Louis Jouvet

Louis Jouvet (1887-1951), French director, actor, stage designer, teacher, and writer, who was an outstanding figure in 20th-century French theater. Born in Crozon, a small town in southeastern France, Jouvet originally worked as a pharmacist before turning to the theater. In Paris he was refused entrance to France's premier drama school, the Conservatoire d'Art Dramatique, because of his stammer. After a few minor roles, however, Jouvet made his professional stage debut in a stage adaptation of Brat’ia Karamozovy (1880; English translation, The Brothers Karamazov, 1911), by Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

In 1913 the well known French director Jacques Copeau invited Jouvet to join the newly created Vieux-Colombier acting company. Jouvet worked with the company as stage manager, stage designer, and electrician, but also gained recognition for his interpretation of the character of Sir Andrew Aguecheek in a production of Twelfth Night (1600?) by English playwright William Shakespeare. From 1914 to 1917 Jouvet served with the French Army during World War I, and he then traveled in the United States with Copeau and the Vieux-Colombier from 1917 to 1919. He returned to France in 1919 and in 1922 was appointed director of the French theater the Comédie des Champs-Elysées. In this capacity Jouvet received acclaim for his 1923 production of the farce Knock; ou le triomphe de la médicine (1923; English translation, Doctor Knock, 1923), in which he starred as well as directed, and which was written by French playwright Jules Romains.

In 1928 Jouvet staged Siegfried, written by French novelist Jean Giraudoux. As a result of the success of Siegfried, Jouvet and Giraudoux continued their collaboration until 1939; during this joint endeavor they produced some of the best French theater pieces of the period. In 1939 Jouvet was appointed director of the Théâtre de l'Athénée (since renamed Athénée-Louis-Jouvet). During the German occupation of France during World War II (1939-1945), Jouvet toured Latin America with the Théâtre de l'Athénée. On his return to France in 1945, Jouvet paid a final tribute to Giraudoux, who had died, by directing Giraudoux's La folle de Chaillot (The Madwoman of Chaillot), after which Jouvet returned to directing classic plays such as those by French playwright Molière.

As a film actor, Jouvet is best remembered for performances in, among others, Carnet de bal (Dance Card of the Ball, 1938) by French director Julien Duvivier, Drôle de drame (Strange Drama, 1937) by French director Marcel Carné, Hôtel du nord (Hotel of the North, 1938) also by Carné, and Quai des orfèvres (Goldsmith's Wharf, 1947) by French writer-director Henri-Georges Clouzot.

A hard worker, Jouvet was also a respected teacher. His books on theater include Témoignages sur le théâtre (Testimony on the Theater, 1952), Le comédien désincarné (The Comedian Disembodied, 1954), Molière et la comédie classique (Moliere and Classic Comedy, 1965), and Tragédie classique et théâtre du XIXe siècle (Classic Tragedy and Theater of the 19th Century, 1968).