Meyer, Jean

(January 14, 1914, Paris, France - Jan­uary 8, 2003, Paris, France)

   The son of a baker, he had to earn his living as a bank clerk at age seventeen. In 1932, he joined the Paris Conservatory and made his theatrical debut as an actor the next year. A pupil of Louis Jouvet, he entered the Comédie-Française in 1938 and turned a stage director in 1941. He played supporting roles in eight­een movies (from 1941 Ne bougez plus, Pierre Caron, to 1964 Le Corniaud / Colpo grosso ma non troppo / UK and USA: The Sucker, Gérard Oury, France / Italy). After performing 300 plays at the Comédie Française, he left the prestigious "Molière's House" to run several Parisian theaters (Théâtre du Palais-Royal in 1960, Théâtre Michel in 1964) and then the Théâtre des Célestins in Lyon. He taught acting at the Paris Conservatory and was artistic director of the ENSATT (the Rue Blanche school). Also a play­wright (1962 Micmac; 1963 L'Âge idiot; 1965 Le Vice dans la Peau), he directed the two first movies of the Comédie Française.

 Filmography

        ◘ Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (also actor)

        ◘ Le Mariage de Figaro / La Folle Journée (also actor)