Rene Berthelot known as Of the Park

Biography

In October 1647, therefore strong young person, it belonged already to the troop of the duke of Épernon, governor of Guyenne, and directed by Charles Dufresne which played Carcassonne then. This troop was going to become some time later the troop of Béjart, then finally the Troupe of Molière.

It was an extremely large young man, and there remained to it all its life. It specialized in the roles of servant and, by his plumpness, incarnated in the jokes and the comedies a type of large and fatty servant, frankly, posed, direct and without way, kind of Sancho Panza arguer, which one indicated by “Large-Rene”.

Molière gave of it a description to the beginning of the Dépit in love by the mouth with Large-Rene who presents himself: people of my little face are marked

to be, graces to God, neither cheating nor crafty ones. (Scene I)

then by:

For me, I do not know philosophy so much;

what my eyes voyent, frankly I trust it,

: sorrow appears an inconvenient thing to me;

I do not take any for me without good and right cause. (Scene II)

Molière wrote several works where Large-Rene appeared by name:

three comedies: the Doctor stealing , Spite in love and Sganarelle ;
two jokes, whose only titles reached us: Large-Rene, small child and Jealousy of the Large-Rene .

Park followed the troop to Montpellier, Pézenas and Lyon, where it Maria on February 23rd, 1653 with Marchioness-Therese de Gorla , itself actress of the troop, which consequently took the name of theater of Miss Of the Park. Molière, present at the marriage, signed with the bottom of the act. The troop continued its tour in province and passed by Rouen where both Crow, Pierre and Thomas, which lived the city, were subjugated by the quality of the troop and especially by the beauty of Miss Of the Park. Also, when the troop arrived at Paris, the Crow used of all their influence to make enter the couple Of the Park to the Théâtre of the Marsh. They ended up reaching that point and, at Easter 1659, Of the Park and its wife left Molière, after having traversed with him the roads of province during 11 or 12 years, for the Théâtre of the Marsh. But this experiment was disappointing for both and, one year later, they reinstated the Troupe of Molière.

Molière, which was writing Sganarelle or the imaginary Cuckold , hastened to build a role of Large-Rene for Park and to entrust to its woman the role of Célie. A few months later, the against-employment of Park as a prince de Léon in Dom Garcie de Navarre or the Prince jealous not having been satisfactory, Molière entrusted again a role of servant arguer to him, Ergaste, in the School of the husbands . An exclamation of Sganarelle, which misses being hustled by Ergaste, watch that the plumpness of Park had not been reduced:

Peste is large ox, which to make me choir

comes itself in front of my steps to plant like a pole! (Act II scene II)

This plumpness made it die prematurely, around 34 years. The date of its death is not known precisely, the register of the Barn and that of Saint-Germain-the Auxerrois, where funerals took place, giving different dates. One is just certain day of the week, since the theater made slackening one Tuesday, and it was thus either on October 28th, 1664 (Saint-Germain-the Auxerrois), or the following week, on November 4th, 1664 (register of the Barn).

Some of its roles

Large-Rene, servant of Gorgibus, in the Doctor stealing in 1645;
Large-Rene, servant of Éraste, in Spite in love on December 16th, 1656;
Large-Rene, servant of Lélie, in Sganarelle or the imaginary Cuckold on May 28th, 1660;
Dom Alphonse, prince de Léon, in Dom Garcie de Navarre or the Prince jealous on February 4th, 1661;
Ergaste, servant of Valère, in the School of the husbands on June 24th, 1661;
Espine, servant of Damis, in the Annoying on August 17th, 1661;
Large-Rene in Jealousy of the Large-Rene on April 15th, 1663 (text of this joke lost);
Large-Rene in Large-Rene, small child on April 27th, 1664 (text of this joke lost);
the Summer, assembled on an elephant, in Pleasures of the magic Island (last appearance) in 1664;

Sources

Henry Lyonnet, Dictionary of the French actors , Library of the Illustrated International Universal review, Paris and Geneva, 1902-1908
Pierre Larousse Large Universal Dictionary of the 19th century

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