La Grange (actor)

Charles Varlet

Charles Varlet , called La Grange , (* 1635 in Montpellier , † March 1, 1692 in Paris ) was a French actor . He played in the company of Molière and is considered one of the most important actors of his time.

Life

Charles Varlet lost both parents at an early age and grew up with his two siblings under a guardian . The name La Grange , which he later adopted, was his mother's maiden name, Marie de la Grange. At the age of 14, he ran away from home and joined a troupe of traveling actors.

It is not known how he met Molière. The only thing that is certain is that in November 1658 he stood in for the sick Joseph Bejart in Molière's play L'Étourdi ou les Contretemps (The Rash One ). After Bejart's death he became a permanent member of Molière's troupe, where he very quickly became a mainstay of the ensemble, mostly in the role of the adolescent lover.

In 1672 he married Marie Ragueneau, who had initially been an usher and with the marriage became an actress. After Molière's death, he took over the management of the troop. Its register, published in 1876 by the Comédie-Française , is one of the most important historical sources with information on Molière's troops.

literature

• Henry Lyonnet: Dictionnaire des comédiens français. Bibliothèque de la revue Universelle Internationale Illustrée, Paris et Genève, 1902–1908.
• Édouard Thierry (Ed.): Charles Varlet de la Grange et son registre. Paris 1876.
• Bert Edward Young, Philputt Grace (ed.): Le registre de La Grange: 1659–1685, two volumes. Paris 1947 (facsimile edition: Slatkine Reprints, Geneva 1977, OCLC 4045273 ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Registre de La Grange