Lekain was the stage name of Henri Louis Cain (31 March 1728 – 8 February 1778), a French actor.
Early career
He was born in Paris, the son of a silversmith. He was educated at the Collège Mazarin, and joined an amateur company of players against which 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 ...
obtained an injunction.
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...
supported him for a time and enabled him to act in his private theatre and also before the
duchess of Maine
This is a list of Queen consort, consorts of Maine (province), Maine, a former Provinces of France, province of France.
Joan the Lame and Joan I, Countess of Auvergne, became Queen of France following the ascension of their husbands to the thr ...
.
Comédie-Française
He made his debut at the Comédie-Française on 14 September 1750 in the role of Titus in Voltaire's ''
Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...
'' and performed Seïde in Voltaire's '' Mahomet'' on 30 September. Owing to the hostility of the actors it was only after a struggle of seventeen months that, by the command of King
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...
he was accepted at the Comédie-Française (see Troupe of the Comédie-Française in 1752). He had performed the leading role of Orosmane at court in Voltaire's ''
Zaïre
Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...
'', causing Louis XV to declare: "He made me weep, and I never weep." Lekain was made a member of the company on a trial basis at a salary of 12,000 livres per year on 4 January 1751 and was received definitively on 8 February 1752.Campardon 1875.
His success was immediate. Among his best parts were
Herod the Great
Herod I (; ; grc-gre, ; c. 72 – 4 or 1 BCE), also known as Herod the Great, was a Roman Jewish client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea, including his renova ...
in ''
Mariamne Mariamne is a name frequently used in the Herodian royal house. In Greek it is spelled Μαριάμη (Mariame) by Josephus; in some editions of his work the second ''m'' is doubled (Mariamme). In later copies of those editions the spelling was ...
'',
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unti ...
in '' Britannicus'' and similar tragic roles, in spite of the fact that he was short, stout, and lacking in good looks.
Reforms
His name is connected with several important scenic reforms. It was the practice in most theatres at the time for seating to be placed on the stage, and this was also true at the theatre of the Comédie-Française, the
Salle de la rue des Fossés-Saint-Germain-des-Prés
The Salle de la rue des Fossés-Saint-Germain-des-Prés was the theatre of the Comédie-Française from 1689 to 1770.Diderot advocated for the actors to remove them; in 1759 Count Lauragais paid the excessive indemnity the actors demanded to compensate for the loss in revenue.
Lekain also protested against the method of sing-song declamation which was prevalent, and endeavoured to correct the costuming of the plays, although unable to obtain the historical accuracy that François Joseph Talma sought.
Marriage
Lekain married Christine-Charlotte-Josèphe Sirot on 28 July 1750. His wife made her debut at the Comédie-Française in March 1757 and was received on a trial basis on 25 April, and definitively in 1761. She retired with a pension of 1,000 livres in 1767 and died on 18 August 1775.
Death
Lekain died in ParisMonval 1900. and was survived by two sons, Bernardin and Louis-Théodore.
His older son published his ''Mémoires'' (1801) with his correspondence with Voltaire, David Garrick and others. They were reprinted in ''Mémoires sur l'art dramatique'' (1825).
Notes
Bibliography
*
* Campardon, Émile (1875) "Le Kain", p. 207 in ''Les comédiens du roi de la Troupe française pendant les deux derniers siècles''. Paris: H. Champion.
* Carlson, Marvin (1998). ''Voltaire and the Theatre of the Eighteenth Century''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. .
* Lekain ''fils ainé'' (1801). ''Mémoires de Henri Louis Lekain''. Paris: Colnet; Debray; Mongie Copy at
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