Louis Baron (real name Louis Bouchêne or Bouchenez; September 1838 – 2 March 1920) was a French actor and bass singer.

Biography

Louis Baron was born in September 1838 at Alençon.Martin J. ''Nos artistes des théâtres et concerts.'' Paul Ollendorff, Paris, 1895. His first stage appearances were at the Théâtre de la Tour-d'Auvergne, and subsequently in Limoges (1857–58) and Troyes (1858–59). After military service as a customs officer he then appeared in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

(1863) and Rouen (1864–66). In July 1866 he made his debut at the

Théâtre des Variétés The Théâtre des Variétés is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7–8, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1974. History It owes its creation to the theatre director Mademoiselle ...

in the comedy ''Le photographe'' by Meilhac and

Ludovic Halévy Ludovic Halévy (1 January 1834 – 7 May 1908) was a French author and playwright, best known for his collaborations with Henri Meilhac on Georges Bizet's '' Carmen'' and on the works of Jacques Offenbach. Biography Ludovic Halévy was born in ...

, going on to create many other roles in plays by Labiche (''Les trente millions de gladiator'') and Meilhac and Halévy (including ''La cigale'', ''La petite marquise'', and ''Toto chez Tata''). In the field of operetta he created various roles in works by Offenbach including ''

La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein ''La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein'' (''The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein'') is an opéra bouffe (a form of operetta), in three acts and four tableaux by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. The s ...

'', ''

Les brigands ''Les brigands'' (''The Bandits'') is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, by Jacques Offenbach to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. Meilhac and Halévy's libretto lampoons both serious drama (Schiller's play ''The Robbers'') ...

'', and ''La boulangère a des écus'', as well as appearing in revivals. For

Hervé Hervé is a French language, French masculine given name of Breton language, Breton origin, from the name of the 6th-century Breton Saint Hervé. The common latinization of the name is Herveus (also ''Haerveus''), an early (8th-century) latinizati ...

he created Célestin in ''

Mam'zelle Nitouche ''Mam'zelle Nitouche'' is a vaudeville-opérette in three acts by Hervé. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Albert Millaud. This story of a respectable musician, transforming himself into a songwriter at night, is partly inspired by the lif ...

'', as well as roles in ''Lili'', ''La Femme à papa'', and ''Le Trône d'Écosse''. In 1886, he was briefly co-director of the Variétés with Eugène Bertrand before moving on to the Gaîté. His son, Louis Baron, fils (1870–1939), was also an actor and singer who had a long stage and film career in France including the premiere of '' Dédé'' in 1921.’L'encyclopédie multimedia de la comédie musicale théâtrale en France (1918-1940)’ (http://comedie-musicale.jgana.fr/index.htm), accessed 22 October 2009. Louis Baron died in Paris on 2 March 1920.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baron, Louis 1838 births 1920 deaths Operatic basses People from Alençon 19th-century French male singers Actors from Normandy