JEAN

See also:

• BAPTISTE

BAPTISTE PROSPER

See also:

• JEAN BAPTISTE PROSPER BRESSANT (1815-1886)

BRESSANT (1815-1886)  , French actor, was born at Chalon-sur-Saone on the 23rd of October 1815, and began his stage career at the Varietes in Paris in 1833 . In 1838 he went to the French theatre at St Petersburg, where for eight years he played important parts with ever-increasing reputation . His success was confirmed at the Gymnase when he returned to Paris in 1846, and he made his debut at the Comedie Frangaise as a full-fledged societaire in 1854 . From playing the ardent young lover, he turned to leading roles both in modern plays and in the classical repertoire . His Richelieu in Mlle de Belle-Isle, his Octave in Alfred de Musset's Les Caprices de Marianne, and his appearance in de Musset's Il faut qu'une Porte soit ouverte ou fermee and Un caprice were followed by TartuJe, Le Misanthrope and Don Juan . Bressant retired in 1875, and died on the 23rd of January 1886 . During his professorship at the Conservatoire, Mounet-Sully was one of his pupils .