A “sacred beast” and one “unforgettable, irreplaceable master, for generations of actors”. It is in these terms that the President of the Republic saluted the memory of Michel Bouquet at the announcement of his disappearance at 96 years old, on April 13. The actor, monument of French theater with such a particular voice, known, among other things, for having played 800 times The king is dying by Eugene Ionesco, leaves behind him an impressive cinematographic career, but especially the theater. Follow live the national tribute paid to him from 4 p.m., Wednesday April 27, in the main courtyard of the Hôtel national des Invalides.
A ceremony chaired by Emmanuel Macron. The President of the Republic, accompanied by his wife Brigitte, will preside over the ceremony open to the public, in the presence of the actor’s family as well as members of the government. This tribute will be Emmanuel Macron’s first official release since his re-election on Sunday. The ceremony will end with the French Army Choir and the Republican Guard Orchestra, who will sing The Marseillaise.
Actors pay tribute to him. Muriel Robin, Fabrice Luchini and Pierre Arditi will speak to honor Michel Bouquet. Fabrice Luchini had held one of his first roles alongside Michel Bouquet in Vincent put the donkey in one meadow (and came to another) by Pierre Zucca, in 1976. On franceinfo, Fabrice Luchini had praised “the immense humor, the immense cheerful despair” of Michel Bouquet who gave him “learned to be attentive to others”. Muriel Robin had Michel Bouquet as a teacher at the conservatory. She said she considered him her “father of theatre, his landmark”.
A man of the theater above all. Michel Bouquet joined the Conservatory of Dramatic Art at the same time as Gérard Philipe and went on stage in 1944. Throughout his existence, he never left the stage and put himself at the service of great classical texts. (Molière, Diderot or Strindberg) and contemporaries (Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, Albert Camus or Thomas Bernhard).