This delightful collection was signed by Jacques in 2006!

submitted by Anthony Maronitis, Athens Greece

Interesting Site!

Hey,

I just discovered your Jacques Sernas site! It's very interesting. I was wondering how many of his films you had. I just ordered Helen of Troy and Golden Salamander online (so far I have only seen him in La Dolce Vita but don't remember his character). I happened to discover him by browsing online and he seems like an interesting actor. His looks sort of remind me of a buffer Peter O' Toole. Most of his films seem impossible to get, especially his earlier ones. Anyways, nice to see there is a fan out there to provide pics and info on him.

Ron Manson (Mar 1, 2007)

Jacques, where is he now?

Emily:

Always wondered what had happened to Jacques. I saw him in the movie "Helen of Troy" after having read the myths and legends of ancient Greece. He was my first movie star crush, and I wrote to get an "autographed" picture which I had for many years - probably until I was married. Nice to see that he is still doing well and is as handsome as ever.

Mary Anne Smith (Feb 5, 2007)
Lansing MI

Jacques Sernas Dubbing

An interesting website given over to this underrated though occasionally maligned film. Beats the pants off the recent Petersen version for efficiency of narrative line and sheer romanticism alone.

I've nothing really to add except to suggest that, according to my ear, Jack Sernas appears to have been dubbed by English actor Edmund Purdom, who, around the same period played Sinuhe in Fox's "The Egyptian". If you've any confirmation of this I'd be interested to know as it's niggled me for years. I have no particular inside information on the matter. The dubbed voice, after repeated listening on my part, to me, just sounds like him.

What do you think ?

I really enjoy showing my dvd copy to those poor youthful souls who endured ( as I did ) the overblown, interminably long Petersen version.

Bana, O'Toole, Pitt notwithstanding. Even if the latter did appear to possess a plausible athleticism.

I could go on.

Paul Fuller. (Dec 23, 2006)
( Down Under )
 

The Night I met Jack Sernas

Dear Emily -

I signed your Dreambook today but I wanted to send you a personal email as well I was so excited to find your web site which by the way, I found by accident. I was talking to a co-worker and we were saying that you can find anything on the internet so I googled "Jacques Sernas" and there was your web site. When I first got my computer in 1998 I fished around a bit but I never saw anything like your site at that time. The only thing I found back then was the info on the IMDB and it was sketchy.

As a fan I go way, way, way back. Jacques Sernas has always been my favorite actor since I was about 12 or 13. To me he was up there with Richard Burton who was another favorite. This is going to be a long email -I hope it's OK. I really want to tell you this story about Jacques Sernas
and about the time I met him in person. I think you will get a big kick out of this story. I'll try to do a short version but it will be hard because I'm long winded . . . :)

I grew up in Los Angeles, CA. When I was about 12 or 13, I saw "Helen of Troy" and was instantly drawn to Jacques Sernas aka "Jack" Sernas. I was off for summer vacation so I went to the movie every day while Helen was playing and I just couldn't get enough of this new actor. Well, when the movie finally changed I wrote to Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood to get information about him and the studio sent me a little package with some information about him and an Application for his fan club - so naturally, I joined. The name of the president of the fan club was Anne Turner and she lived in Thousand Oaks, CA. I talked on the phone with her and her mother from time to time and the fan club became my whole world. Now this is important - Anne Turner's mother had a very distinct voice and you will see why it's important later on in my email. I was a very shy girl and very sheltered so for me to venture out and join a fan club was a big, big deal, however, I was also very star struck so that gave me motivation. I received monthly newsletters and lots and lots of photographs of "him" and one of the perks of the club was the opportunity to write to other members of the club. I had many pen pals including 2 in Yugoslavia, 1 in France, and 1 in England. Also many in the USA. The pen pals from Europe wanted to know everything about "Hollywood". I thought that was cute. Unfortunately, I lost track over the years. I got busy with life. However, would you believe that I still have a big box stored away in my attic with of all my Jacques Sernas Fan Club memorabilia which includes all of the newsletters, photographs and some scrap books. It's been almost 50 years !!!

