His next movie was the one for which he was to be remembered among most people. A kind of Zorro or Robin Hood, just to the poor, cruel to the rich, invincible, Fanfan la Tulipe was a hero in whom all the fantastic tales told by Minou were reassembled. He was previously sung in children's songs and sketched in comic books; in this movie version he would seduce the whole movie-going world.

In the meantime, historic events were taking place in the theatrical world. In 1950, Jean Vilar had offered the role of Le Cid to Gérard, who with his usual defiance at crucial moments of his career replied that he neither liked Corneille in general, nor Le Cid in particular. Vilar, who with extreme sacrifices and self-control founded the Avignon Festival in 1947, turned his back on the "young little brat". He was fighting against financial dangers for invigorating the theatrical world which, in his opinion, was turning decrepit. In november of 1950 Gérard himself went to Jean Vilar and offered his services to him. It was quickly decided that he was going to play in Le Cid. The rehearsals started in the spring of 1951; Gérard allowed his character to take complete control of himself, to the extent that on the evening before the premiere, he fell several metres off the set, and only his thick costume saved him from serious injury. No one was sure at that point that he would be able to play at all the next evening.

However, he did play Rodrigue the next evening- he was assisted by his willpower and some injections in creating a wonderful atmosphere, not to be forgotten by anyone who witnessed his acting that night. He was frugal with his usual expressive movement; he used his intonation and facial expressions to take the audience on an emotional roller-coaster. This was not only the evening that marked the absolute success of Gérard Philipe on stage; it was also an event that history would later know as the first step in opening theatre to millions of young people.

Avignon would produce yet another crucial play that year, three days before Le Cid: Le prince de Hombourg by Kleist. Vilar's troupe had such success that he was offered the directorship of the TNP (National Popular Theatre) and as place to produce plays in, the Palais de Chaillot, one of the largest in Paris, also one of the most difficult ones to fill. Jean Vilar had to bargain for the fact that merely the most conventional plays had been produced in that hall. He accepted, and the opening festival, the "Petit Festival de Suresnes", turned theatre into celebration; it also showed Anne with Gérard in public for the first time. Theatre from then on was something new: a game of light and shadow, a striking absence of sets and decors, harsh colour costumes contrasted with black ones. The audience had the feeling they were participating in the event, and they came in large crowds to see the plays.

The TNP boasts a wonderful repertoire of Gérard Philipe's roles, from Perdican in On ne badine pas avec l'amour to Lorenzaccio by Musset and Ruy Blas by Victor Hugo. During the golden years of the TNP Gérard also tried his skills at stage directing: La nouvelle mandragore by Jean Vauthier, Nucléa by his friend Henri Pichette, and Lorenzaccio, due to Jean Vilar's illness. Despite the fact that Gérard was one of the main pillars of TNP, he considered himself as one of the many: he received the same wage as everyone else in the troupe, and his name was listed in its alphabetical place, with letters not bigger than the rest. He was offered different contracts, but he stuck with TNP, and between 1950 to 1959 he played different roles for 605 times on its stages. The press praised both his acting and his directing on stage; the audiences from Canada to Tunis, from Germany to the United States celebrated the TNP and its productions.