Marie Champmeslé was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 actress.

She was born in Rouen

Rouen

Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...

 of a wealthy family; her father's name was Desmares. She made her first appearance on the stage at Rouen with Charles Chevillet Champmeslé (1645-170?), who called himself sieur de Champmeslé, and they were married in 1666. By 1669 they were playing in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 at the Theatre du Marais

Théâtre du Marais

The Théâtre du Marais has been the name of several theatres and theatrical troupes in Paris, France. The original and most famous theatre of the name operated in the 17th century. The name was briefly revived for a revolutionary theatre in 1791, and revived again in 1976...

, her first appearance there being as Venus in Boyer

Boyer

Boyer is a surname which is derived from the Boii, a Celtic tribe that migrated from ancient Bohemia to many regions surrounding the Alps. Boyers in England may come from bowyer, meaning "bow maker" or "bow seller." In French, the surname may mean "ox guard" or "ox leader"...

's Fête de Vénus. The next year, as Hermione in Jean Racine

Jean Racine

Jean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...

's Andromaque, she had a great success at the Hotel de Bourgogne

Hôtel de Bourgogne

Until the 16th century, the Hôtel de Bourgogne was the name of the Paris residence of the Dukes of Burgundy. Today, the last vestige is the Tour Jean sans Peur, 20 rue Étienne Marcel, in the 2nd arrondissement.-Theatre:...

. Her intimacy with Racine dates from then. Some of his finest tragedies were written for her, but her repertoire was not confined to them, and many an indifferent play - like Thomas Corneille

Thomas Corneille

Thomas Corneille was a French dramatist.- Personal life :Born in Rouen nearly twenty years after his brother Pierre, the "great Corneille", Thomas's skill as a poet seems to have shown itself early. At the age of fifteen he composed a play in Latin which was performed by his fellow-pupils at the...

's Ariene and Comte d'Essex - owed its success to her natural manner of acting, and her pathetic rendering of the hapless heroine.

Phaedre was the climax of her triumphs, and when she and her husband deserted the Hotel de Bourgogne, it was selected to open the Comédie-Française

Comédie-Française

The Comédie-Française or Théâtre-Français is one of the few state theaters in France. It is the only state theater to have its own troupe of actors. It is located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris....

 on 26 August 1680. Here, with Madame Gurin as the leading comedy actress, she played the great tragic love parts for more than thirty years.

La Fontaine

Jean de La Fontaine

Jean de La Fontaine was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional...

 dedicated to her his novel Belphegor, and Boileau

Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux

Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux was a French poet and critic.-Biography:Boileau was born in the rue de Jérusalem, in Paris, France. He was brought up to the law, but devoted to letters, associating himself with La Fontaine, Racine, and Molière...

 immortalized her in verse. Her husband distinguished himself both as actor and playwright, and his Farisien (1682) gave Mme Gurin one of her greatest successes.

Her brother, the actor Nicolas Desmares (c. 1650-1714), began as a member of a subsidized company at Copenhagen, but by her influence he came to Paris and was received in 1685 sans debut, the first time such an honor had been accorded at the Comedie Francaise, where he became famous for peasant parts. His daughter, to whom Christian V. and his queen stood sponsors, Christine Antoinette Charlotte Desmares (1682-1753), was a fine actress in both tragedy and soubrette parts. She made her debut at the Comédie-Française in 1699, in La Grange Chancels Oreste et Pylade, and was at once received as sociétaire. She retired in 1721.