A French actor, born in Havre about 1800. At an early age he prepared himself for the stage. In 1822 he failed in a competition for prizes offered to the pupils of the conservatory, only a single vote being recorded in. his favor, but that was given by Talma. In 1823 he made his debut at the Ambigu Comique, but his reputation was not firmly established till 1834 by his personation of Robert Macaire, at the Folies Dramatiques, in the play of that name, of which he was one of the authors. His rendering of Alexandre Dumas's Kean, and particularly of Victor Hugo's Ruy Blas (1830), and of Balzac's Vautrin (1840) added to his fame, although not even his acting could save the latter play from being withdrawn on account of its reflections upon Louis Philippe. In 1842 he played for some time at the Theatre Francais, but his genius was not suited to those classic boards. He subsequently performed alternately at the Porte St. Martin, the Gaite, the Varietes, the Odeon, and the Ambigu Comique, where he was so successful in amusing the audiences in his comic and moving them in his tragic parts, that he was often called the Talma of the boulevards.

Among his most popular performances, besides Robert Macaire, were Don Cesar de Bazan and Toussaint l'Ouverture. He won great applause in Le vieux caporal (1853), Henri III. (1856), and Le maitre d'ecole (1859).

He afterward retired from the stage for some years; but in October, 1873, he again made his appearance, playing the part of the nameless Jew in Victor Hugo's Marie Tudor.