Charles Langlois (actor)
| Charles Langlois | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Charles Langlois 1692 Paris, France |
| Died | 1762 (aged c. 70) Sweden |
| Spouse(s) | Jeanne Perrette le Chevalier |
Charles Langlois (1692–1762) was a French actor who spent a large part of his career in Sweden, where he was to play an important part in Swedish theatre history as the originator of the first national theatre in Sweden, and its first director. He was also a composer.
Charles Langlois was born in Paris and became an actor early in life with a travelling theatre troupe who toured the French countryside. He married his colleague, Jeanne Perrette le Chevalier, with whom he had a son, Alexandre, in 1718.
In 1723, Langlois and his family arrived in Sweden as members of the troupe, which was hired to perform at the theatre of Bollhuset in under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Landé. His speciality was playing kings and peasants within French theatre, and Scaramouche on the Italian stage, while his wife took the parts of queens and other characters. He wrote a libretto to celebrate the birthday of the Swedish queen in 1724, and performed in two such libretti for the queen as Pan, with his wife playing Premiére Bergére in 1726 and 1727. In 1727, he became involved in a conflict with Landé when he launched performances on Bollhuset without Landés approval.
When the French troupe left Sweden in 1727, the Langlois family stayed. In 1730, he was given permission to trade in luxury goods, although this would actually be run by his wife, who was quite successful as a businesswoman. Langlois himself was a French language teacher. Both he and his wife were engaged on different occasions as agents to hire a new troupe from France, Germany or the Netherlands, and in 1731, a German troupe was hired instead, though it is not confirmed if this should be contributed to their efforts.
When the first Swedish national theatre was founded in Bollhuset in 1737, there was a need for an experienced professional to organise the whole affair, and Langlois was hired as their director, a job for which he had great enthusiasm. The theatre was temporarily closed in the 1738–39 season, and Langlois became one of the most eager participants in the task of persuading the government to open it again. When it did, in 1739, he was replaced as director, but in 1740, when the government declared the theatre a private venture, the actors themselves formed a board of directors, with Langlois as the chairman. He shared this position with Johan Palmberg and Peter Lindahl as assistant directors, as he himself was considered too emotional to be diplomatic.
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