# Jacques Sernas

Jokūbas Bernardas Šernas (30 July 1925 – 3 July 2015), commonly known as Jacques Sernas and sometimes credited as Jack Sernas, was a Lithuanian-born French actor with an international film career.

## Biography

He was born in Kaunas, Lithuania, the son of Jokūbas Šernas, a signatory of the 1918 Act of Independence of Lithuania, who died when Sernas was one year old. His mother took him to Paris, France, where Sernas received his formal education. During World War II, he joined the French Resistance and was captured and interned at the Nazi Buchenwald concentration camp, near Weimar, Germany. After the war, Sernas was considering a career in medicine and then in journalism before turning to films. His first role was in Miroir (1946).
In June 1955 Sernas married the Roman journalist Maria Stella Signorini. They had a daughter Francesca born in 1956.

## Career

Sernas worked first as a leading man and later as a character actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Paris in the epic film Helen of Troy (1956).
Sernas also appeared on American television, including the lead role in the 1956 Warner Brothers time travel production "Man from 1997" featuring James Garner.
His more recent appearances have included appearing as a Cardinale Feltin in the television biographical film Pope John XXIII [it] (2002) and as Ambasciatore in the television comedy film Regina dei fiori [it] (2005). For the last 30 years Sernas lived and worked in Rome.

## Filmography

| Title | Year | Genre | Role | Notes |
| Mirror | 1947 | | Battling-Joe | |
| L'idole | 1948 | | | |
| Lost Youth | 1948 | drama | Stefano Manfredi | Nastro d'Argento Best Actor |
| Letter at Dawn | 1948 | | Mario Maggi | |
| La Révoltée | 1948 | | Rudy | |
| Jean de la Lune | 1949 | | Alexandre - le nouvel adorateur de Marceline | |
| The Mill on the Po | 1949 | drama | Orbino Verginesi | |
| Il falco rosso | 1949 | | Raniero d'Atri | |
| The Wolf of the Sila | 1949 | drama | Salvatore Barra | |
| Golden Salamander | 1950 | adventure | Max | |
| The Sky Is Red | 1950 | | Tullio | |
| Pact with the Devil | 1950 | drama | | |
| Hearts at Sea | 1950 | | Paolo Silvestri | |
| Fugitive in Trieste | 1951 | historical | Giulio | |
| Barbe-Bleue | 1951 | | Giglio | |
| Bluebeard | 1951 | | Florian | |
| The Last Sentence | 1951 | drama | Piero | |
| Red Shirts | 1952 | Historical | Gentile | |
| I figli non si vendono | 1952 | | Carlo Dazzeni / Roberto Dazzeni | |
| The Angels of the District | 1952 | | Mario | |
| The Mute of Portici | 1952 | drama | | Uncredited |
| Finishing School | 1953 | | Jean-Jacques | |
| Lulu | 1953 | comedy | Mario | |
| L'envers du paradis | 1953 | | Blaise d'Orliac | |
| I Always Loved You | 1953 | | Carlo | |
| Sua altezza ha detto: no! | 1953 | | | |
| Dieci canzoni d'amore da salvare | 1953 | drama | Pietro Niccoli, The songwriter | |
| Terra straniera | 1954 | | | |
| 100 Years of Love | 1954 | | Roberto aka Roby, Lucia's Husband | (segment "Amore 1954") |
| Maddalena | 1954 | drama | Giovanni Belloni | |
| Il grande addio | 1954 | | | |
| Barrier of the Law | 1954 | | Aldo | |
| Loving You Is My Sin | 1954 | drama | Count Giorgio Danieli | |
| Jump into Hell | 1955 | adventure | Captain Guy Bertrand | |
| Helen of Troy | 1956 | epic | Paris | |
| Altair | 1956 | drama | De Montel | |
| The Goddess of Love | 1957 | | Laertes | |
| C'est la faute d'Adam | 1957 | | Gérard Sandret | |
| Pia de' Tolomei | 1958 | | Ghino Perticari | |
| Vite perdute | 1959 | | The Baron | |
| Venetian Honeymoon | 1959 | | Bob Lebel | |
| Nel Segno di Roma | 1959 | | Julianus | |
| World of Miracles | 1959 | | Marco Valenti | |
| The Secret Nights of Lucrezia Borgia | 1959 | | Frederico | |
| Lost Lives [it] | 1959 | | The Baron | (Vite perdute) |
| The Loves of Salammbo | 1960 | | Mathos | |
| La dolce vita | 1960 | | Divo | |
| Culpables | 1960 | | Emilio | |
| The Huns | 1960 | | Malok | (La regina dei tartari) |
| Love in Rome | 1960 | | Tony Meneghini | |
| Maciste contro il vampiro | 1961 | | Kurtick | |
| Duel of Champions | 1961 | | Marcus | |
| The Centurion | 1961 | historical drama | Caius Vinicius | |
| Romolo e Remo | 1961 | | Curtius | |
| Che femmina!! e... che dollari! [it] | 1961 | | Jefferson Thompson | |
| The Slave | 1962 | | Vetius - companion of late Spartacus | |
| 55 Days at Peking | 1963 | epic | Maj. Bobrinski | |
| Last Plane to Baalbek | 1964 | | Nick Mann | |
| The Dirty Game | 1965 | Spy film | Sernas | |
| Balearic Caper | 1966 | | Pierre | |
| For a Few Extra Dollars | 1966 | Spaghetti Western | Major Sanders | |
| American Secret Service | 1968 | | | |
| Midas Run | 1969 | comedy | Paul Giroux | |
| Hornets' Nest | 1970 | war | Major Taussig | |
| Super Fly T.N.T. | 1973 | | Matty Smith | |
| E cominciò il viaggio nella vertigine | 1974 | | | |
| Children of Rage | 1975 | war | Dr. Ben-Joseph | |
| Last Feelings | 1978 | | Sports Director | |
| The Skin | 1981 | | Gen Guillaume | |
| L'Addition | 1984 | | Prison guard | |
| Io, Peter Pan | 1989 | | Bernard | |
| Luna di sangue | 1989 | | Dottor Marc Duvivier | |
| The Miser | 1990 | | Don Guglielmo | |
| The African Woman | 1990 | | Dr. Wargnier | |
| Caldo soffocante | 1991 | | Il presidente | |
| Coppia omicida | 1998 | | Godard | |
| Amor nello specchio | 1999 | | Principe Bassompierre | |
| Pope John XXIII [it] | 2002 | biographical | Cardinale Feltin | TV movie |
| Regina dei fiori [it] | 2005 | comedy | Ambasciatore | TV movie |