Jean-Claude Drouot

Jean-Claude Drouot is a Belgian actor whose film, television, and theater work has spanned more than half a century. Born in Lessines, he trained with the Young Theater at the Université libre de Bruxelles, then moved to Paris and studied under Charles Dullin, performing classic tragedies and Molière plays until he left that company in 1962. From 1963 to 1966 he played the title role in Thierry La Fronde, a television adventure series that made him widely known in the French-speaking world. Drouot made his movie debut in Paul Vecchiali's The Devil's Tricks in 1965, followed by Happiness, and later appeared in British and American productions such as Laughter in the Dark (1969) and Nicholas and Alexandra (1971). In 1984 he took over the National Dramatic Center in Reims, and from 1985 to 1989 he headed the National Theatre of Belgium. In 1999 he became a member of the Comédie-Française.