Étienne Marin Mélingue (1807–1875) was a French actor, sculptor and painter. He was born in

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,church of the Madeleine, but his passion for the stage soon led him to join a strolling company of comedians. Finally chance gave him an opportunity to show his talents, and at the Porte Saint Martin he became the popular interpreter of romantic drama of the type popularized by

Alexandre Dumas, père Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where ''Suffix (name)#Generational titles, '' is French language, French for 'father', to distinguish him from ...

. One of his greatest successes was as

Benvenuto Cellini Benvenuto Cellini (, ; 3 November 150013 February 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and author. His best-known extant works include the ''Cellini Salt Cellar'', the sculpture of ''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'', and his autobiography ...

, in which he displayed his ability both as an actor and as a sculptor, really modelling before the eyes of the audience a statue of Hebe. He sent a number of statuettes to the various exhibitions, notably one of Gilbert Louis Duprez as William Tell. Mélingue's wife, Théodorine Thiesset (1813–1886), was the actress selected by

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

to create the part of

Guanhumara Guinevere ( ; cy, Gwenhwyfar ; br, Gwenivar, kw, Gwynnever), also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an Early Middle Ages, early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King ...

in Burgraves at the Comédie-Française, where she remained ten years. He created the part of D'Artagnan in ''The Youth of The Musketeers'' and ''The Musketeer'' (a dramatization of ''20 Years After'' by Dumas) and also the part of Lagardere in Feval and Anciet-Bourgeois's ''Hunchback''.See character lists for these plays. For Dumas his ''Complete Works''; for Le Bossu ''Librairie de Michel Levy Freres'' (1862).

References

External links and reference

* * Dumas, ''Une Vie d'artiste; Aventures et tribulations d'un comédien'' (1854).
Étienne Mélingue caricature
1808 births 1875 deaths Artists from Caen French male stage actors 19th-century French sculptors French male sculptors 19th-century French male actors 19th-century French male artists Actors from Caen {{france-stage-actor-stub