Pierre Frondaie
Encyclopedia
Pierre Frondaie (25 April 1884 – 25 September 1948) was a French poet, novelist, and playwright.

Biography

Pierre Frondaie – né Albert René Fraudet – was born in 1884 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...

 to an upper middle class family. He began writing as a teenager and soon devoted himself to the theme that would come to define his career as a man of letters, namely love and its vicissitudes. His success came early. The French stage legend Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt was a French stage and early film actress, and has been referred to as "the most famous actress the world has ever known". Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of France in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas...

 fostered his talents as an actor and playwright, producing and acting in one of his plays during a triumphant American tour. In 1925, Frondaie published L’Homme à l’Hispano, the novel that would go on to become his bestseller, translated in 15 languages. The book inspired a successful play, staged in Paris in 1928, and two film adaptations (the first by Julien Duvivier
Julien Duvivier
Julien Duvivier was a French film director. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930-1960...

 in 1926, the second by Jean Epstein
Jean Epstein
Jean Epstein was a French filmmaker, film theorist, literary critic, and novelist. Although he is remembered today primarily for his adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, Epstein directed three dozen films and was an influential critic of literature and film from the...

 in 1933). Frondaie soon caught the attention of Hollywood, then in its infancy, where several cinematographic adaptations were made of his works for an English- speaking audience by Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

 and Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...

. In 1928, Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks
Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era...

 directed Fazil, based on Frondaie’s play L’Insoumise.

In France, Frondaie’s talents earned him a large audience, as well as the respect of his contemporaries, including notable authors such as Pierre Louys
Pierre Louÿs
Pierre Louÿs was a French poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who "expressed pagan sensuality with stylistic perfection."-Life:...

 and academicians (members of the Academie Francaise
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...

) such as Anatole France
Anatole France
Anatole France , born François-Anatole Thibault, , was a French poet, journalist, and novelist. He was born in Paris, and died in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire. He was a successful novelist, with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters...

, Maurice Barrès
Maurice Barrès
Maurice Barrès was a French novelist, journalist, and socialist politician and agitator known for his nationalist and antisemitic views....

, and Claude Farrère
Claude Farrère
Claude Farrère, pseudonym of Frédéric-Charles Bargone , was a French author of novels set in such exotic locations as Istanbul, Saigon, and Nagasaki. One of his novels, Les civilisés won the Prix Goncourt for 1905. He was elected for a chair at the Académie Française on 26 March 1935...

. As a playwright, he became a darling of the Parisian stage, with stars such as Polaire
Polaire
Polaire was the stage name used by French singer and actress Émilie Marie Bouchaud .Born at Agha, Algiers, Algeria, according to her memoirs she was one of eleven children of whom only four - Emilie, her two brothers Edmond and Marcel, and a sister, Lucile - survived infancy...

, Regina Badet, and Sylvie
Sylvie
Sylvie is a Canadian musical group from Regina, Saskatchewan. It features singer/guitarist Joel Passmore, formerly of the now-disbanded Despistado, alongside bass player Riva Farrell Racette, guitarist Chris Notenboom, keyboardist Erin Passmore and drummer Jeff Romanyk...

 acting in his plays. Productions of his theatrical works toured Europe and made their way to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

. From Broadway to Hollywood, few French authors can claim the kind of success Frondaie enjoyed in America at the time. Frondaie was then referred to as a veritable literary phenomenon.

From 1942 until his death, Pierre Frondaie ran the Théâtre de l'Ambigu
Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique
The theatre was rebuilt to plans by the architects Jacques Ignace Hittorff and Jean-François-Joseph Lecointe on the boulevard Saint-Martin, at the corner of rue de Bondy...

, in Paris, and focused on directing and producing several of his own plays. At times he was even on stage playing opposite his wife, Maria Favella, an actress.

Frondaie’s flamboyant lifestyle mirrored that of some of the high-society characters he wrote about in his plays and novels. He traveled frequently across the world, jetting between homes in Paris and Arcachon
Arcachon
Arcachon is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France.It is a popular bathing location on the Atlantic coast southwest of Bordeaux in the Landes forest...

, making regular visits to the Basque coast, and rubbing elbows with the jazz-age beau monde.

