiced Oscar were the only ones who reprised their roles in the reboot series The show became very popular in Canada as it airs on Ici RadioCanada Télé right before Le Téléjournal Ce Soir