He wrote more than 20 plays for the stage, several screenplays for cinema, and translated a number of Russian literary works into French.

Having witnessed the war and the Russian Revolution, Arout arrived with his family in France by way of the Mediterranean in 1921.

He was also the co-author of Marc Allégret's adaptation of Sois Belle et Tais-toi (1958) and the dialogue of Death in the Garden (1956) by Luis Buñuel.

He was the author of more than twenty plays that have been staged by directors such as Pierre Dux, Michel Vitold, Claude Regy and Georges Vitaly, with François Périer, Jean Piat, Denise Gence, Jean Rochefort and Louis Velle among the first interpreters.

In 2002, his comedy The Strange Animal was re-staged at the Théâtre de Nesle, Paris with Anne-Elisabeth Blateau, Francis Prieur and Cédric Villenave in the lead roles.