Died February 12, 1767 Name Quinault Dufresne | Parents Jean Quinault | |
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Abraham-Alexis Quinault, called Quinault-Dufresne, was a French actor, born in Verdun 9 September 1693, died in Paris 12 February 1767. He was a member of the Quinault family of actors.
He made his debut at the Comedie-Francaise on 7 October 1712, playing Orestes in Electre (1709) by Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon, and was admitted to the company in December. He had striking good looks and musical talent, and he soon took over the male leading roles in both comedy and tragedy, and remained the star of the troupe until his retirement in 1741.
Voltaire asked him to play the title role in his first tragedy, Œdipe, in 1718, and the actor went on to create many roles for Voltaire, including some in his most popular plays: Orosmane in Zaire (1732), Zamore in Alzire (1736) and Euphemon the son in L'Enfant prodigue (The Prodigal Son, 1736). For Crebillon he created title roles in Rhadamiste et Zenobie (1711) and Pyrrhus (1726), and had starring roles in Antoine Houdar de la Motte's Ines de Castro (1723), Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussee's Le Prejuge a la mode (1735), and Louis de Boissy's Les Dehors trompeurs, three of the most successful plays of the century. He was always most closely identified with Le Glorieux (The Conceited Count, 1732), a smash-hit comedy written for him by Philippe Nericault Destouches. According to legend, the title character was based on Quinault-Dufresne himself, and he lived up to his reputation by refusing to play the role unless his character won the heroine's heart at the end, and would not even look at the author's last-minute revisions. The story may be apocryphal, but it caught on because it seemed plausible.
Quinault-Dufresne married another star of the Comedie-Francaise, Catherine-Jeanne Dupre, known in the theater as Mlle de Seine. They signed the marriage contract in Lyon on 20 May 1727, but were already quarreling in the courts by 1730. He retired from the stage in 1741, with a pension from the king as well as the one paid by the company. Little is known of his life after retirement.
His daughter Mme de Maux was a friend, and for some time a lover, of Denis Diderot.