|
BEjart or BEjard[both: bAzhAr´] Pronunciation Key, French family of actors associated with MoliEre, who joined their amateur company, Les Enfants de Famille. Their professional debut in Paris (1643) was as the Illustre-ThEAtre; this failed (1645) and the company returned to the provinces only to triumph on their return in 1658. The eldest of the family was Joseph BEjart, c.1616–1659. His sister Madeleine BEjart, 1618–72, a fine actress and virtually the manager of the company, was MoliEre's mistress. Their sister, GeneviEve BEjart, 1624–75, and brother, Louis BEjart, 1630–78, were also actors in the company. Louis retired in 1670, and was the first of MoliEre's actors to receive a pension. Armande GrEsinde BEjart, c.1640–1700, Madeleine's sister or daughter, married MoliEre in 1662 and, trained by him, played most of his heroines. The death of MoliEre (1673) caused a momentary collapse of the King's Troupe, as the company was called, but MoliEre's widow and the actor La Grange procured the absorption by their group of one of the two rival Parisian companies, the troupe of the ThEAtre du Marais. At the same time they lost the Palais Royal, the theater they had had since 1660. From its new quarters the company was known as the HOtel GuEnEgaud troupe. In 1680 the troupe was merged with its only rival, the company of the HOtel de Bourgogne. The resultant company was called the ComEdie FranCaise.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2009, Columbia
University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
|