Now about the night I met Jack Sernas. I received a notice from Anne Turner (the president) informing the fans who lived near Hollywood that Jack had been invited to be a guest on the "Juke Box Jury" live TV show in Hollywood and she would get tickets for those who could attend. Juke Box Jury was a popular show at that time. The host was Peter Potter and each week he would invite a panel of guests to be on the show - some actors, etc. Peter Potter would play a popular record (which by the way were called "platters" at that time) and the panel would critique it. I got two tickets, one for me and one for my mother. I was so excited for weeks before the show. It was unbelievable. The plan was to attend the show and then the club would gather across the street from the studio and get to meet and talk to Jack. My mother and I went to the show (by the way, it was live) and I will never forget the first time I saw Jack sitting up there - LIVE !!! One of the records they played was a calypso and when it was Jack's turn to give his opinion, he said, and I quote - "They call me Calypso Jack". Naturally, to a 12 or 13 year old little girl, those words became the greatest words ever spoken !!! They were forever embedded in my brain. Now that's funny. 

After the show, as I said before, the club was suppose to gather across the street and get to meet and talk with Jack. Well, when we came out of the studio, it was so crowded and people were everywhere and I couldn't find the club. I was afraid I was going to miss my big opportunity. But I heard a voice, that distinct voice of Anne Turner's mother and I turned around and asked her if she was Anne Turner's mother and she said yes. That's how I found Anne Turner. Somehow, the rest of the club got lost. It was unfortunate for Jack but very fortunate for me because I was the only one who got to meet him. My mother and I went across the street with Anne and her mother and that's when "he" drove up in a Cadillac and got out and walked over to us. I couldn't believe it. My knees were knocking and I actually thought I was going to faint - I was going to meet my hero. He was so gorgeous in person more so than on the silver screen. He was also very, very nice. He took my hand and said "Hello Ann. How are you tonight?"  (more great words of wisdom). Needless to say, I didn't want to wash that hand but my mother made me. He also signed my autograph book which in those days were popular and OF COURSE, I still have it in the memory box. It took me a few days to come down from that experience and of course, we do grow up and go on to other things. But, I will never forget him.

I don't know if Jacques Sernas is aware of your web site or of the fact that he still has many fans out here. I may even be his oldest fan. In any
event I'm sure he will remember Anne Turner and Juke Box Jury. But more importantly to me, I would want him to know how much happiness he brought to a very shy little girl whose life back then was rather drab and sheltered.  I would want to thank him for being a wonderful part of my life.

Well, I'm going to peruse more of your web site. How did you come to be such a fan? I would really love to see some of the current work Jack is
doing. Do keep in touch and thank you for doing the web site. This is fun. I feel like a kid again.

Ann Marie (July 19, 2006)

Dear Emily: I was delighted with your Jacques Sernas fansite. He's been one of my favorite screen personalities since I saw him in "Helen of Troy" in Dec. of 1955 when it opened in the U.S. I was then 9 yrs. old but very precocious about history. I loved historical novels and historical epics. "Helen of Troy" has always been my favorite from the screen as "The Egyptian" was my favorite in print.

Brian Nenno
March 5, 2006

"The bravely built Jacques Sernas" was how he was described by a critic in one of our English newspapers in a film review of "Helen of Troy." This way back in 1955 I think and it was the only film I ever saw him in.  He had that 'something extra' and I always associate him now with the part he played so well in the film - The Trojan Prince Paris. I have often wondered what he is doing and now, thanks to your website, I know.

Yours
John Caucutt
November 7, 2005 

He (Jacques) was someone who had a great impact on my youth, someone I wanted to look like & someone who was always bringing magic to my life for one hour or two in all the cinemas of Marseille where I could watch the film twice in a row on a Sunday afternoon. During my life a lot of actors and actresses have impressed me but nobody had a fascination for me like my 3 idols- Gina Lollobrigida Steve Reeves and Jacques. At a time when stars only last for few years I can only reflect on the saying -they don't do them like that anymore. Pure gems and hypnotic legends forever.

Gerard Simi
September 9, 2005

Jacques' Interview...
It is a fascinating, stimulating, and highly intelligent interview. If you read the interview carefully, this guy sounds like he COULD have been a national leader or politician. He is aware of current events as well as events that happened many decades ago. Of course, experiences like his wouldn't disappear over tine, anyway. They'd be too dramatic, vivid, traumatic, and formative to forget easily.

Nevertheless, damn if he doesn't sound at least slightly like the Paris character making his case for a peace treaty before Priam or his uncanny foresight to hide in the woods while Helen is being returned to her abusive and conniving husband. He hides to see if the exchange for Greek withdrawal for Helen will actually be honestly consummated. Only when he sees his 2 brothers in danger of being taken hostage does he intervene, in spite of his deep love for Helen and his obvious contempt for the kind of weasel-like treacherous brute that he instinctively knows Menelaus to be and how he will undoubtedly continue to mistreat his alienated wife after her return. She knows too, doesn't she?

