In 1885, while living in Saint Petersburg, Guitry appeared at the French (or Mikhaylovsky) Theatre.

His son, the future actor, writer and director Sacha Guitry, was born in Saint Petersburg and named in honour of Tsar Alexander III.

Lucien met the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and his brother Modest, and became good friends with them.

He was a member of the Comédie-Française, but resigned in order to become director of the Renaissance, where he was principally associated with the actress Marthe Brandès, who had also left the Comédie.

Here, in a number of plays, he established his reputation as one of the greatest contemporary French actors in the drama of modern reality.