Joseph Torin, ''né'' Joseph Victorin Schiffer (9 August 1849 – 18 March 1907), was a French actor of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was particularly known for his comic roles in plays by

Georges Feydeau Georges-Léon-Jules-Marie Feydeau (; 8 December 1862 – 5 June 1921) was a French playwright of the era known as the Belle Époque. He is remembered for his farces, written between 1886 and 1914. Feydeau was born in Paris to middle-class parent ...

, Maurice Hennequin, Georges Duval,

Gaston Arman de Caillavet Gaston Arman de Caillavet (13 March 1869 – 13 January 1915) was a French playwright. Early life Gaston Arman de Caillavet was born on 13 March 1869. He was the son of Albert Arman de Caillavet and Léontine Lippmann. His maternal grandfat ...

Robert de Flers Robert Pellevé de La Motte-Ango, marquis de Flers (25 November 1872, Pont-l'Évêque, Calvados – 30 July 1927, Vittel) was a French playwright, opera librettist, and journalist.Pierre Barillet, ''Les Seigneurs du rire: Flers – Caillavet – ...

and other contemporary playwrights.

Life and career

Torin was born in

Chalon-sur-Saône Chalon-sur-Saône (, literally ''Chalon on Saône'') is a city in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the largest city in the department; h ...

on 9 August 1849."Joseph Torin"
Bibliothèque nationale de France. Retrieved 2 October 2021 He first acted in an amateur company in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

and as a professional he toured in the provinces and abroad in supporting roles in companies headed by Sarah Bernhardt,

Gabrielle Réjane Gabrielle Réjane (), ''née'' Gabrielle Charlotte Réju (6 June 1856 – 14 June 1920), was a French actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The daughter of a former actor, Réjane studied at the Paris Conservatoire and made her stag ...

Jeanne Granier Jeanne Granier (31 March 1852 – 18 or 19 December 1939) was a French soprano, born and died in Paris, whose career was centred on the French capital.Gänzl K. Jeanne Granier. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and ...

, Anna Judic and Jane Hading. In Paris he joined the company of the Théâtre du Gymnase in 1885. He was subsequently a member, in increasingly important roles, of the companies at the

Théâtre du Vaudeville The Théâtre du Vaudeville was a theatre company in Paris. It opened on 12 January 1792 on rue de Chartres. Its directors, Piis and Barré, mainly put on "petites pièces mêlées de couplets sur des airs connus", including vaudevilles. Af ...

, Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique and the

Théâtre des Nouveautés The Théâtre des Nouveautés ("Theatre of the New") is a Parisian theatre built in 1921 and located at 24 boulevard Poissonnière (Paris, 9th arr.). The name was also used by several earlier Parisian theatre companies and their buildings, begin ...

. From the early 1890s Torin was cast in prominent roles. Among the plays in which he appeared were ''Gigolette'' by Pierre Decourcelle (1893), ''Brignol et sa fille'' and ''Les Maris de Léontine'' by Alfred Capus (1903), ''La Douloureuse'' by Maurice Donnay (1897), ''Jalouse'' by

Alexandre Bisson Alexandre Bisson (9 April 1848 – 27 January 1912) was a French playwright, vaudeville creator, and novelist. Born in Briouze, Orne in Lower Normandy, he was successful in his native France as well as in the United States. Remembered as a sig ...

(1897) ''Le Coup de fouet'' by Maurice Hennequin and Georges Duval (1901), ''Florette et Patapan'' and ''Vous n'avez rien à déclarer?'' by Hennequin and Pierre Veber (1905 and 1906), ''Les Sentiers de la vertu'' and ''L'Ange du foyer'' by

and

(1903 and 1905). The playwright with whom he was most associated was

, appearing in the latter's '' La Dame de chez Maxim'' (as the Duke, 1899), ''La Duchesse des Folies-Bergère'' (as Chauvel, 1902), ''La Main passe'' (as Hubertin, 1904) and '' La Puce à l'oreille'' (as Camille, 1907).Martin, p. 348Courrier des Théâtres"
''Le Figaro'', 19 March 1907, p. 4 A large man – ''

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 Newspaper of recor ...

'' remarked on "la corpulence de Torin" – he died of congestion of the lungs after an unwisely energetic visit to a gym. In its obituary notice ''Le Figaro'' said: The sudden death of Torin so affected the Parisian theatre-going public that the production in which he had been appearing – ''La Puce à l'oreille'' – which had seemed set for a long run, closed prematurely.Stoullig, pp. 411–413 He was buried in his native Chalon-sur-Saône.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamy, Maurice 1849 births 1907 deaths 19th-century French male actors 20th-century French male actors