Mounet-Sully a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

, was born at Bergerac

Bergerac, Dordogne

Bergerac is a commune and a sub-prefecture of the Dordogne department in southwestern France.-Population:-Economy:The region is primarily known for wine and tobacco...

. His birth name was Jean-Sully Mounet: "Mounet-Sully" (without the "Jean") was a stage name.

He entered the Conservatoire at the age of twenty-one, where he took first prize for tragedy. In 1868 he made his debut at the Odéon without attracting much attention. His career was interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War

Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...

, and his passion for his military career had almost convinced him to give up the stage, until he was offered the opportunity to play the part of Oreste in Racine

Jean Racine

Jean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...

's Andromaque at the Comédie Française in 1872.
His striking presence and voice and the passionate vigor of his acting made an immediate impression, which resulted in his election as sociétaire in 1874. He became one of the mainstays of the Comédie Française, and distinguished himself in a great variety of tragic and romantic parts.

Perhaps his most famous role was that of Oedipus

Oedipus

Oedipus was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. He fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family...

 in L'Oedipe roi, a French version by Jules Lacroix of Sophocles

Sophocles

Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...

's drama. This was first performed in the old Roman amphitheater at Orange in 1888. Fashion designer Paul Poiret commented in his autobiography King of Fashion, "I shall always see Mounet-Sully in Oedipus Rex, blind, coming down the steps of the temple, and saying in a suave voice: 'Children of ancient Cadmus, young successors. . .' Other prominent parts in Mounet-Sully's repertoire were Achilles in Racine's Iphigenie et Aulide, Hippolyte in Padre, the titular part of Hamlet

Hamlet

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

, the title parts in Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo

Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....

's Hernani

Hernani (drama)

----Hernani is a drama by the French romantic author Victor Hugo.The play opened in Paris on February 25, 1830...

and Ruy Blas

Ruy Blas

Ruy Blas is a tragic drama by Victor Hugo. It was the first play presented at the Théâtre de la Renaissance and opened on November 8, 1838. Though considered by many to be Hugo’s best drama, the play initially met with only average success....

, Francis I in Le roi s'amuse

Le roi s'amuse

Le roi s'amuse is a play written by Victor Hugo in 1832. While it depicts the escapades of Francis I of France, censors of the time believed that it also contained insulting references to King Louis-Philippe and banned it after one performance...

, and Didier in Marion Delorme

Marion Delorme (Hugo)

Marion Delorme is a play by Victor Hugo in 5 acts, about the famous French courtesan of that name. It was first presented in 1831....

.

He was made chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1889. He also wrote a play, La Buveuse de l'armes, and in 1906, in collaboration with Pierre Barbier, La Vieillesse de Don Juan in verse.

He was the brother of the actor Paul Mounet

Paul Mounet

Paul Mounet , born Jean-Paul Sully, was a French actor.- Biography :The younger brother of actor Jean Mounet-Sully, Paul was born in Bergerac, Dordogne, and studied to become a medical doctor prior to his career in acting, only making his debut in 1880 in Paris Odéon's production of Horace...

.

He was a good friend, co-performer, and one-time lover of famed actress Sarah Bernhardt.