Jean Danet(1924-2001)

Jean Danet was born in Brittany into a family of sailors and of priests. He naturally opted for a career in the navy but after being hurt during the landing in World War 2, he turned to what would be his real vocation when he began staging plays (his first one tellingly entitled: "Gardiens de Phare") for the "Foyer du Marin". He studied drama in Paris with Maurice Donneaud and Maurice Escande before officially debuting in "Maya", in which he played six different parts. He acted in many a play but his greatest achievement is the founding in 1959 of the "Tréteaux de France", a famous stock company visiting any place in France, with or preferably without a theatre. He died peacefully in 2001, few months after passing the buck to Marcel Maréchal, his mission in life accomplished. Besides his burning passion for theater, he had a few roles on television and was very active on the big screen during the fifties. His best part remains the cynical Georges Duroy in Louis Daquin's adaptation of Maupassant's "Bel Ami".