Jean-Louis Barrault ([baʁo]; 8 September 1910 – 22 January 1994) was a French actor, director and mime artist, training that served him well when he portrayed the 19th-century mime Jean-Gaspard Deburau (Baptiste Debureau) in Marcel Carné's film Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise, 1945) and part of an international cast in The Longest Day (1962).
Jean-Louis Barrault studied with Charles Dullin in whose troupe he acted from 1933 to 1935. At 25 years of age, he met and studied with the mime Étienne Decroux (who played Baptiste's father in the Carné film). From 1940 to 1946 Barrault was a member of the Comédie-Française, where he directed productions of Paul Claudel's Le Soulier de satin and Jean Racine's Phèdre, two plays that made his reputation.
Over his career, he acted in nearly 50 movies including Les beaux jours, Jenny, L'Or dans la Montagne and Under Western Eyes.
In 1940, he married the actress Madeleine Renaud. They founded a number of theatres together and toured extensively, including in South America.
He was the uncle of actress Marie-Christine Barrault and sometime sponsor of Peter Brook. He died from a heart attack in Paris at the age of 83. Jean-Louis Barrault is buried with his wife Madeleine Renaud in the Passy Cemetery in Paris.
Jean-Louis Barrault, Reflections on the Theatre:
"In fact it is the simplest things that are the most tricky to do well. To read, for example. To be able to read exactly what is written without omitting anything that is written and at the same time without adding anything of one's own. To be able to capture the exact context of the words one is reading. To be able to read!"
Barrault from Melinda Camber Porter's Through Parisian Eyes: Reflections on Contemporary French Arts and Culture: "When I wake up in the morning I want to feel hungry for life. Desire is what drives me. When I go to sleep, I feel I have experienced a small death, so that I can wake up in the morning renewed and reborn."
Jean louis barrault interview portrait en fran ais 1974
Filmography
Actor
1990
Oh! Les beaux jours (TV Movie) as
Willy
1988
La lumière du lac as
Le vieux
1985
Emmenez-moi au théâtre (TV Series) as
Orfeo
- Angelo, tyran de Padoue (1985) - Orfeo
1982
That Night in Varennes as
Nicolas Edmé Restif de la Bretonne
1982
Le soulier de satin (TV Movie) as
L'annoncier
1981
Zadig ou La destinée (TV Movie) as
L'hermite
1980
The Lovers' Exile as
Introducer (for television)
1976
Christophe Colomb (TV Movie) as
Christophe Colaomb, la légende
1970
Oh! Les beaux jours (TV Movie) as
Willie
1967
La route d'un homme (TV Short) as
Récitant / Narrator (voice)
1966
Chappaqua as
Dr. Benoit
1964
The Big Scare as
Douve
1964
La confidence fausse (TV Movie) as
Dubois
1962
The Longest Day as
Father Louis Roulland
1961
The Miracle of the Wolves as
Louis XI.
1960
Le dialogue des Carmélites as
Le mime
1959
Experiment in Evil (TV Movie) as
Le docteur Cordelier / Opale
1958
La répétition ou L'amour puni (TV Movie) as
Le comte
1955
Les fausses confidences (TV Movie)
1954
Royal Affairs in Versailles as
Fénelon
1950
La Ronde as
Robert Kuhlenkampf
1950
Vagabonds imaginaires as
Le récitant (segment 'Le bateau ivre') (voice)
1948
Man to Men as
Henri Dunant
1947
La rose et le réséda (Short) as
Narrator (voice)
1947
Le cocu magnifique as
Bruno
1945
La part de l'ombre as
Michel Kremer (as Jean-Louis Barrault de la Comédie Française)
1945
Children of Paradise as
Baptiste Debureau
1944
L'ange de la nuit as
Jacques Martin
1942
Mlle. Desiree as
Napoléon Bonaparte
1942
La symphonie fantastique as
Hector Berlioz (as Jean Louis Barrault)
1941
Montmartre sur Seine as
Michel Courtin (as Jean Louis Barrault)
1941
Parade en 7 nuits as
Lucien Ardouin
1939
Farinet ou l'or dans la montagne as
Maurice Farinet
1938
La piste du sud as
Olcott
1938
Youth in Revolt as
Armand
1938
Mirages as
Pierre Bonvais
1938
I Accuse
1938
Le puritain as
Francis Ferriter
1938
Orage as
L'Africain / The African
1937
Bizarre, Bizarre as
William Kramps dit Le tueur de bouchers
1937
The Pearls of the Crown as
Bonaparte jeune (as J.L. Barrault)
1937
Police mondaine as
Scoppa
1937
Street of Shadows as
Le client fou (as J.L. Barrault)
1937
À nous deux, madame la vie as
Paul Briançon (as J.L. Barrault)
1936
The Life and Loves of Beethoven as
Karl van Beethoven
1936
Hélène as
Pierre Régnier
1936
Jenny as
Le Dromadaire (as J. L. Barrault)
1936
Under Western Eyes as
Haldin
1936
Mayerling as
Un étudiant (uncredited)
1935
Happy Days as
René
Miscellaneous
1985
Emmenez-moi au théâtre (TV Series) (stage director - 1 episode)
- Angelo, tyran de Padoue (1985) - (stage director)
1982
Le soulier de satin (TV Movie) (stage director)
1981
Zadig ou La destinée (TV Movie) (stage director)
1978
Harold et Maud (TV Movie) (stage director)
1976
Christophe Colomb (TV Movie) (stage director)
1973
Gounod: Faust (TV Movie) (directed for stage: Original production)
Director
1970
Pariser Leben (TV Movie) (theatre version)
1964
La confidence fausse (TV Movie) (theatre director)