The Company
of Comédiens-Français, which was formed as such when the
theatre was founded in 1680, consists of 500 people
today. Seen in chronological detail, it reveals a
fascinating list of personalities from the time the first
actors who were Molière's companions or members of the
rival company of the Hôtel de Bourgogne merged into the
"single company of the King" (Louis XIV). The
comic and tragic actors alike who have marked the history
of French theatre have handed down and renewed ways of
acting and declaiming, and have created and revived roles,
characters, types, parts, etc.
For every member of the Comédie-Française, three symbolic dates are
given for his/her relationship with the history of the
theatre:
- the year he/she entered the
Comédie-Française.
This is the year he/she was hired as
"pensionnaire" (contracted actor
having no share in the profits). (For
those actors who started their career in a
company which merged in 1680 to become the
Comédie-Française, as well for actors who
performed in the theatre on Rue de Richelieu
before 1799, that year appears in parentheses.)
- the year he/she was appointed shareholding
member (sociétaire) of the "Société des
Comédiens-Français".
The incumbent receives a certain number of
twelfth-shares of the Company. He/she is bound by
contract to the Company and shares in profits.
- the year he/she retired.
| The member with
the oldest tenure in the company since he entered
the Comédie-Française as
« pensionnaire » is the dean. The
years of deanship are indicated after the other
three dates. Many of the shareholding members
have continued to act at the Comédie-Française
after their retirement, either as honorary
members or at the invitation of the Managing
Director. This is not mentioned in the list that
follows. |
Detail of the
"sociétaires"
in 1840 |
List
of the Comédiens-Français since 1680
Search for the Comédiens-Français since 1680
|
