Nicole Gassot, known under her stage name Mademoiselle Bellerose (1605 – 1679), was a French stage actress.
She was the daughter of the actor Jean Gassot, stage name La Fortune. She and her father were members of the same theatre company as Mondory in March 1618.
She first married the actor Mathias Meslier, and secondly in 1630 the actor
Pierre Le Messier, stage name
Bellerose.
In 1628 the Grands Comediens (
Comédiens du Roi) was established at the
Hôtel de Bourgogne. Initially, only the male actors are named, but in 1630 three actresses are mentioned: Nicole Gassot (Mlle Bellerose),
Madeleine de Pouget
Madeleine de Pouget, stage name Mademoiselle Beauchateau (1611–1683), was a French stage actress. Scott, Virginia (2010). '' Women on the stage in early modern France : 1540-1750''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
According to an anecdo ...
(Mlle Beauchateau) and Jeanne Buffequin (Mlle La Fleur).
[ Scott, Virginia (2010). '' Women on the stage in early modern France : 1540-1750''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .] She was engaged at the Hôtel de Bourgogne between 1630 and 1660.
She was a star attraction of the theatre and described as the perhaps most popular stage actress of the theatre at the time. The contemporary chronicle writer
Tallemant described the Parisian actresses of the 1630s, and referred to Mlle Bellerose as “the best actress in Paris.”
She was famous in the role of ''amoureux'' or heroine,
and in tragic roles.
[Edward Forman:]
Historical Dictionary of French Theater
'
Isaac de Benserade
Isaac de Benserade (; baptized 5 November 161310 October 1691) was a French poet.
Born in Lyons-la-Forêt, Normandy, his family appears to have been connected with Richelieu, who bestowed on him a pension of 600 ''livres''. He began his liter ...
wrote the tragedy ''Cléopâtre'' for her in 1635.
References
1605 births
1679 deaths
17th-century French actresses
French stage actresses
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