By the way, did you notice how the director spent quite a few seconds on Menelaus  "manhandling" his wife, touching just about every part of her anatomy, to make sure that every part of her is all there, and nothing has been left behind in the city (for Paris). And just touchy-feely stuff, also, to reassure himself that he still possesses her the way he used to, before that awful Paris shows up. Like she's a valuable urn or vase or other piece of pottery that he uses and displays when it suits him. Paris remembers all too well how he was treated when he was Menelaus'  "guest." And the other Greek chieftains seem to treat Menelaus like the hothead he is. But what really amuses me is the very short exchange that occurs in Agamemnon's tent after the Trojan herald informs the chieftains of the proposed trade. He says Helen wishes to return to her husband of her own free will. And Menelaus turns to his brother and says, more or less,  "You see, brother? You heard. Of her own free will."  And Agamemnon's sardonic response,  "Yes, we've heard it, often."  That really cracks me up.

I didn't mean to go off on a tangent like that. But Sernas speaks in his interview the way a couple of his characters do.  Intelligent, well-informed, nobody's patsy, humorous, discrete, noble and fearless. Maybe he was born that way, maybe the war helped him develop those traits. Interesting, since the war also brought out the worst in many people, as well. He sounds like a "leader-type." 

You are in contact with people who are in contact with him. In my birthday message to him, I urged him to consider the "lights-camera-action" possibilities in the States, again. In any event I believe that a visit to the US would trigger an outpouring of memory and recognition. People will remember the way they still remember Charlton Heston of that time. Only this man represents a less conservative Christian agenda and a more worldly presence. I think we could take it just fine. It would be a welcome diversion from the "holier-than-thou" attitude that ideologues on both sides exhibit. And it would reawaken something that this traditionally MODERATELY conservative nation has forgotten in the wake of so many things that have captured our attention during the last half century. That this was once a more straightforward place to live, and I don't mean in the sense of simplistic left or right wing lifestyles, either.

So, see if you can persuade your contacts to convince Jacques to pay us a visit here and to publicize it so that it triggers a positive reaction, hopefully. Tom Cruise, Jimmy Stuart, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, Brad Pitt, John Travolta, Marlon Brando..oh yeah? Good actors for sure.  But Sernas was, and is, the real McCoy, the real hero. And he probably doesn't even see himself as such. I wonder how many of Hollywood's finest hunks would have embraced Scientology if they'd had Sernas' war-time experiences, instead of debating whether Ritalin is a government conspiracy or whether they had genuine out-of-body experiences when having a particular spa treatment.

Steve Henning
July 24, 2005

Today I have visited your Beautiful Web Site and really enjoyed of what exactly saved in there.
Thank you very much indeed for the same.  In this connection, I would like to know have you any new information regarding Jack Sernas and his currier? if so, then please kindly e.mail let me have the same.

Thanking you and remain.
With kind regards,
H. Torabi,
Tehran, Iran.
July 16, 2005

Wow! This is great---I have friends who live in Kaunas and I was telling them I saw this classic film and the lead actor was from Kaunas. Simply gorgeous!

Gg
June 22, 2005

Hello, We enjoy your site. It is very interesting and very well put together. We worked in films and have a huge film library. Only recently purchased Helen of Troy and discovered two new (to us) faces, -- Rossana and Jacques. It is fun looking up interesting actors, especially those who've made it w/o Hollywood's assembly line and come from other countries. Some have even thrived as has Jack. I'm trying to find a birthdate for Rossana, w/o success. Maybe you have a clue. Thanks for sharing your talent.

Sonja
June 6, 2005

Any information about Jacques would be of great interest to me. Would his grandson continue to update us please?

May
March 30, 2005

Your website is nothing short of fantastic. It must have taken you a great deal of time and effort to create it. I also think "Helen of Troy" is a treasure. The youth of the actors and their great personalities made human, a film created on an epic scale which could have dwarfed less shining talents. As a small boy in the 1950s who watched the film for sixteen consecutive performances, until the cinema staff allowed me in without paying, it was inspirational. My younger brother and I acted out the fights with heavy, sharpened metal hinges to recreate the short Greek swords.  I still have the scars. The film and its ideals have never left me.  I have a tired and threadbare VHS copy of the film and am most anxious to purchase a DVD, perhaps you might know of some shop where I could get a copy? It would be great if you could keep me abreast of any information about any of the cast or the film? I always hoped to go and see for myself, thanks to you I now know how it was made I know that it was at the Cinecitta Studios in Rome, do they still exist? Are any of the locations used outside the studio known and if so where?  If I can find out I will visit them. If it would be possible to find out more about Mr Sernas or Miss Podesta would be beyond my wildest dreams. If I can repay the kindness you have shown please let me know.

