Jean-Pierre Léaud

In his first major film role as Antoine Doinel, Jean-Pierre Leaud exhibited a mature command as an unloved youth who turns petty thief in Francois Truffaut's memorable classic "The Four Hundred Blows" (1959). The film's final frozen image of Leaud's round face staring at the camera with a mixture of humor and confusion has become a familiar screen image. Truffaut went on to direct the actor in six additional films, four of which detailed the further adventures of Doinel. Leaud matured into a lanky, sharp-featured but furtive man. Over the course of the series, he proved to be a modest talent with his initial performance the best. As Leaud matured along with the character of Doinel, he demonstrated his limitations, playing against the sentimentality of "Stolen Kisses" (1968) and lending an almost cold presence to "Bed and Board" (1970, easily the weakest of the entries in the series). The final installment, "Love on the Run" (1979), was a modest effort.