Louis Jouvet

From Vero - Wikipedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person

Jules Eugène Louis Jouvet (Template:IPA; 24 December 1887 – 16 August 1951) was a French actor, theatre director and filmmaker.

Early life

Jouvet was born in Crozon. He had a stutter as a young man and originally trained as a pharmacist.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> He received an advanced degree in pharmacy in 1913, though he never actually practiced, instead pursuing a career in theatre.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite journal</ref>:91

Career

Jouvet was 'refused three times by the Conservatoire' in Paris before being accepted to Jacques Copeau's Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier as a stage manager in 1913.<ref>Hahn, Paul. "Louis Jouvet 1891-1951". In Educational Theatre Journal 3 (4), 1 December 1951.</ref>:345 Copeau's training included a varied and demanding schedule, regular exercise for agility and stamina, and pressing his cast and crew to invent theatrical effects in a bare-bones space. It was there Jouvet developed his considerable stagecraft skills, particularly makeup and lighting (he developed a kind of accent light named the jouvet). These years included a successful tour to the United States.Template:Citation needed

While influential, Copeau's theater was never lucrative and Jouvet left in October 1922 for the Comédie des Champs-Élysées (the small stage of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées). He was made director of the theatre in 1924.<ref name=":1" /> In December 1923 he staged his single most successful production, the satire Dr. Knock, written by Jules Romains.<ref name=":2" />:92 His characterization of the manipulative crank doctor was informed by his own experience in pharmacy school.Template:Citation needed It became his signature and his standby; he produced it 'almost every year until the end of his life'.<ref>Louis Jouvet, man of the theatre, Bettina Liebowitz Knapp</ref> Jouvet remained at the Comédie until 1934, when he moved to the Théâtre de l'Athénée due to the high overhead of running a theatre troupe at the Comédie.<ref name=":2" />:92 He served as director of the Théâtre from 1934 through his death in 1951.<ref name=":2" />:92

In 1927, he formed Le Cartel des Quatre [The Cartel of Four] with Charles Dullin, Gaston Baty (1885–1952), and Georges Pitoëff.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>:80 The Cartel was 'an artistic and economic alliance in opposition to academic and commercial theatre',<ref name=":0" />:178 and the directors did not share a specific 'aesthetic movement'.<ref name=":0" />:80

In 1928 he began an ongoing collaboration with playwright Jean Giraudoux, beginning with a radical streamlining of Giraudoux's Siegfried et le Limousin (1922). Their work together included the first staging of The Madwoman of Chaillot in 1945.Template:Citation needed

Jouvet starred in some 34 films, including two recordings of Dr. Knock, once in 1933 and again in 1951. He was professor at the French National Academy of Dramatic Arts.Template:Citation needed

Death

He died 16 August 1951 in his dressing room at the Théâtre de l'Athénée after having a heart attack.<ref>Template:Usurped in French</ref> Jouvet is buried in the Montmartre Cemetery in Paris.Template:Citation needed The Athénée theatre now bears his name.<ref name=":2" />:92

File:Athenee jouvet nuit.jpg
Théâtre de l'Athénée Louis-Jouvet, Paris, named for Jouvet

Relatives

French-Argentine actor Maurice Jouvet (1923–1999) was his nephew.

British actor Peter Wyngarde has claimed Jouvet as his maternal uncle,<ref name="Age">Template:Cite news</ref> but Jouvet's immediate family tree does not confirm this.

Legacy

Pixar paid homage to Jouvet by basing the appearance of the character Anton Ego in Ratatouille (2007) on him.Template:Citation needed

Theatre

Partial filmography

Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Commons category

Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Louis_Jouvet&oldid=450993"