James Spencer Henry Edmond Marcel Thierrée (born 2 May 1974 in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

, Switzerland) is a Swiss-French circus performer, violinist, actor and director who is best known for his theatre performances which blend contemporary circus, mime, dance, and music. He is the son of circus performers

Victoria Chaplin Victoria Agnes Thierrée-Chaplin (born May 19, 1951) is a British-American circus performer. She is the daughter of film actor and comedian Charlie Chaplin from his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill, and the granddaughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill. C ...

and

Jean-Baptiste Thierrée Jean-Baptiste Thierrée (born 2 May 1937) is a French actor and circus performer. He is married to Victoria Chaplin and is the father of Aurélia Thierrée and James Thierrée. In theatre, Thierrée appeared on stage in ''Les Coréens'', directe ...

, the grandson of filmmaker Charlie Chaplin and the great-grandson of playwright

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Literature, literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama tech ...

Biography

Thierrée made his stage debut aged four in 1978, appearing alongside his older sister, Aurélia Thierrée, at his parents' small circus, ''Le Cirque Imaginaire''. He toured with the circus and its follower, ''Le Cirque Invisible'', throughout his childhood and teenage years, until 1994. Due to this, he was taught by tutors up to the age of twelve, when he was enrolled at the

American School of Paris The American School of Paris (ASP), established in 1946, is a coeducational, independent international school in Saint-Cloud, France, in the Paris metropolitan area. The school has over 800 students from pre-kindergarten to Grade 12 and post-B ...

. Later he studied at the Piccolo Teatro in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, the CNSAD and the Acting International in Paris, and the Harvard Theater School in the United States. In 1991, aged fifteen, he made his film debut in the role of Ariel in

Peter Greenaway Peter Greenaway, (born 5 April 1942) is a Welsh film director, screenwriter and artist. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Flemish painting in particular. Common traits in his films are th ...

's film ''

Prospero's Books ''Prospero's Books'' is a 1991 British avant-garde film adaptation of William Shakespeare's '' The Tempest'', written and directed by Peter Greenaway. Sir John Gielgud plays Prospero, the protagonist who provides the off-screen narration and ...

'', and has since appeared in several films. He was nominated for the

César Award for Most Promising Actor The César Award for Most Promising Actor (french: César du meilleur espoir masculin) is one of the César Awards, presented annually by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma to recognize the outstanding breakthrough performance of a yo ...

in 2006 for his role in Antoine de Caunes's film ''Twice upon a Time'' (2006). In 1998 Thierrée founded his own theatre company, La Compagnie du Hanneton, and directed his first stage show, ''The Junebug Symphony'' (''La Symphonie du Hanneton''), in which he also performed. It toured several countries around the world and received favourable reviews from, for example, the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

''. Thierrée won four Molière Awards for the show, including that of the

best director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

and the best newcomer in 2006, and it was chosen in 2009 as one of the ten most important theatre pieces of the decade by ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of r ...

''. His next pieces, the ''Bright Abyss'' (2003, ''La Veillée des Abysses'') and ''Au Revoir Parapluie'' (2007) were similarly acclaimed, and he was awarded a Molière for the latter. In 2008 he also received Le Prix Plaisir du Théâtre from the

Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques SACD, founded as Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques ( en, Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers) on 7 March 1829, is a French collecting society, undertaking collective rights management for authors. The Society manages, promotes ...

. His fourth stage show, ''Raoul'' (2009) received more mixed reviews. Thierrée's fifth spectacle, titled ''Tabac Rouge'', is to premiere in Lausanne in the summer of 2013.

Ancestry

Stage productions

Theatre roles

La Compagnie du Hanneton

Filmography

References

External links

Official website of La Compagnie du Hanneton
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thierree, James Living people Best Supporting Actor César Award winners 1974 births French male film actors French male child actors French male stage actors French film directors French people of American descent French people of British descent French people of Irish descent French people of English descent Chaplin family Modern dancers Acrobats French circus performers Swiss circus performers French National Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni