Bejart

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Béjart, French family of actors intimately connected with Molière. The eldest daughter Madeleine (1618–72) was already well known as an actress when Molière met her and joined the company of which she was a member. In her early years she played the heroines of classical tragedy, and in later life created a number of Molière's witty maids. After touring the provinces for some years she returned with him to Paris in 1658, as did her elder brother Joseph (1616–59), her sister Geneviève (1624–75), who was better in tragedy than in comedy, and her younger brother Louis (1630–78), known as L'Éguisé on account of his sharp tongue. He was slightly lame, a trait which Molière incorporated into his part of La Flêche in L'Avare (1668), where it has remained traditional. Joseph, in spite of a slight stutter, was a useful member of the company, and his death so soon after settling in Paris was a great blow.

The youngest and most important member of the family was Armande-Grésinde-Claire-Élisabeth (1642–1700), whom Molière married in 1662. She made her first appearance on the stage as Élise in his Critique de L'École des femmes (1663), and after 1664 played most of Molière's heroines, which he wrote with her in mind. She was an excellent actress who owed all her training to her husband, but their marriage was not a success. After Molière's death she kept the company together until 1680, when it was merged in the newly founded Comédie-Française.

Béjart or Béjard , French family of actors associated with Molière , who joined their amateur company, Les Enfants de Famille. Their professional debut in Paris (1643) was as the Illustre-Théâtre; this failed (1645) and the company returned to the provinces only to triumph on their return in 1658. The eldest of the family was Joseph Béjart, c.1616-1659. His sister Madeleine Béjart, 1618-72, a fine actress and virtually the manager of the company, was Molière's mistress. Their sister, Geneviève Béjart, 1624-75, and brother, Louis Béjart, 1630-78, were also actors in the company. Louis retired in 1670, and was the first of Molière's actors to receive a pension. Armande Grésinde Béjart, c.1640-1700, Madeleine's sister or daughter, married Molière in 1662 and, trained by him, played most of his heroines. The death of Molière (1673) caused a momentary collapse of the King's Troupe, as the company was called, but Molière's widow and the actor La Grange procured the absorption by their group of one of the two rival Parisian companies, the troupe of the Théâtre du Marais. At the same time they lost the Palais Royal, the theater they had had since 1660. From its new quarters the company was known as the Hôtel Guénégaud troupe. In 1680 the troupe was merged with its only rival, the company of the Hôtel de Bourgogne . The resultant company was called the Comédie Française .