Jacques
Sereys

431e sociétaire

In 1942, at fourteen years old, Jacques Sereys lived in Marseille above a perfume warehouse. Never having met his father, he went through his childhood amidst the two women who brought him up, his grandmother, a cook in some bourgeois families, and his mother. His mother had learnt the art of embroidery, on the hands of nuns, notwithstanding another art she acquired from them, namely the art of leading a modest life. During the same time period, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Orson Wells finished directing Citizen Kane, Carné was producing Les Visiteurs du soir and Lubitsch was working on To Be Or Not To Be. He was just fourteen years old, and, for everyone, he went by the name of “Jacky.”

Badly seeking to help his mother, he worked as a groom at the Crédit Lyonnais Bank, where he was expected to do everything – something he did — yet still found some time to read Proust and attend gatherings involving a number of amateur artists who incited him to read poems, write some, and recite them. The child became an avid reader, and the reader turned into a storyteller, who yearned to learn the craft of an actor. Five years later, in 1947, he left for Paris. At the age of 19, he had already read all the classics, got rid of his provincial accent and tried to enroll at the Conservatoire (National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts of Paris). Henceforth, he worked, read and learnt prior to joining the Comédie-Française in 1955.

He always had a penchant for irregularity, never failing to look for change. Therefore, and during thirty years, he left the Maison de Molière in 1965 for the first time, joined it again in 1978 to stay there until 1997. He was at the core of the golden age, growing up amidst great masters such as Beaumarchais and Marivaux and fellows like Jacques Charon, Robert Hirsch, Jean Piat, and Françoise Seigner. Alain Feydeau, with whom he shared a dressing room, used to call him “ma petite mouche bleue” (my little bluebottle), hence the nickname “mouchy” which would accompany him for long.
Always keen on big opposites, he dealt with laughter and tears, from boulevard plays to classic ones, staged Edmond Rostand’s L’Aiglon and rethought, reshaping the staging mechanism of Not Now, Darling starring Poiret and Serrault. He played Feydeau and Genet, danced and sang the role of Menelaus in La Belle Hélène (The Beautiful Helen) at the Opéra Comique and introduced Giraudoux to the Comédie-Française’s repertoire. Goldoni was his favorite author, going from La Locandiera (The Mistress of the Inn), The Impresario from Smyrna, La Serva amorosa (The Loving Maid), to The Villeggiatura Trilogy, all staged, of course, by Giorgio Strehler.

In the movies, Jacques Sereys appeared in Louis Malle’s Le Feu Follet (The Fire Within) in 1963, made his comeback almost thirty years later in The Horseman on the Roof, and recently in Pascal Thomas’ Mon petit doigt m'a dit (By The Pricking of My Thumbs). During the 2000 decade, this fine orator, awarded the Molière for Best Actor, performed Du côté de chez Proust, and Sous le soleil de Daudet, under the direction of his best friend and colleague, Jean-Luc Tardieu.

Jacques Sereys was named a sociétaire honoraire of the Comédie-Française in 1997. During the 2007-2008 season, General administrator Muriel Mayette-Holtz organized a tribute evening in his honor, “Grand portrait” hosted by Pierre Notte, then general secretary, at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier.

At the Comédie-Française

2014-2015

2012-2013

2011-2012

2010-2011

2009-2010

  • Cocteau-Marais

    by Jacques Sereys Directed by Jean-Luc Tardieu

    Studio

2007-2008

1997-1998

1996-1997

  • L'Intervention

    by Victor Hugo Directed by Bénédicte Ardiley

    le Baron de Gerpivrac

    Studio

  • Moi

    by Eugène Labiche Directed by Jean-Louis Benoit

    Dutrécy

    Richelieu

1995-1996

  • Dom Juan ou le Festin de pierre

    Dom Juan or the Feast with the Statue by Molière Directed by Jacques Lassalle

    Dom Louis

    Richelieu

  • Moi

    by Eugène Labiche Directed by Jean-Louis Benoit

    Dutrécy

    Richelieu

1994-1995

1993-1994

  • Hamlet

    by William Shakespeare Directed by Georges Lavaudant

    Polonius

    Richelieu

  • La Serva amorosa

    by Carlo Goldoni Directed by Jacques Lassalle

    Ottavio

    Richelieu

1992-1993

  • La Serva amorosa

    by Carlo Goldoni Directed by Jacques Lassalle

    Ottavio

    Richelieu

1991-1992

  • La Vie de Galilée

    Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht Directed by Antoine Vitez

    le Cardinal inquisiteur

    Richelieu

1990-1991

  • La Vie de Galilée

    Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht Directed by Antoine Vitez

    le Cardinal inquisiteur

    Richelieu

1989-1990

  • La Vie de Galilée

    Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht Directed by Antoine Vitez

    le Cardinal inquisiteur

    Richelieu

1988-1989

1987-1988

1986-1987

1985-1986

  • Le Balcon

    by Jean Genet Directed by Georges Lavaudant

    l'Envoyé de la reine

    Richelieu

  • L'Imprésario de Smyrne

    by Carlo Goldoni Directed by Jean-Luc Boutté

    le Comte Lasca

    Richelieu

1984-1985

1983-1984

  • L'École des Femmes

    The School for Wives by Molière Directed by Jacques Rosner

    Chrysalde

    Richelieu

1982-1983

1981-1982

  • Marie Tudor

    by Victor Hugo Directed by Jean-Luc Boutté

    Un Homme

    Richelieu

  • Les Femmes savantes

    by Molière Directed by Jean-Paul Roussillon

    Vadius

    Richelieu

  • La Dame de chez Maxim

    The Girl from Maxim’s by Georges Feydeau Directed by Jean-Paul Roussillon

    Varlin

    Richelieu

1980-1981

1979-1980

  • Port-Royal

    by Henry de Montherlant

    Monsieur de Beaumont de Péréfixe, archevêque de Paris

    Richelieu

  • Doit-on le dire ?

    by Eugène Labiche and Alfred Duru Directed by Jean-Laurent Cochet

    Muserolle

    Richelieu

  • La Folle de Chaillot

    by Jean Giraudoux Directed by Michel Fagadau

    Le Chiffonnier

    Odéon

  • Les Femmes savantes

    by Molière Directed by Jean-Paul Roussillon

    Vadius (alternating)

    Richelieu

  • La Tour de Babel

    by Fernando Arrabal Directed by Jorge Lavelli

    Marquis de Cerralbo - Fermin de Cerralbo, "Cervantès"

    Odéon

  • La Trilogie de la Villégiature

    The Holiday Trilogy by Carlo Goldoni Directed by Giorgio Strehler

    Ferdinando

    Odéon

1978-1979

1977-1978

  • Les Femmes savantes

    by Molière Directed by Jean-Paul Roussillon

    Vadius

    Richelieu

  • Britannicus

    by Jean Racine Directed by Jean-Pierre Miquel

    Narcisse

    Richelieu

  • Doit-on le dire ?

    by Eugène Labiche and Alfred Duru Directed by Jean-Laurent Cochet

    Muserolle

    Odéon

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VIGIPIRATE

En raison du renforcement des mesures de sécurité dans le cadre du plan Vigipirate « Sécurité renforcée - risque attentat », nous vous demandons de vous présenter 30 minutes avant le début de la représentation afin de faciliter le contrôle.

Nous vous rappelons également qu’un seul sac (de type sac à main, petit sac à dos) par personne est admis dans l’enceinte des trois théâtres de la Comédie-Française. Tout spectateur se présentant muni d’autres sacs (sac de courses, bagage) ou objets encombrants, se verra interdire l’entrée des bâtiments.

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