Philippe Clévenot

Philippe Clévenot ranks among the greatest actors of a generation who in the 1960s and 1970s embarked on the adventure of collective creations and sought to reach a new popular audience following in the footsteps of Jean Vilar or Ariane Mnouchkine From 1962 to 1965 he studied at the Centre dramatique de lEst then directed by Hubert Gignoux Paul Lefèvre and Claude Petitpierre At the same time he continued studying the organ harpsichord and piano After two years of military service 19651967 during which he learned German he joined the Maison de la Culture in Bourges directed by Gabriel Monnet In 1971 he took part in the early days of the Théâtre de lEspérance with Jean Jourdheuil and JeanPierre Vincent then in 1976 joined the school of the TNS the higher school of dramatic arts in Strasbourg also directed by JeanPierre Vincent From 1985 to 1987 he was a resident actor at the ComédieFrançaise Philippe Clévenot performed both classical and contemporary repertoire He appeared in The Misanthrope by Molière and Macbeth by Shakespeare both directed by JeanPierre Vincent in The Prince of Homburg by Kleist directed by Matthias Langhoff and The Broken Jug by the same author directed by Bernard Sobel in The School for Wives by Molière directed by Bernard Sobel Rameaus Nephew by Diderot directed by JeanMarie Simon in Artaud Mômo and The VieuxColombier Lecture as well as The True Story of Artaud Mômo by Antonin Artaud in which he portrayed the author in The Sea Wall by Marguerite Duras In the Jungle of Cities by Brecht directed by Stéphane Braunschweig The Life of the Egoist Fätzer also by Brecht directed by Bernard Sobel Rumor on Wall Street by Bernard Chatellier based on Melvilles Bartleby directed by Bérangère Bonvoisin and Pioneers in Ingolstadt by Marieluise Fleisser As a director he notably staged Anna Christie by Eugene ONeill in Geneva in 2000 a production later revived at the Théâtre Gérard Philipe in Villeurbanne in 2001 He also wrote Celle qui ment inspired by the famous Italian mystic Angela of Foligno His first film role was offered by René Allio in 1970 in Les Camisards He later worked with numerous filmmakers including Bertrand Blier Patrice Leconte and JeanJacques Beineix One of his final film appearances was in Disparus 1998 the first historical and political feature by young director Gilles Bourdos