Antoine Vitez was born in Paris and trained to be an actor, finding his first acting job at the age of 19 in Ils attendent Lefty at the Théâtre Maubel.

He worked in the theater Balachova Tania, and wrote reviews published by Jean Vilar in the magazine Théâtre populaire.

Vitez became a professor at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in 1968, and in 1972 he founded the Théâtre des Quartiers d'Ivry.

In the same year, he founded the Ateliers d'Ivry workshop, where amateurs and professionals could share a common theatrical practice.

He became director at the Chaillot National Theatre in 1981, and was appointed deputy head of the Comédie Française in June 1988, a post he held until his sudden death in Paris in 1990.