Abraham-Alexis Quinault, called Quinault-Dufresne, (9 September 1693 in

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

– 12 February 1767 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

) was a French actor. He was a member of the Quinault family of actors. He made his début at the

Comédie-Française The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...

on 7 October 1712, playing Orestes in ''Électre'' (1709) by

Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (13 January 1674 – 17 June 1762) was a French poet and tragedy, tragedian. Biography Crébillon was born in Dijon, where his father, Melchior Jolyot, was Civil law notary, notary-royal. Having been educated at the ...

, and was admitted to the company in December. He had striking good looks and musical talent, and he soon took over the male leading roles in both comedy and tragedy, and remained the star of the troupe until his retirement in 1741.

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

asked him to play the title role in his first tragedy, ''Œdipe'', in 1718, and the actor went on to create many roles for Voltaire, including some in his most popular plays: Orosmane in ''Zaïre'' (1732), Zamore in ''Alzire'' (1736) and Euphémon the son in ''L'Enfant prodigue'' (The Prodigal Son, 1736). For Crébillon he created title roles in ''Rhadamiste et Zénobie'' (1711) and ''Pyrrhus'' (1726), and had starring roles in

Antoine Houdar de la Motte Antoine Houdar de la Motte (18 January 167226 December 1731) was a French author. De la Motte was born and died in Paris. In 1693 his comedy, ''Les Originaux'' (Les originaux, ou, l'Italien), was a complete failure, and so depressed the author ...

's ''Inès de Castro'' (1723), Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée's ''Le Préjugé à la mode'' (1735), and

Louis de Boissy Louis de Boissy (26 November 1694, Vic-sur-Cère – 19 April 1758, Paris) was an 18th-century French poet and playwright. He was elected to seat 6 of the Académie française on 12 August 1754. He wrote satires and several comedies, of which th ...

's ''Les Dehors trompeurs'', three of the most successful plays of the century. He was always most closely identified with ''Le Glorieux'' (The Conceited Count, 1732), a smash-hit comedy written for him by

Philippe Néricault Destouches Philippe Néricault Destouches (9 April 1680 – 4 July 1754) was a French playwright who wrote 22 plays. Biography Destouches was born at Tours, in today's department of Indre-et-Loire. When he was nineteen years of age, he became secretary to ...

. According to legend, the title character was based on Quinault-Dufresne himself, and he lived up to his reputation by refusing to play the role unless his character won the heroine's heart at the end, and would not even look at the author's last-minute revisions. The story may be apocryphal, but it caught on because it seemed plausible. Quinault-Dufresne married another star of the Comédie-Française, Catherine-Jeanne Dupré, known in the theater as Mlle de Seine. They signed the marriage contract in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

on 20 May 1727, but were already quarreling in the courts by 1730. He retired from the stage in 1741, with a pension from the king as well as the one paid by the company. Little is known of his life after retirement. His daughter Mme de Maux was a friend, and for some time a lover, of

Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the '' Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promi ...

Notes

1693 births 1767 deaths French male stage actors 18th-century French male actors Sociétaires of the Comédie-Française {{france-stage-actor-stub