Clairon, Mlle

Clairon, Mlle [ Claire-Josèphe-Hippolyte Léris de la Tude] (1723–1803), French actress, who showed precocious ability and played minor parts with the Comédie-Italienne before joining a provincial troupe. In 1743 she went to the Opéra, but her real talent was for acting and she was transferred to the Comédie-Française. Her début as Racine's Phèdre in 1743 was a triumph, and led to other important tragic roles. With the great actor Lekain, encouraged by Diderot, she was responsible for introducing some much-needed modifications into the costumes worn on the stage, mainly by adding some historical detail. She also abandoned in about 1753 her somewhat stiff and declamatory method of acting for a freer and more natural style. The tragic depth of her voice, though esteemed too low for high passion and not particularly felicitous in tender scenes, prevented her from lapsing into triviality, and the new departure was a success. In 1765 Clairon, with other members of the Comédie-Française, was imprisoned for refusing to play with an actor who had brought disgrace upon the company; on her release she took refuge with Voltaire, in many of whose plays she had appeared, thereafter acting only in his private theatre at Ferney or, on her return to Paris, at Court and in private theatricals. In 1773 she was invited to the Court of the Margrave of Anspach. She died in poverty, having lost her pension in the upheavals of the French Revolution, her benefactress having also died.