Tintin (character) - Tintin Actors and Publicity Stunts

Tintin Actors and Publicity Stunts

Young people have often played the part of Tintin in real-life events staged by the publishers as well as in plays and movies. The first time "Tintin" appeared "live" was in a publicity stunt held towards the end of the publication of the first adventure, Tintin in the Land of the Soviets in Le Petit Vingtième. It was announced that "Tintin" would be at the Gare du Nord station in Brussels on 8 May 1930.

Fifteen-year-old boy scout Lucien Pepermans was chosen by his scout leader to play the part. Pepermans dressed as a muzhik and he and Hergé travelled to the station by train. They were expecting only a handful of readers but instead found themselves mobbed by a whole horde of fans. Some seventy years later, in 2000, Pepermans, now living in an old folks' home, was guest of honour at a meeting of the Amis d'Hergé ("Friends of Hergé"), hosted by Jean-Pierre Talbot.

On 9 July 1931, another scout, 14-year-old Henri Dendoncker, dressed in African safari gear and played the part for Tintin's return from the Congo. He and a fox terrier, representing Snowy, were accompanied by Hergé, ten Congolese and other boys dressed as Quick & Flupke. During World War II, Dendoncker served with Britain's SOE. Captured by the Germans, he survived the concentration camps, was decorated by the Queen and became a British citizen under the name "Dark".

René Boey played the part to mark the return of Tintin from America on 13 November 1932. The last such publicity stunt was done in October 1935 with Charles Stie "returning" from Shanghai and The Blue Lotus.

Actress Jane Rubens was the first to play Tintin on stage in April 1941. The plays, written by Jacques Van Melkebeke, included Tintin in India – the Mystery of the Blue Diamond and Mr Boullock's Disappearance. She was later replaced by 11-year-old Roland Ravez, who also lent his voice to recordings of the Cigars of the Pharaoh and The Blue Lotus. Another voice actor was Maurice Sarfati. Jean-Pierre Talbot played Tintin in two live-action movie adaptations: Tintin and the Golden Fleece in 1961 and Tintin and the Blue Oranges in 1964. English actor Russell Tovey played the role at the London Barbican Theatre during the 2005–6 season of a Young Vic adaptation of Tintin in Tibet.

Canadian actor Colin O'Meara voiced Tintin on an animated adaptation of the stories, which originally aired on HBO and subsequently Nickelodeon. Tintin is played by Jamie Bell the 2011 performance-capture film which merges plots from several books. He is voiced by Adam Howden in the video game based on the film.