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 The Boulevard du Crime was the nickname given in the 19th century to the Boulevard du Temple in Paris because of the many crime melodramas that were shown every night in its many theaters. It is notorious in French history for having lost so many ...

Biography

Lemaître, the son of an architect, was born at

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

, 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 (), also known as 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 ...

, 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 was played seriously on the first night and was received with little favor, but it was changed on the second night to burlesque, 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. He put the final touch to his reputation as an artist by creating the part of Ruy Blas in

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

'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 ''Marie Tudor'' is an 1833 play by the French writer Victor Hugo. It is a historical work portraying the rise, fall and execution of Fabiano Fabiani, a fictional favourite of Mary I of England (1516–1558). Mary has Fabiani thrown in the Tower ...

''. He was married to the actress, Sophia Halligner, sister of the

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middl ...

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