Sacha Guitry (1885–1957,) originally Alexandre-Pierre Georges Guitry, was a prodigious French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the Boulevard theatre.
Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Guitry was the son of French actor-manager Lucien Guitry (1860–1925.) Guitry first appeared on the stage in Russia with his father’s company. His first appearance in Paris was in 1902, still under his father’s management. He went to London in 1920 with Nono, a play written when he was 16. It starred the second of his five wives, Yvonne Printemps.
Nono was followed by Chez les Zoaques (1906,) Petite Hollande (1908,) Le Scandale de Monte Carlo (1908,) Le Veilleur de nuit (1911)—one of his best plays—and Un Beau Mariage (1911.)
Guitry wrote nearly a hundred plays, primarily light comedies, many of which have been successfully performed in English. He wrote many serious plays for his father to act in, including Debureau (1918,) Pasteur (1919,) and Béranger (1920.)
Guitry also wrote and directed several delightful films, including Le roman d’un tricheur (1936, The Tale of a Cheat) and Les Perles de la couronne (1937, The Pearls of the Crown.)
Guitry’s autobiography is Mémoires d’un tricheur (1935; If I Remember Right.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Sacha Guitry
I am in favor of preserving the French habit of kissing ladies’ hands – after all, one must start somewhere.
—Sacha Guitry
Topics: Kiss
An ideal wife is one who remains faithful to you but tries to be just as charming as if she weren’t.
—Sacha Guitry
Topics: Marriage
You can pretend to be serious; but you can’t pretend to be witty.
—Sacha Guitry
When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her.
—Sacha Guitry
Topics: Revenge
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