Baptiste
French actor
Also known as: Baptiste the Elder, Nicolas Anselme
Baptiste (born June 18, 1761, Bordeaux, France—died Nov. 30/Dec. 1, 1835, Les Batignolles) was one of the leading actors of sentimental comedy (comédie larmoyante) in France. After two provincial engagements, Baptiste went to Paris in 1791. In 1793 he joined the Théâtre de la République and in 1799 the Comédie-Française, from which he retired in 1828. He was not successful in tragedy. Parisians of the Napoleonic era primarily associated him with the noble fathers in...