Louis Jouvet

Jouvet was born in Crozon. He had a stutter as a young man and originally trained as a pharmacist.^[1] He received an advanced degree in pharmacy in 1913, though he never actually practiced, instead pursuing a career in theatre.^[2]:91

Jouvet was 'refused three times by the Conservatoire' in Paris before being accepted to Jacques Copeau's Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier as a stage manager in 1913.^[3]:345 Copeau's training included a varied and demanding schedule, regular exercise for agility and stamina, and pressing his cast and crew to invent theatrical effects in a bare-bones space. It was there Jouvet developed his considerable stagecraft skills, particularly makeup and lighting (he developed a kind of accent light named the jouvet). These years included a successful tour to the United States.^{[citation needed]}

While influential, Copeau's theater was never lucrative and Jouvet left in October 1922 for the Comédie des Champs-Élysées (the small stage of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées). He was made director of the theatre in 1924.^[1] In December 1923 he staged his single most successful production, the satire Dr. Knock, written by Jules Romains.^[2]:92 His characterization of the manipulative crank doctor was informed by his own experience in pharmacy school.^{[citation needed]} It became his signature and his standby; he produced it 'almost every year until the end of his life'.^[4] Jouvet remained at the Comédie until 1934, when he moved to the Théâtre de l'Athénée due to the high overhead of running a theatre troupe at the Comédie.^[2]:92 He served as director of the Théâtre from 1934 through his death in 1951.^[2]:92

In 1927, he formed Le Cartel des Quatre [The Cartel of Four] with Charles Dullin, Gaston Baty (1885–1952), and Georges Pitoëff.^[5]:80 The Cartel was 'an artistic and economic alliance in opposition to academic and commercial theatre',^[5]:178 and the directors did not share a specific 'aesthetic movement'.^[5]:80

In 1928 he began an ongoing collaboration with playwright Jean Giraudoux, beginning with a radical streamlining of Giraudoux's Siegfried et le Limousin (1922). Their work together included the first staging of The Madwoman of Chaillot in 1945.^{[citation needed]}

Jouvet starred in some 34 films, including two recordings of Dr. Knock, once in 1933 and again in 1951. He was professor at the French National Academy of Dramatic Arts.^{[citation needed]}

He died 16 August 1951 in his dressing room at the Théâtre de l'Athénée after having a heart attack.^[6] Jouvet is buried in the Montmartre Cemetery in Paris.^{[citation needed]} The Athénée theatre now bears his name.^[2]:92

French-Argentine actor Maurice Jouvet (1923–1999) was his nephew.

British actor Peter Wyngarde has claimed Jouvet as his maternal uncle,^[7] but Jouvet's immediate family tree does not confirm this.

Pixar paid homage to Jouvet by basing the appearance of the character Anton Ego in Ratatouille (2007) on him.^{[citation needed]}

• 1931: original production of Judith, written by Jean Giraudoux, at the Théâtre Pigalle
• 1935: original production of The Trojan War Will Not Take Place, written by Jean Giraudoux, starring Jouvet as Hector, also starring Madeleine Ozeray, at the Athénée in Paris
• 1947: directed the première of Jean Genet's The Maids at the Athénée in Paris on 17 April.
• 1951: directed the première of Jean-Paul Sartre's The Devil and the Good Lord at the Théâtre-Antoine in Paris on 7 June.

• Louis Jouvet at IMDb
• Louis Jouvet at the Internet Broadway Database  
• Louis Jouvet at Find a Grave
• Full text of English-language Jouvet biography online