French actor, director and mime artist, born 8 September 1910 in Le Vésinet, Yvelines, Île-de-France, France and died 22 January 1994 in Paris, France. He was married to Madeleine Renaud from 1940 until his death.
Uncle of Marie-Christine Barrault , uncle-in-law of Roger Vadim.
In 1957, received a Special Tony Award for the French Repertory.
Barrault was named director of the Theatre de France on Paris Left Bank in 1959. In 1968 it was announced that he had been dismissed. The coup de grce was administered in a stern letter from old friend, Andr Malraux, Frances Minister of Culture, who had initially asked Barrault to preside as its director. The cause of Barraults dismissal was his role in the student riots there. During the demonstrations, anarchist rebels from the Sorbonne "liberated" the Odon Theatre and turned it into a discussion hall. They also destroyed 50% of the sets, ripped up red velvet seats and urinated on costumes. Barrault wept when he saw the damage, but government officials believed that he tacitly allowed the rebels to take over. Barrault also took to the stage to proclaim his sympathy with student goals and to denounce Frances "bourgeois culture." His removal set off a chorus of protests by French stage figures and critics.
In fact it is the simplest things that are the most tricky to do well.
