Jean Gaspard Deburau

Jean Gaspard Deburau , 1796-1846, French pantomime performer, whose original name was Jan Kaspar Dvorjak, b. Bohemia. He became famous for his introduction of the pantomime character Pierrot at the Théâtre des Funambules. With delicate charm and pathos, he captured the essence of the ever hopeful but always disappointed lover. He is the subject of a play by Sacha Guitry and of Marcel Carné's film, Children of Paradise (1944).

Bibliography: See biography by F. Kozik (tr. 1940).

Deburau, Jean-Gaspard [ Jan Kašpar Dvořák] (1796–1846), famous French player of pantomime, and creator of a new conception of Pierrot based on the commedia dell'arte mask Pedrolino, which has since remained a popular and constant figure in the public imagination. Born in Bohemia, member of an acrobatic family with whom he toured the Continent, he arrived in Paris in 1814 and in 1820 was engaged with his companions for the Théâtre des Funambules on the boulevard du Temple where he remained until his death. He was at first an inconspicuous member of the company, from whose Pierrot Deburau, eventually known as Baptiste, learned his art. He took over the role of Pierrot in 1826, and he developed, with great subtlety, his concept of the character as the white-clad, ever-hopeful, always disappointed lover, as child, prince, poet, and eternal seeker; all Paris flocked to see him. Deburau's appeal to the working-class public was based on a thorough knowledge of their lives and working conditions; with his lightning wit and occasional flashes of cruelty and malice he expressed their spirit of revolt. He was the inspiration behind all subsequent attempts to re-establish the art of mime in the modern theatre.