He was married four times, to illustrious and independent women, but never had children. His first wife, Jeanne Gellier, was an actress known under the stage name of Michelle. After the couple’s divorce, Frondaie married Madeleine Charnaux, a sculptor, student of Antoine Bourdelle
Antoine Bourdelle
Antoine Bourdelle , originally Émile Antoine Bourdelle, was an influential and prolific French sculptor, painter, and teacher.-Career:...

, and later an aviator. This marriage, too, was short lived. Frondaie was then betrothed to lawyer and author Jeanne Loviton (who wrote under the name Jean Voilier). After they separated, Frondaie married Maria Favella, a promising young actress student of the famous Cours Simon and fresh out of the Conservatory. He would spend the rest of his life with her.

Frondaie’s works tend to revolve around love – or perhaps the yearning for love – and its effects on human relationships and social behavior. Scholars of his work have attributed this theme to two events that profoundly affected the author at a young age: the death of his mother when he was 17, followed a few months later by that of his first love. As a result of these traumas, he was forever haunted by the fear of losing those he loved.

In 1948, Frondaie died of a heart attack in Vaucresson
Vaucresson
Vaucresson is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the Hauts-de-Seine department from the center of Paris.The people who live in the commune are called Vaucressonais. Vaucresson contains abundant parkland; 22 of its 308 hectares are classed as natural zones...

, a residential suburb of Paris, in the home he shared with Maria Favella. He was 64. Favella then took over the reins of the Théàtre de l’Ambigu, and proved to be a savvy businesswoman. After Frondaie’s death, she bequeathed his archives to his beloved city of Arcachon
Arcachon
Arcachon is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France.It is a popular bathing location on the Atlantic coast southwest of Bordeaux in the Landes forest...

.

Novels

  • 1907
    1907 in literature
    The year 1907 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* June 26 - Mark Twain receives an honorary doctorate of laws degree from Oxford University.*James Joyce meets Ettore Schmitz for the first time....

     : Les Fatidiques, Edition du « Monde Illustré ».
  • 1909
    1909 in literature
    The year 1909 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*L. Frank Baum - The Road to Oz** - Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work *André Billy - La Derive*René Boylesve - La Jeune Fille bien élevée...

     : Tu seras roi, Librairie des Annales.
  • 1911
    1911 in literature
    The year 1911 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*George Moore publishes the first of his three-volume Hail and Farewell .*Gallimard publishing house founded in Paris by Gaston Gallimard...

     : Contes Réels et Fantaisistes, Edition du « Monde Illustré ».
  • 1925
    1925 in literature
    The year 1925 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* April: F Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway meet in the Dingo Bar on rue Delambre, in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France shortly after the publication of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and shortly before...

     : L'Homme à l'Hispano, Editions le Festin.
  • 1926
    1926 in literature
    The year 1926 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is founded in Middlebury, Vermont....

     : L'Eau du Nil, Editions Emile-Paul Frères.
  • 1928
    1928 in literature
    The year 1928 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Ford Madox Ford publishes Last Post. It is the final book of a four-volume work titled Parade's End published between 1924 and 1928....

     : Deux fois vingt ans, Plon.
  • 1929
    1929 in literature
    The year 1929 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Candide by Voltaire is declared obscene by the United States Customs and seized in 1930....

     : La Côte des Dieux, Editions Emile-Paul Frères.
  • 1929
    1929 in literature
    The year 1929 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Candide by Voltaire is declared obscene by the United States Customs and seized in 1930....

     : Auprès de ma blonde..., Editions Emile-Paul Frères.
  • 1930
    1930 in literature
    The year 1930 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*January 6 - The first literary character licensing agreement is signed by A. A. Milne, granting Stephen Slesinger U.S...

     : Béatrice devant le désir, Editions Emile-Paul Frères.
  • 1931
    1931 in literature
    The year 1931 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Cherokee playwright Lynn Riggs' play Green Grow the Lilacs premiers. It would later be adapted by Rodgers and Hammerstein as Oklahoma!....

     : Le Voleur de Femmes, Editions Emile-Paul Frères.
  • 1931
    1931 in literature
    The year 1931 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Cherokee playwright Lynn Riggs' play Green Grow the Lilacs premiers. It would later be adapted by Rodgers and Hammerstein as Oklahoma!....