Hartley Isherwood
March 6, 2005

Great site.

Nice website, I love the selection of Jacques Sernas photos! Cute! I also like the "Happy Holidays to all Jacques' fans."  Best wishes to you.

Ann Rivet
January 01, 2005

No domino el inglés lo suficientemente bien para escribirte, asi que lo hare en mi idioma materno.  Vi tu pagina jacques sernas redecubieto y me encanto, hacia mucho tiempo que buscaba esta informacion y hoy la descubriHre sido toda mi vida una fan de JS

Mi intencion es comprar todas sus peliculas de y solo hay unas pocas en el mercado , tengo algunas, no se si tu puedes darme mas datos, entiendo el inglés.

Mi primer impacto con este actor es cuando pequena fui a ver la pelicula Helena de Troya y fue tan grande que me prometi onerle el nombre PARIS a uno de mis hijos y asi lo hice. Estuve viviendo en canada y en el instituto donde estaba aprendiendo inglés me encontre con una lituana que me dijo que Jacques en el 2003 habia ido a chicago a trabajar.

sabes tu la direccion de este actor? me gustaria conocerlo. Gracias por responderme.

Berna Budinic
January 13, 2005

I'm in book publishing and would love to do an interview book with Mr. Sernas. My e-mail address is dave@newcenturyllc.net.

Take care.

Monday, January 17, 2005

Thanks for your site about the splendid Jacques Sernas. I've been a fan since I saw him as an 8 year-old schoolboy in 1956 playing the beauteous Paris. Such a pity Hollywood never gave him a proper chance but he was still acting in Italy at least as recently as 2000. I must look to see if you have a contact address for him. "Helen of Troy" must be the film that has meant most to me in my life. "Filmed with a might and Majesty you'll never forget!" said the trailer and I never did. It had everything. Grandeur, Divine vengeance, wonderful battles, a splendid and beautiful city set and the most wonderful looking main characters. I have met several people of my age group over the internet who agree about this film. They range from university professors, curators to psychoanalyst's...so it certainly might be termed "The intellectual's epic". The script had great beauty and truth in it with hardly any of the embarrassments that one generally encounters in epics. Now that the widescreen version is available it is possible to see it in a whole different light and admire Robert Wise's artistry. He always seems to have related events going on in the outer frames of the picture. Most noticeable is Paris's death scene where he mirrors Helen's grief in that of an ordinary Trojan woman whose husband is killed at the same time. One cares about Wise's characters and Trojans...they have a humanity.
 

I always had an interest in Greek and Roman mythology and archaeology (English children did in those days) but this film set that interest and ultimately lead me on to my profession in the arts and archaeology. I heard recently that Joan Croydon dubbed for Rossana and Geoffrey Toone for Paris in the film. Rossana made such a good Helen because she had an innate majesty in her bearing and there was that wonderful classical profile. Neither actors have ever been surpassed by subsequent Paris and Helens.

Thanks for your website. I'll pass it on.
Anthony Beeson
July 08, 2004

anthony_beeson@hotmail.com  

"Helen of Troy," which I saw upon first release, has never ceased to fire my imagination. I still recall the day my father came home after having dropped in at the now-gone Morton Theater in Dorchester, Mass. (the manager was his friend) and told me I'd like the movie. "It's loaded with action," he said, focusing on one of my most important criteria for cinematic excellence. (I've gone on to add other criteria, but I still enjoy rousing action.) I could almost swear I recall the feeling of rapt attention and anticipation as I sat through the marvelous overture, waiting for the drama to begin. It certainly did not disappoint. So many wonderful actors, so many gripping scenes. I now have some original posters on "Helen," a full set of lobby cards in great shape, a whole bunch of stills, and the Dell movie comic. I'd had a copy of the comic as a youngster, and was always puzzled why it ended with Helen and Paris escaping together from the sack of the city. I didn't need a happy ending! (Oh, yes, I also have the double-CD complete soundtrack album. Wasn't Steiner a fabulous movie composer? Right up there with Korngold.)

I'm a psychotherapist in private practice. Also teach part time at the University of Rhode Island. I've had a hell of a lot of different experiences in the past 50 years, but my fondness for "Helen of Troy" remains undiminished.

