Nicolas-Joseph Billot de La Ferrière, stage-name Florence (4 March 1749,
Léry - 25 June 1816,
rue Traversière,
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 began his career in 1771 at the
Théâtre de la Monnaie
The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...
in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, and moved to
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...
in 1777 in
Mme Montansier's company. Also in 1777 he made his anonymous 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 ...
, but was only received into its company after a second on 7 May 1778. He was admitted as a
sociétaire in April 1779, and devoted the next 25 years to the Comédie-Française's interests, making them forget his lack of talent. Imprisoned with several other actors during the
Reign of Terror, he owed his safe release to
La Bussière. He retired in 1804 and died in 1816.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Florence (Actor)
1749 births
1816 deaths
Sociétaires of the Comédie-Française
French male stage actors
18th-century French male actors
19th-century French male actors