     : Iris perdue et retrouvée, Editions Emile-Paul Frères.
  • 1932
    1932 in literature
    The year 1932 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*E. V. Knox replaces Sir Owen Seaman as editor of Punch magazine.*Samuel Beckett's first novel, Dream of Fair to Middling Women, is rejected by several publishers....

     : Zigoël, Editions Emile-Paul Frères.
  • 1933
    1933 in literature
    The year 1933 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 17 - The magazine Newsweek is published for the first time.* James Joyce's Ulysses is allowed into United States.-New books:...

     : De l'Amour à l'Amour, Editions Emile-Paul Frères.
  • 1933
    1933 in literature
    The year 1933 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 17 - The magazine Newsweek is published for the first time.* James Joyce's Ulysses is allowed into United States.-New books:...

     : La femme de Iakof, Editions Emile-Paul Frères.
  • 1934
    1934 in literature
    The year 1934 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The first Flash Gordon comic strip is published.*Boris Pasternak and Korney Chukovsky are among those present at the first Congress of the Soviet Union of Writers....

     : Isabelle et les préjugés, Editions Baudinière.
  • 1934
    1934 in literature
    The year 1934 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The first Flash Gordon comic strip is published.*Boris Pasternak and Korney Chukovsky are among those present at the first Congress of the Soviet Union of Writers....

     : Cette femme qui fut divine..., Editions Baudinière.
  • 1935
    1935 in literature
    The year 1935 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* June 15 - W. H. Auden enters a marriage of convenience with Erika Mann.* July 30 - Allen Lane founds Penguin Books to publish the first mass market paperbacks in Britain....

     : Quand le diable s'en mêle..., Editions Baudinière.
  • 1935
    1935 in literature
    The year 1935 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* June 15 - W. H. Auden enters a marriage of convenience with Erika Mann.* July 30 - Allen Lane founds Penguin Books to publish the first mass market paperbacks in Britain....

     : Le lieutenant de Gibraltar, Librairie Plon.
  • 1936
    1936 in literature
    The year 1936 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Life magazine is first published.* The Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's literature is established in the UK.-New books:...

     : Port-Arthur, Librairie Plon.
  • 1938
    1938 in literature
    The year 1938 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The trilogy, U.S.A. by John Dos Passos, is published containing his three novels The 42nd Parallel , 1919 , and The Big Money ....

     : Le Volontaire, Librairie Plon.
  • 1941
    1941 in literature
    The year 1941 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Frank Herbert marries Flora Parkinson.*F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished work, The Last Tycoon, is edited and published by Edmund Wilson.-New books:...

     : Ce que Bodley m'a ranconté, Librairie Plon.
  • 1942
    1942 in literature
    The year 1942 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*André Gide leaves France to live in Tunis.*Robertson Davies becomes editor of the Peterborough Examiner.*Thomas Mann emigrates to California....

     : Montmartre, Editions Baudinière.
  • 1935
    1935 in literature
    The year 1935 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* June 15 - W. H. Auden enters a marriage of convenience with Erika Mann.* July 30 - Allen Lane founds Penguin Books to publish the first mass market paperbacks in Britain....

     : Le lieutenant de Gibraltar, Editions Baudinière.

Theater

Performances
  • La Femme et le Pantin, a play in 4 acts by Pierre Louÿs
    Pierre Louÿs
    Pierre Louÿs was a French poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who "expressed pagan sensuality with stylistic perfection."-Life:...

     and Pierre Frondaie, Paris, Théâtre Antoine, December 8, 1910
  • Blanche Câline, a play in 3 acts, Théâtre Michel,
  • La Maison cernée, a play in 4 acts, Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt, with Michelle (Jeanne Gillier) and Louis Gauthier
  • Appassionata, a play in 4 acts, Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin
    Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin
    The Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin is a venerable theatre and opera house at 18, Boulevard Saint-Martin in the 10e arrondissement of Paris.- History :...

