Étienne Arnal (2 February 179410 December 1872) was a French comic actor.
Life
Arnal was born at
Meulan
Meulan-en-Yvelines (, before 2010: ''Meulan'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the ÃŽle-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. It hosted part of the Sailing at the 1900 Su ...
,
Yvelines
Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the ÃŽle-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.[tragedy
A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...]
, and for some time he was unsuccessful; it was not until 1827 that he showed his real ability in
comedy
Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium.
Origins
Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
parts, especially in plays by
Felix August Duvert (1795–1876) and
Augustin Theodore Lauzanne (1805–1877), whose ''Cabinets particuliers'' (1832), ''Le Mari de la dame de châteurs'' (1837), ''Passe minuit, L'Homme blast'' (1843), ''La Clef dans le dos'' (1848), etc., contained parts written for him. He was twenty years at the
Vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
, and completed at the various Parisian theatres a stage career of nearly half a century.
The composer
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...
describes, in a letter, visiting the theatre in 1847 to see Arnal: "
etells the audience how he was desperate to pee in a train, but couldn't get to a toilet before they stopped at Orléans. There wasn't a single vulgar word in what he said, but everyone understood and split their sides laughing."
[Cited in Attwood (1999), 270.]
Arnal was the author of ''Épître à bouffe'' (1840), which is reprinted in his volume of poetry, ''Boutades en vers'' (1861). He died in
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
, aged 78.
Notes
Sources
* Attwood, William G. (1999). ''The Parisian Worlds of Frédéric Chopin.'' New Haven: Yale University Press. .
* Gautier, Théophile (1988). ''Correspondance générale'' ed. Claudine Lacoste-Veysseyre, Volume 3.
*
1794 births
1872 deaths
People from Meulan-en-Yvelines
Male actors from ÃŽle-de-France
French male stage actors
French male comedians
Comedians from ÃŽle-de-France
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