Robert Le Vigan, a French actor, gained recognition in the late 1930s and early 1940s for his roles in classic French films such as Port of Shadows (1938) and It Happened at the Inn (1943). However, his career was cut short due to his overt fascism. Prior to the mid-1930s, his career was relatively unremarkable until he portrayed Jesus Christ in Behold the Man (1935),earning him critical acclaim and establishing him as a sought-after character actor.
Following the German invasion of France, Le Vigan joined the Parti Populiste Français (French Populist Party),a right-wing pro-fascist organization, and became an outspoken anti-Semite, advocating total collaboration with the German authorities. In 1944, he was cast in Children of Paradise (1945),but abandoned the project when the Allies landed in Sicily and was replaced by Pierre Renoir.
As the French capital was about to be liberated in August 1944, Le Vigan fled to Germany, where he reunited with his friend and fellow fascist, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, and met with collaborationist publisher Jean Luchaire and his actress daughter, Corinne Luchaire. He was arrested while attempting to cross the Swiss border and imprisoned at Fresnes prison near Paris.
At his trial in November 1946, several of his former colleagues, including Jean-Louis Barrault, Madeleine Renaud, and director Julien Duvivier, testified on his behalf, attempting to portray Le Vigan as a weak individual influenced by Céline. Despite these efforts, Le Vigan was sentenced to ten years of hard labor, lost his French citizenship, and had his assets confiscated. He spent three years in a labor camp before being released on parole and fleeing to Spain, then Argentina, where he lived in poverty until his death in 1972.
