René Cresté

René Auguste Cresté (5 December 1881 – 30 November 1922) was a French stage and film actor and director of the silent film era. Cresté is possibly best recalled as Judex, the title character in the Louis Feuillade-directed crime-adventure serial Judex, which ran in twelve installments in theaters from 1917 until 1918.

Early life and career René Auguste Cresté was born in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. He began his acting career on the stages of Paris in distinguished theatrical roles in plays such as Claudine à Paris (Claudine in Paris), written by and performed alongside Colette, Ruy Blas by Victor Hugo and Adrienne Lecouvreur by Eugene Scribe.

Judex

René Cresté was signed to a contract to the Gaumont Film Company in 1908. Little is known of his first film appearances as they are considered lost. The character of Judex is widely recognized as one of cinema's first superheroes.

René Cresté was eventually cast as 'Judex' and the serial began production in 1916 and was released the following year, titled Judex, to critical and public praise. The serial also starred Musidora, Édouard Mathé, Gaston Michel, René Poyen, Yvette Andréyor and Yvonne Dario.

Following the success of Judex, Cresté appeared in a 1918 sequel , and in the 1918 serial Tih Minh, directed by Feuillade, then founded his own film production company, Films-René-Cresté, for which he produced and directed several ultimately unsuccessful films.

Death René Cresté died in 1922 of tuberculosis and was buried at Montmartre Cemetery in Paris. To support the financial needs of his widow and infirmed daughter, a charity gala was organized by friends of the Cresté family in February 1929. Three months following the event, his only daughter Renée died and was buried next to her father.