Little is known about Dumesnil's early life; legend has it that he was working as a cook when Jean-Baptiste Lully heard him singing and was impressed by his natural and well focused voice, his vocal range was then known as haute-contre.
He made his stage debut in 1677,[2] singing a small part in Isis, and then went on creating all roles within his range in a series of operas by Lully.
After Lully's death he created several other roles in operas by different composers, notably Pascal Collasse, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, André Campra, and André Cardinal Destouches.
An excellent actor with a powerful voice, he seemed to have learned all his roles by memory as he did not know how to read music.
Reputed as a libertine, and for his dispute with La Maupin.