Saint-Germain (actor)

In a career lasting from 1852 to 1896 he created leading roles in comedies by writers including Eugène Labiche, Henri Meilhac, Alfred Hennequin and Georges Feydeau.

Saint-Germain came to public notice there the following year in the roles of Pasquin (Harlequin) in Marivaux's comedy Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard (The Game of Love and Chance) and the mischievous peasant Tourny in George Sand's Mauprat.

[1][2] From 1876 to 1882 he was at the Théâtre du Gymnase, where Henri Meilhac, Jules Claretie and Albert Wolff were among the dramatists who wrote roles for him.

[2] Looking back at his career in 1899, Le Figaro counted Pétillon, the eccentric tutor, in Hennequin and Émile de Najac's Bébé (1877) as the best of all his roles.

[3] Finally, when some thought his career was drawing towards its end, Saint-Germain moved to the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, where he had a new lease of life,[1] attracting excellent notices for his performances in two of Georges Feydeau's early farces, Monsieur chasse!