Jean-Louis Barrault
Date of birth: 1910-09-08
Place of birth: Le Vésinet, Yvelines, Île-de-France, France
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Jean-Louis Bernard Barrault
Biography
Jean-Louis Barrault (8 September 1910, Le Vésinet, Yvelines – 22 January 1994) was a French actor, director and mime artist, training that served him well when he portrayed the 19th-century mime Jean-Gaspard Deburau (Baptiste Debureau) in Marcel Carné's 1945 film Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise). Jean-Louis Barrault studied with Charles Dullin in whose troupe he acted from 1933 to 1935. At 25 years of age, he met and studied with the mime Étienne Decroux. From 1940 to 1946 he was a member of the Comédie-Française, where he directed productions of Paul Claudel's Le Soulier de satin and Jean Racine's Phèdre, two plays that made his reputation. Over his career, he acted in nearly 50 movies including Les beaux jours, Jenny, L'Or dans la Montagne and Sous les Yeux d'occident. In 1940, he married the actress Madeleine Renaud. They founded a number of theatres together and toured extensively, including in South America. He was the uncle of actress Marie-Christine Barrault and sometime sponsor of Peter Brook. He died from a heart attack in Paris at the age of 83. Jean-Louis Barrault is buried with his wife Madeleine Renaud in the Passy Cemetery in Paris. Jean-Louis Barrault, Reflections on the Theatre: "In fact it is the simplest things that are the most tricky to do well. To read, for example. To be able to read exactly what is written without omitting anything that is written and at the same time without adding anything of one's own. To be able to capture the exact context of the words one is reading. To be able to read!" Barrault from Melinda Camber Porter's Through Parisian Eyes: Reflections on Contemporary French Arts and Culture: "When I wake up in the morning I want to feel hungry for life. Desire is what drives me. When I go to sleep, I feel I have experienced a small death, so that I can wake up in the morning renewed and reborn." Description above from the Wikipedia article Jean-Louis Barrault, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movie Credits
Le Fantôme de Laurent Terzieff
2020-09-09
Laurent Terzieff was more than a good actor, after having been a real "star" in the cinema, through
Experiment in Evil
1960-07-04
Dr. Cordelier, living in a suburb of Paris, withdraws from society to pursue research into the funct
To Be Hamlet
1985-01-19
Documentary examination of the role of Hamlet, in which ten prominent actors who have played the par
Children of Paradise
1945-03-15
In a chaotic 19th-century Paris teeming with aristocrats, thieves, psychics, and courtesans, theater
L'Or dans la montagne
1939-05-12
The Longest Day
1962-09-25
The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and the
Chappaqua
1966-08-30
Semi-autobiographical story of Conrad Rooks, who travels to France to undergo a drug-withdrawal cure
The Night of Varennes
1982-05-15
During the French Revolution, a surprising company shares a coach, trying to catch up something - th
Venom and Eternity
1952-01-25
In this experimental film, Isidore Isou, the leader of the lettrist movement, lashes out at conventi
Royal Affairs in Versailles
1954-02-10
Witty narration follows the history of Versailles Palace; founded by Louis XIII, enlarged by autocra
The Pearls of the Crown
1937-05-12
The story of the seven pearls of the English Crown, from Henry VIII to 1937 – three of them missing.
À nous deux, madame la vie
1937-03-26
Two bank employees like Lucie, their colleague. They steal money from the cash register to gamble. J
Social Police
1937-04-09
For years now, Chief inspector Gustave Picard has been trying to bring down Salviati, the dreadful l
I Accuse
1938-01-23
After serving in the trenches of World War I, Jean Diaz recoils with such horror that he renounces l
La Symphonie fantastique
1942-04-01
The film is biographical, telling the story of the life and artistic struggles of the French compose
Parade in 7 Nights
1941-09-24
In the pound, Pipo the dog recounts his adventures to his fellow inmates.
Jenny
1936-09-18
When her fiancé breaks off their engagement, Danielle leaves London and returns to her mother, Jenny
Angel of the Night
1944-01-19
A young sculptor presides over the destinies of a student club where a miserable young girl ends up
Vagabonds imaginaires
1950-04-26
Jean-Louis Barrault, Charles Dullin and Roger Blin each say a poem. The actors do not appear on scre
Bizarre, Bizarre
1937-10-20
A French farce set in Victorian London where a botanist and his wife get into trouble when they pret
Blood on His Sword
1961-09-06
Charles le Temeraire asks in marriage Jeanne de Beauvais, daughter of King Louis XI, wishing to get
Street of Shadows
1937-04-13
A slippery femme fatale, a spy for Germany during the Great War, is sent to Thessaloniki in Greece a
With André Gide
1952-02-22
Nobel-prize-winning author, social justice crusader, anti-colonialist, adventure traveler, musician,
The Big Scare
1964-10-28
Two police inspectors pursue a dangerous counterfeiter on the run.
Mlle. Desiree
1941-07-03
Julie and Désirée Clary are courted by the brothers Joseph and Napoleon Bonaparte. Joseph marries Ju
Under Western Eyes
1936-03-20
Political turmoil convulses 19th-century Russia as Razumov, a young student preparing for a career i
La Ronde
1950-09-27
An all-knowing interlocutor guides us through a series of affairs in Vienna, 1900. A soldier meets a
Orage
1938-01-12
The mistress of an engineer meets the man's pregnant wife and decides to give up the liaison.
The Life and Loves of Beethoven
1937-01-15
Lyrical biography of the classical composer, depicted as a romantic hero, an accursed artist.
The Puritan
1938-01-13
A religious fanatic finds his entire life and philosophy turned upside-down as he falls in love with
Man to Men
1948-08-29
The story of the Swiss soldier, Henri Dunant, who was responsible for the founding of the Red Cross,
The Dialogue of the Carmelites
1960-06-01
This drama about the Carmelite order of nuns is set during the French Revolution. A young woman seek
La lumière du lac
1988-11-23
An urban gigolo on the run from a mobster hides out at the remote cabin of a female novelist in this
The Birth of Children of Paradise
1967-01-01
Documentary about the making of Marcel Carne's 1945 film Children of Paradise (France), interviewing
Montmartre on the Seine
1941-11-19
Maurice loves Juliet and Michael loves Lily. Romance blossoms on the hill. They are workers, artisan
Mirages
1938-01-28
A star of Les Folies Bergères has to choose between her career and her love for an engineer.
Happy Days
1935-11-08
Sylvie, a rich girl, learns at the same time the death and the ruin of her father. Forced to find wo
Hélène
1936-10-17
Helene is based on Helene Wilfur, a novel by Vicki (Grand Hotel) Baum. Madeleine Renaud essays the t
Youth in Revolt
1938-07-21
"Altitude 3.200" asks the question and provides the premise of what would happen if a group of young
Musée Grévin
1958-01-01
A man dreams he is in a wax museum after it is closed for the night.The statues come to life and beh
The Southern Trail
1938-09-07
As Hélène is conveying her husband's body across the Sahara, her convoy is attacked by looters. The
La Rose et le réséda
1947-07-10
The poem of the same name by Aragon is read in order to make a statement about the 1940s wartime Fre
Blind Desire
1945-12-07
A violinist passes on to his daughter three rings which represent three passions of his romantic pas
La Répétition ou l'Amour puni
1958-02-10
Les Fausses Confidences
1964-03-23
Carné, Prévert : drôle de duo
2019-10-16
Rhinocéros
1965-04-27