Jean Cocteau

Jean Cocteau

Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la Bête was released in 1946. Life imitates art.

Jean Cocteau

The shooting of the film which started on August 27, 1945 had to be interrupted because Cocteau fell ill, suffering from a variety of skin diseases, including severe impetigo and eczema. He concealed this with a mask of sorts - black paper clipped to his hat with clothes pins - until eventually he was hospitalized. Also, his lead actor (and lover) Jean Marais also suffered from eczema on his face after wearing the Beast mask for hours on end.