Jeffrey Hunter

 Jeffrey Hunter was jokingly referred to as "I Was a Teenage Jesus" for his youthful appearance in "King of Kings" (1961). In reality, he was 33 years old at the time of filming, Jesus' age at the time of His death and resurrection. Movie audiences were accustomed to more mature actors portraying Jesus.

Although Hunter was given some makeup to make him appear as the appropriate ethnicity, he was not fitted with contacts. This led to much criticism of having a Jesus with bright blue eyes.

The crucifixion scene had to be re-shot because a preview audience was offended at Jesus having a hairy chest. Not only was Hunter's chest hair shaved for the crucifixion scene but his underarms as well. So much attention has been paid to this situation over the past fifty years, that nobody's ever noticed Hunter also wears a false putty nose throughout the film, most evident in the close-ups at the crucifixion scenes.

Most films at the time did not show Jesus' face, preferring to do shots of his hands (as in "Ben-Hur" (1959)) or over-the-shoulder views. This was the first large-budget major studio sound film in English to actually show Christ's face.

The film began life as a very personal project for director John Farrow, who had recently made "John Paul Jones" (1959) for producer Samuel Bronston. Farrow, an ardent convert to Roman Catholicism and quite possibly the only Hollywood director ever to be made a Papal Knight, called the project "The Sword And The Cross" and planned to use only the words of the Bible for dialogue. His script was deemed impossible to film and producer Bronston elected to proceed without him. Farrow never directed a film again.

Happy Birthday, Jeffrey Hunter!