Jean Poiret, born Jean Poiré (17 August 1926 – 14 March 1992), was a French actor, director, and screenwriter. He is primarily known as the author of the original play La Cage aux Folles. Early career Poiret was born in Paris, and first rose to prominence in 1951 playing the role of Fred Transport, one of the heroes of Pierre Dac and Francis Blanche's radio series Malheur aux Barbus. In 1952, he met his future co-star of La Cage Michel Serrault at the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre. Together, they starred in the sketch "Jerry Scott, Vedette Internationale". In 1961, Poiret, as a member of the French cinematic society Pathé, wrote and recorded La Vache à Mille Francs, a parody of La Valse à Mille Temps by Jacques Brel. In 1973, he married actress Caroline Cellier, with whom he had one child. La Cage aux Folles In 1973, Poiret wrote and starred in the stage play La Cage aux Folles. Its film adaptation in 1978 eventually brought Poiret immense success. Although Poiret was replaced by Italian actor Ugo Tognazzi in the role of Renato Baldi, Serrault reprised his stage-role of Zaza Napoli and won a César Award for his work. Later career In 1992, Poiret directed his first and only film, Le Zèbre (The Zebra). This adaptation of Alexandre Jardin's novel starred Thierry Lhermitte and Caroline Cellier and was one of the top ten grossing films in France for the year and the highest-grossing debut European film for the year with a gross of $12 million. Poiret died of a heart attack in Paris on 14 March 1992, three months before the film's premiere. He is buried at the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris. Filmography 1953: Le Gang des pianos à bretelles (by Gilles de Turenne) - Le présentateur de 'La nuit brune' (uncredited) 1953: Les 3 Mousquetaires (by André Hunebelle) 1956: Cette sacrée gamine (by Michel Boisrond) - first inspector 1956: La Vie est belle (by Roger Pierre and Jean-Marc Thibault) - maracas player 1956: Assassins et voleurs (by Sacha Guitry) - Philippe d'Artois 1956: The Terror with Women (by Jean Boyer) - gendarme 1957: Adorables démons (by Maurice Cloche) - Julien Willis Jr 1957: Le naïf aux quarante enfants (by Philippe Agostini) - Master Bardine 1957: Ça aussi c'est Paris (Short, by Maurice Cloche) - reporter 1957: Clara et les méchants (by Raoul André) - Chantuer - un gangster 1959: