Lucien Germain Guitry (13 December 1860 – 1 June 1925) was a French actor.

Life

In 1885, while living in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Guitry appeared at the French (or Mikhaylovsky) Theatre. His son, the future actor, writer and director Sacha Guitry, was born in Saint Petersburg and named in honour of

Tsar Alexander III Alexander III ( rus, Алекса́ндр III Алекса́ндрович, r=Aleksandr III Aleksandrovich; 10 March 18451 November 1894) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death in 18 ...

. Lucien met the composer

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most pop ...

and his brother Modest, and became good friends with them.Alexander Poznansky, ''Tchaikovsky: The Quest for the Inner Man'', p. 452 It was at Guitry's instigation that Tchaikovsky wrote both his ''Hamlet'' Overture-Fantasy (Op. 67a) in 1888, and the Incidental Music to the

Shakespeare play Shakespeare's plays are a canon of approximately 39 dramatic works written by English poet, playwright, and actor William Shakespeare. The exact number of plays—as well as their classifications as tragedy, history, comedy, or otherwise—is a ...

(Op. 67b) in 1891, for which he reused the overture-fantasy in shortened form as the overture. He became prominent on the French stage at the Renaissance theatre ('' Les Mauvais bergers'', by

Octave Mirbeau Octave Mirbeau (16 February 1848 – 16 February 1917) was a French novelist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, journalist and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, whilst still appealing to the ...

), in 1897, then at

Porte Saint-Martin The Porte Saint-Martin ( en, St. Martin Gate) is a Parisian monument located at the site of one of the gates of the now-destroyed fortifications of Paris. It is located at the crossing of Rue Saint-Martin, Rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin and the '' g ...

theatre in 1900, and the Variétés in 1901. He was a member of 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 ...

, but resigned in order to become director of the Renaissance, where he was principally associated with the actress Marthe Brandès, who had also left the Comédie. Here, in a number of plays, he established his reputation as one of the greatest contemporary French actors in the drama of modern reality.

Filmography

* '' Ceux de chez nous'' (1915)

References

;Attribution *

External links

* * French male stage actors Male actors from Paris 1860 births 1925 deaths Burials at Montmartre Cemetery 20th-century French male actors {{France-actor-stub