Benoît Constant Coquelin

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Portrait of Jean Béraud
Benoît Constant Coquelin as Don César de Bazan after Victor Hugo ( Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta , 1879)

Benoît Constant Coquelin, known as Coquelin aîné (the elder) (born January 23, 1841 in Boulogne-sur-Mer , † January 27, 1909 in Couilly-Pont-aux-Dames in the Île-de-France ), was a French Actor .

Life

Coquelin initially wanted to be a baker like his father, but then his passion for the theater led him to Paris, where he entered the class of F. J. Régnier at the local conservatory in 1859. On December 7, 1860, he made his debut in the Comédie-Française with the smaller role of Gros-René in Molière's Le Dépit amoureux (German: The love conflict). He had his first major success the following year in the title role in Beaumarchais' Figaro.

In 1864 he became a partner in the Comédie-Française. For the next 22 years he played the leading roles in the new pieces of classical comedy. For example, he shone in Théodore de Banville's Gringoire (1867), Paul Ferriers Tabarin (1871), Émile Augiers Paul Forestier (1871), L'Étrangère von Dumas the Younger (1876), Charles Lomons Jean Dacier (1877), Edward Pailleron's Le Monde où l'on s'ennuie (1881), Erckmann and Chatrians Les Rantzau (1884). Another star role for him was Molières Tartuffe .

Benoît Constant Coquelin in Molieres Les Precieuses Ridicules (1888)

After a dispute with the management about his right to tour the French provinces, he left the Comédie-Française in 1886. Three years later, however, the break was healed: after triumphant tours through Europe and the United States, he returned there in 1890 back. Subsequently, Victorien Sardou's piece Thermidor was banned by the government after only three performances. In 1892 he finally broke with the Comédie and toured with his own theater group through European capitals.

In 1895 he joined the Renaissance Théâtre in Paris and played there until he became director of the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin in 1897 . Here he achieved world fame in the title role in the premiere of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac in the same year. In 1900 he toured with Sarah Bernhardt (she had already left the Comédie-Française in 1880) to the USA, where they also appeared on Broadway . There they stood around in Hamlet , in La Dame aux camélias (German: Lady of the Camellias ) and Cyrano de Bergerac on stage. After their return, he continued working with his former colleague at the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt. In 1900 he also made a small film showing him as Cyrano: his voice was recorded on a cylinder that was played during the performance and contains a passage from this piece. Roles in Émile Bergerat's Plus que reine (1899), Catulle Mendès ' Scarron (1905), Alfred Capus ' and Lucien Descaves ' L'Attentat (1906) were further stages of his career. During rehearsals for a leading role in Rostand's Chantecler , Coquelin died in a home in Couilly-Pont-aux-Dames (other sources speak of Paris) that he himself had founded in 1902 for old actors.

His brother Ernest-Alexandre Honoré Coquelin (1848-1909) was also an actor at the Comédie-Française, but was always in the shadow of Benoît Constant. The son of Benoît Constant, Jean Coquelin (also Coquelin fils, the Younger, 1865-1945), was also an actor, first at the Théâtre Française (debut: 1890), later at the Renaissance and at the Porte Saint-Martin, where he played the part of Raigoné created in Cyrano de Bergerac , but, like his father, also took on the title role.

Services

Coquelin was more a friend of “pretended” than “truly felt” feelings on stage. The theater lexicon certifies that he was able to give his roles "characteristic outlines of his personality through ingenuity and clear intellect" and that he had a "sonorous voice". He "became one of the leading French actors".

Awards

Coquelin was Officier de l'Instruction Publique and the Legion of Honor .

Works

  • 1880: L'Art et le comédien
  • 1881: Molière et le misanthrope
  • 1882: Les Comédiens
  • 1884: L'Art de dire le monologue (with his brother)
  • 1894: L'Art du comédien

Filmography

literature

  • Encyclopædia Britannica . Eleventh Edition. FTM Cambridge, University Press 1911
  • Theater lexicon. Henschelverlag Art and Society, 2nd edition, Berlin 1978

Web links

Commons : Benoît-Constant Coquelin  - collection of images, videos and audio files