Antoine Doinel

Antoine Doinel is a fictional character created by François Truffaut and portrayed by actor Jean-Pierre Léaud in five films directed by Truffaut. Doinel is to a great extent an alter ego for Truffaut; they share many of the same childhood experiences, look somewhat alike and are even mistaken for one another on the street. Although Truffaut did not initially plan for Doinel to be a recurring character, he eventually returned to the character in one short and three features after introducing him in his debut film The 400 Blows (1959). In all, Truffaut followed the fictional life of Antoine Doinel for over 20 years, depicting his romance with Christine (Claude Jade) in Stolen Kisses, then Antoine and Christine's marriage in Bed and Board and their subsequent divorce in Love on the Run. Recurring characters Doinel was played in all five movies by Jean-Pierre Léaud. Doinel's lover and later wife, Christine Darbon, was portrayed by Claude Jade in three films: Stolen Kisses, Bed and Board and Love on the Run. The director's love for Claude Jade shines through his alter-ego Doinel. His unrequited love interest Colette Tazzi (Marie-France Pisier) appears in the short film, in a brief uncredited cameo in Stolen Kisses and in the last film. Patrick Auffay appears as Antoine's friend René in the first two films. François Darbon appears as Colette's father in the second and as a military adjudant in the third film. Daniel Ceccaldi and Claire Duhamel as Christine's parents in Stolen Kisses and Bed and Board. M. Lucien, one of Antoine's mother's lovers, was played by Jean Douchet in the first film in the series and by Julien Bertheau in the last. A writer friend of Antoine, played by Jacques Robiolles, appears in Stolen Kisses and Bed and Board. Antoine and Christine's son, Alphonse, is played in Bed and Board by four girls and by Julien Dubois in Love on the Run. In the 2005 radio play Alphonse's Journal (Le journal d'Alphonse) in which only Christine (Claude Jade) and Alphonse reappear, Alphonse is voiced by Stanislas Merhar.