Guitry, Lucien Germain

Related Category: Theater: Biographies

(lüsyăN´ zhĕrmăN´ gētrē´), 1860–1925, French actor and producer. Guitry succeeded Coquelin as France's most versatile actor. He made his debut in 1878 in La Dame aux camélias and then played nine years at the Michel Theater, St. Petersburg, before returning to Paris. He created 73 of his 144 roles. After 1919 these included several roles in the plays of his son, Sacha Guitry(säshä´), 1885–1957, actor and dramatist. Guitry's skillful and witty dramas include Nono (1905), Deburau (1918), Jean de la Fontaine (1922), and Mozart (1925). He also acted in and directed motion pictures, of which two of the best were The Story of a Cheat (1937) and Pearls of the Crown (1938).

See his memoirs (tr. 1935); biography by J. Harding (1968).