19th-century French male actors

Jean-Charles Deburau (February 15, 1829 – December 19, 1873) was an important French mime, the son and successor of the legendary Jean-Gaspard Deburau, who was immortalized as Baptiste the Pierrot in Marcel Carné's film Children of Paradise (1945). After his father's death in 1846, Charles kept alive his pantomimic legacy, first in Paris, at the Théâtre des Funambules, and then, beginning in the late 1850s, at theaters in Bordeaux and Marseille. He is routinely credited with founding a southern "school" of pantomime; indeed, he served as tutor to the Marseille mime Louis Rouffe, who, in turn, gave instruction to Séverin Cafferra, known simply as "Séverin". But their art was nourished by the work of other mimes, particularly of Charles's rival, Paul Legrand, and by earlier developments in nineteenth-century pantomime that were alien to the Deburaux' traditions.

Antoine Louis Prosper "Frédérick" Lemaître (28 July 1800 – 26 January 1876) was a French actor and playwright, one of the most famous players on the celebrated Boulevard du Crime.

Pierre-Chéri Lafont (16 May 1797 – 19 April 1873) was a French actor, born at Bordeaux.

Abandoning his profession as assistant ship's doctor in the navy, he went to Paris to study singing and acting. He had some experience at a small theater, and was preparing to appear at the Opéra Comique when the director of the Vaudeville offered him an engagement. Here he made his debut in 1821 in La Somnambule, and his good looks and excellent voice soon brought him into public favor. After several years at the Nouveautés and the Vaudeville, on the burning of the latter in 1838 he went to England, and married, at Gretna Green, Jenny Colon, from whom he was soon divorced. On his return to Paris, he joined the Variétés, where he acted for fifteen years in such plays as Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Le Lion empaillé, Une dernière conquête, etc.
Another engagement at the Vaudeville followed, and one at the Gaîté, and he ended his brilliant career at the Gymnase in the part of the noble father in such plays as Les Vieux Garçons and Nos bons villageois. On 12 July 1848 he married the dancer Pauline Leroux.
He died in Paris on 19 April 1873 and is buried in Montmartre Cemetery with Pauline Leroux.

André Antoine (31 January 1858 – 23 October 1943) was a French actor, theatre manager, film director, author, and critic who is considered the father of modern mise en scène in France.