Let me hear from you. Thanks, Steve Kane
July 09, 2004

Anthony Beeson has directed me to your website and it's wonderful! Unlike Anthony, I had a deprived childhood and didn't get to see any films, let alone Helen, so my passion for ancient civilizations was developed in a vacuum. But I had the great pleasure of seeing Helen with Anthony at a special screening at the British Museum some years ago. It seemed appropriate that it should receive some sort of official recognition by a showing in such an august location. Thanks to Anthony, I've seen Helen several times since and have loved it each time - a rare thing for me, as I'm more of a book person than a film buff.

Thanks for an informative site with lovely pictures of the great Jacques and Rossana.

Best wishes,
Pat Witts
July 10, 2004

Thank you for this website but it does seem like it should be for Helen of Troy, or, at the very least, both for Jacques and Rossana . Most if not all fans of Jacques know him from his ultimate role as Paris, Prince of Troy. This is the role he will be best remembered for, as Helen is Ms. Podesta's finest hour onscreen. I adore them both in this movie - their charisma & chemistry are perfect for the ill fated lovers (the new Troy movie would have benefited if it had followed Homer more accurately, letting Paris die). I agree with much of what other fans have written here - especially my friend Anthony. We became friends initially because of our love for the "divine couple" and have exchanged much correspondence about Helen of Troy. I was able to share, for example, the info about Joan Croyden & Geoffrey Toone when I found it posted at filmscoremonthly.com . Interestingly, in the trailer on the dvd, Paris's voice is different from the movie voice (Toone) - was this a different dubber or Jacques himself? We may never know. So many of his movies are dubbed in the US that it's hard to know his true voice - Toone also dubbed him for Jump into Hell (but I have not seen it). Unfortunately both Jacques & Rossana are badly represented on dvd/video - a recent title, new to me, is Pia of Ptolemy starring J.S. from 1961 or so - a medieval tale similar to Joan of Arc. I collect all their peplum movies - there a lot of them - I just wish someone in the states would restore many of the couple's films such as Duel of the Champions, Alone Against Rome, The Centurian, The Roman Slave Girl, Duel of the Titans, The Slave - Son of Spartacus, etc. to their widescreen glory in both picture & sound. Again, thank you for the site and continued success - I will be back.

Philip Jaeger
August 3, 2004

I congratulate you on your website. "Helen of Troy" is one of my all-time favourite films. I would like to call your attention to this discussion thread on www.dvdtalk.com Movie Talk, created by me and titled "A tentative 'Troy' vs. 'Helen of Troy' thread". As I am practically the only contributor, your input would be more than welcome.
July 26, 2004

Benoît A. Racine
Toronto, Ontario

* My IMDb review: 5 October 2001
Summary: One of the greatest epics ever made!

Basically, this movie is criticized because, being one of the very first big international co-productions, its main players were Euro celebrities who never caught on in the US, and because Jacques Sernas' and Rossana Podesta's voices were voiced-over. That is a pretty shallow approach to movie criticism. This film is well-scripted (it's based on Homer and neither subtracts nor adds to his basic plot - except for the Gods, which are mentioned but never seen, which makes it a modern secular version of the Iliad), well-acted by some very impressive British actors, superbly constructed (art direction, photography, costumes, period research, choreography) and creates a lasting impression. I own it on laser disc and just had to buy a widescreen TV with home theatre sound to do it justice. I can watch this movie as often as I crave substantial food, which is very often. Robert Wise, besides being the director of The Day the Earth Stood Still, West Side Story and The Sound of Music started his career as the editor of Citizen Kane and it is his input in the editing (vibrant, energetic, kinetic, masculine) that makes this movie a real winner and actually brings life to the giant vistas of this classic and tragic fairy tale/war movie/love story. Max Steiner's beautiful score adds several other dimensions to this masterpiece and its interplay with the editing is always fascinating to watch. The general impression is a beautiful dream of the paintings on a Greek urn coming to magical, inspiring, colourful life. It is also fascinating to watch how the fight scenes were a sort of preliminary study to the ones in West Side Story, which is basically on the same subject. I had better stop while I'm ahead. One word of advice: Don't believe the nay-sayers (i.e. Leonard Maltin) until you have experienced it for yourself in all its CinemaScope, Technicolor and Stereophonic glory. A must-have at any price and already overdue on DVD.

I just bumped into this website looking for stuff about my grandfather. Jacques is doing alright and lives in Rome. He still works once in a while. This month he will be acting as the French ambassador in an Italian TV movie. Last month, I brought him the DVD of Helen of Troy. He still has the bow from the movie. It is quite rudimentary.

Mathieu
September 12, 2004