    ,
  • Le Reflet, a play in 4 acts, Théâtre Fémina,
  • L'Insoumise, a play in 4 acts, Théâtre Antoine,
  • Le Fils de Don Quichotte, a play in 4 acts, directed by Charles Dullin
    Charles Dullin
    Charles Dullin was a French actor, theater manager and director.-Life:Dullin was a student of Jacques Copeau...

    , music by Henri Sauguet
    Henri Sauguet
    Henri Sauguet , was a French composer. Born in Bordeaux as Henri-Pierre Poupard, he adopted his mother's maiden name as his pseudonym. His output includes operas, ballets, four symphonies , concertos, chamber and choral music and numerous songs, as well as film music...

    , with Charles Dullin
    Charles Dullin
    Charles Dullin was a French actor, theater manager and director.-Life:Dullin was a student of Jacques Copeau...

    , Étienne Decroux
    Étienne Decroux
    Étienne Decroux studied at Jacques Copeau's Ecole du Vieux-Colombier, where he saw the beginnings of what was to become his life's obsession–Corporeal Mime...

    , Madeleine Tambour, Paris, Théâtre de l'Atelier
    Théâtre de l'Atelier
    The Théâtre de l'Atelier is a theater at 1, place Charles Dullin in the 18th arrondissement of Paris.-History:Opened on November 23, 1822 under the name Théâtre Montmartre this theater was one of the first built by Pierre-Jacques Seveste, who held the license to operate theaters outside the town...

    , December 20, 1930
  • La Gardienne, a play in 4 acts, Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin
    Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin
    The Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin is a venerable theatre and opera house at 18, Boulevard Saint-Martin in the 10e arrondissement of Paris.- History :...

    ,
  • La Marche au destin, a play in 3 acts, Théâtre de la Renaissance
    Théâtre de la Renaissance
    The name Théâtre de la Renaissance has been used successively for three distinct Parisian theatre companies. The first two companies, which were short-lived enterprises in the 19th century, used the Salle Ventadour, now an office building on the Rue Méhul in the 2nd arrondissement.The current...

    , March 21, 1924
  • Les Amants de Paris, a play in 4 acts, Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt, , with Sylvie, Mady Berry, Harry Baur
    Harry Baur
    Harry Baur was a French actor. Baur was Jewish and tortured to death by the Gestapo during World War II....

    , Pierre Blanchar
    Pierre Blanchar
    Pierre Blanchar was a French actor. He appeared in 54 films between 1922 and 1961.-Selected filmography:* L'Atlantide * Street of Shadows * A Royal Divorce...

     and Fernand Fabre


Editions
  • 1907
    1907 in literature
    The year 1907 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* June 26 - Mark Twain receives an honorary doctorate of laws degree from Oxford University.*James Joyce meets Ettore Schmitz for the first time....

     : Rose Flamberge, Librairie Paul Ollendorff.
  • 1911
    1911 in literature
    The year 1911 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*George Moore publishes the first of his three-volume Hail and Farewell .*Gallimard publishing house founded in Paris by Gaston Gallimard...

     : Montmartre, Librairie Charpentier et Fasquelle. Eugène Fasquelle, éditeur.
  • 1911
    1911 in literature
    The year 1911 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*George Moore publishes the first of his three-volume Hail and Farewell .*Gallimard publishing house founded in Paris by Gaston Gallimard...

     : La Femme et le Pantin (En collaboration avec Pierre Louÿs
    Pierre Louÿs
    Pierre Louÿs was a French poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who "expressed pagan sensuality with stylistic perfection."-Life:...

    ), Librairie des Annales.
  • 1913
    1913 in literature
    The year 1913 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Husayn Haykal publishes the first modern Egyptian novel Zaynab.-New books:* Alain-Fournier — Le Grand Meaulnes* L...

     : Blanche Câline, La Petite Illustration.
  • 1913
    1913 in literature
    The year 1913 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Husayn Haykal publishes the first modern Egyptian novel Zaynab.-New books:* Alain-Fournier — Le Grand Meaulnes* L...

     : L'Homme qui assassina (d'après le roman de Claude Farrère
    Claude Farrère
    Claude Farrère, pseudonym of Frédéric-Charles Bargone , was a French author of novels set in such exotic locations as Istanbul, Saigon, and Nagasaki. One of his novels, Les civilisés won the Prix Goncourt for 1905. He was elected for a chair at the Académie Française on 26 March 1935...

