Lekain

He was educated at the Collège Mazarin, and joined an amateur company of players against which the Comédie-Française obtained an injunction.

"[4] Lekain was made a member of the company on a trial basis at a salary of 12,000 livres per year on 4 January 1751 and was received definitively on 8 February 1752.

Among his best parts were Herod the Great in Mariamne, Nero in Britannicus and similar tragic roles, in spite of the fact that he was short, stout, and lacking in good looks.

[2][6] Lekain also protested against the method of sing-song declamation which was prevalent, and endeavoured to correct the costuming of the plays, although unable to obtain the historical accuracy that François Joseph Talma sought.

His wife made her debut at the Comédie-Française in March 1757 and was received on a trial basis on 25 April, and definitively in 1761.