Marie Champmeslé
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Marie Champmeslé (
Biography
She was born in
Her intimacy with Racine dates from then. Some of his finest tragedies were written for her, but her repertoire was not confined to them, and many an indifferent play - like Thomas Corneille's Ariane and Comte d'Essex - owed its success to her natural manner of acting, and her pathetic rendering of the hapless heroine. Phèdre was the climax of her triumphs.[1]
She and her husband deserted the Hotel de Bourgogne for the
During her career, "La Champmeslé" created a large number of famous roles. Besides those already mentioned, she did Bérénice, Ariane, Atalide in Bajazet, Monime in Mithridate, Iphigénie in Iphigénie en Aulide, and the same character in Oreste et Pylade. She left the stage in a vain attempt to restore her health at Anteuil, where she died.[2]
La Fontaine dedicated to her his novel Belphegor, and Boileau immortalized her in verse.[1]
Family
- Her husband Charles distinguished himself both as actor and playwright.[1]
- Her brother was the actor Nicolas Desmares (c. 1650–1714).
- Her niece, Christine Antoinette Charlotte Desmares (1682–1753), was also an actress.
Notes
- ^ a b c d e public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Champmeslé, Marie". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 831. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ New International Encyclopedia(1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
Further reading
- Gallica.
- Mazenod, Lucienne; Schoeller, Ghislaine (1992). Dictionnaire des femmes célèbres, de tous les temps et de tous les pays (in French). Paris: Robert Laffont. p. 168–169. OCLC 1244581705.
- Mongrédien, Georges (1972) [1961]. Dictionnaire biographique des comédiens français du XVIIe siècle (in French). Paris: Centre national de la recherche scientifique. p. 44. OCLC 654213036– via the Internet Archive.
- Roman d'Amat, Jean-Charles. "Champmeslé (Marie Desmares, dame)". In Prevost, Michel; Roman d'Amat, Jean-Charles; et al. (eds.). Dictionnaire de biographie française (in French). Vol. 8. Paris: Letouzey et Ané. col. 347.
- Scott, Virginia (2010). Women on the Stage in Early Modern France: 1540–1750. Cambridge, New York etc.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-89675-7– via Google Books.