    ), Librairie Paul Ollendorff.
  • 1914
    1914 in literature
    The year 1914 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The literature of World War I makes its first appearance.*November 7 - The first issue of The New Republic magazine is published....

     : Aphrodite (d'après le roman de Pierre Louÿs
    Pierre Louÿs
    Pierre Louÿs was a French poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who "expressed pagan sensuality with stylistic perfection."-Life:...

    , Fontemoing & Cie.
  • 1915
    1915 in literature
    The year 1915 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* May 3 - In Flanders Fields is written by Canadian poet John McCrae....

     : Colette Baudoche (d'après le roman de Maurice Barrès), Emile-Paul Frères, éditeur.
  • 1916
    1916 in literature
    The year 1916 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The Journal of Negro History is founded by Carter Godwin Woodson, the father of "Black History" and "Negro History Week."...

     : Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard (d'après le roman d'Anatole France
    Anatole France
    Anatole France , born François-Anatole Thibault, , was a French poet, journalist, and novelist. He was born in Paris, and died in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire. He was a successful novelist, with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters...

    ), Les Annales.
  • 1920
    1920 in literature
    The year 1920 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Agatha Christie publishes her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, introducing the long-running character detective, Hercule Poirot....

     : La Maison Cernée, Librairie Théâtrale.
  • 1921
    1921 in literature
    The year 1921 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Edgar Rice Burroughs – Tarzan the Terrible*James Branch Cabell – Figures of Earth*Hall Caine – The Master of Man*Willa Cather – Alexander's Bridge...

     : L'Appassionata, Librairie Théâtrale Artistique et Littéraire.
  • 1921
    1921 in literature
    The year 1921 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Edgar Rice Burroughs – Tarzan the Terrible*James Branch Cabell – Figures of Earth*Hall Caine – The Master of Man*Willa Cather – Alexander's Bridge...

     : La Bataille (d'après le roman de Claude Farrère), Librairie Théâtrale.
  • 1922
    1922 in literature
    The year 1922 in literature involved some significant events and new books.Under the current U.S. copyright law, all works published before January 1, 1923 with a proper copyright notice entered the public domain no later than 75 years from the date of the copyright...

     : Le Reflet, La Petite Illustration.
  • 1923
    1923 in literature
    The year 1923 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Fictional detective Lord Peter Wimsey makes his first appearance in print....

     : L'Insoumise, Librairie Théâtrale.
  • 1924
    1924 in literature
    The year 1924 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Ford Madox Ford publishes the first book of a four-volume work titled Parade's End published between 1924 and 1928.-New books:*Michael Arlen - The Green Hat...

     : La Gardienne, L'Illustration.
  • 1926
    1926 in literature
    The year 1926 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is founded in Middlebury, Vermont....

     : La Menace, Librairie Théâtrale.
  • 1928
    1928 in literature
    The year 1928 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Ford Madox Ford publishes Last Post. It is the final book of a four-volume work titled Parade's End published between 1924 and 1928....

     : Les Amants de Paris L'Illustration.
  • 1928
    1928 in literature
    The year 1928 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Ford Madox Ford publishes Last Post. It is the final book of a four-volume work titled Parade's End published between 1924 and 1928....

     : L'Homme à l'Hispano.

Poetry

  • 1907
    1907 in literature
    The year 1907 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* June 26 - Mark Twain receives an honorary doctorate of laws degree from Oxford University.*James Joyce meets Ettore Schmitz for the first time....

    : Les Pierres de Lune. Les Bijoux de la morte. Quelques cailloux, Librarie Paul Ollendorff.
  • 1916
    1916 in literature
    The year 1916 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The Journal of Negro History is founded by Carter Godwin Woodson, the father of "Black History" and "Negro History Week."...

    : Le prélude aux poèmes du Coq
  • 1918
    1918 in literature
    The year 1918 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The 2nd annual Pulitzer Prizes are awarded.* Author Hall Caine made a KBE.*Robert Graves marries Nancy Nicholson...

    : La Nuit sur le Rhin

External links

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