Antoine Louis Prosper "Frédérick" Lemaître (; 28 July 1800 – 26 January 1876) was a French actor and playwright, one of the most famous players on the celebrated Boulevard du Crime.

Biography

Lemaître, the son of an architect, was born at

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

, Seine-Maritime. He adopted the first name "Frédérick" as a stage name. He spent two years at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

, and made his first appearance at a variety performance in one of the basement restaurants at the Palais Royal. At the Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique on 12 July 1823 he played the part of Robert Macaire in ''L'Auberge des Adrets''. The

melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...

was played seriously on the first night and was received with little favor, but it was changed on the second night to

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

, and thanks to him had a great success. All of Paris came to see it, and from that day he was famous. He created a number of parts that added to his popularity, especially Cardillac, Cagliostro and Cartouche. His success in the last led to an engagement at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, where in 1827 he produced Ducange's ''Trente ans, ou la vie d'un joueur'', in which his vivid acting made a profound impression. Afterwards at the Odéon and other theatres he passed from one success to another. In 1836, at the Théâtre des Variétés he appeared with success as the great, and recently deceased, English actor Edmund Kean in the play '' Kean'' by

Alexandre Dumas, père Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

. He put the final touch to his reputation as an artist by creating the part of

Ruy Blas ''Ruy Blas'' () is a tragic drama by Victor Hugo. It was the first play presented at the Théâtre de la Renaissance and opened on November 8, 1838. Though considered by many to be Hugo’s best drama, the play was initially met with only ave ...

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

's play (1838). On his return to the Porte St. Martin he created the title-role in Balzac's '' Vautrin'', which was forbidden a second presentation, on account, it is said, of the resemblance of the actor's wig to the well-known toupé worn by Louis Philippe. His last appearance was at this theatre in 1873 as the old Jew in '' Marie Tudor''. He was married to the actress, Sophia Halligner, sister of the

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

Marie-Julie Halligner. Lemaître died in 1876 in Paris and was buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre in the Montmartre Quarter.

Popular culture references

* Lemaître is one of the principal characters in the famous film '' Les Enfants du Paradis'' (1945).imdb page
on '' Les Enfants du Paradis''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemaitre, Frederick 1800 births 1876 deaths Writers from Le Havre French male stage actors Burials at Montmartre Cemetery Conservatoire de Paris alumni 19th-century French male actors 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights 19th-century French male writers Male actors from Le Havre

Biography

Popular culture references

References

Further reading

External links