Jean Desailly (24 August 1920 – 11 June 2008) was a French actor. He was a member of the Comédie-Française from 1942 to 1946, and later participated in about 90 movies. Life and career Desailly studied at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts and the Conservatoire de Paris winning first prize, joining the Comédie-Française in 1942. In 1946 he became a leading member of the Jean-Louis Barrault-Madeleine Renaud company at the Théâtre Marigny, playing in a wide repertoire from Les Fausses Confidences, Bérénice and Le Songe d'une nuit d'été. With the Renaud-Barrault at the Odéon-Théâtre de France he played both leading roles in le Mariage de Figaro: Figaro on tour in the provinces and Count Almaviva in Paris. Desailly's second wife was the French actress Simone Valère, with whom he formed a theatre company which they directed successively at the Théâtre Hébertot and the Théâtre de la Madeleine. A wide repertoire was played at the two theatres from 1972 to 2002. In music he was the narrator on the 1965 recording of Stravinsky's Oedipus rex conducted by Karel Ančerl for Supraphon and on the 1971 recording of Honegger's Le roi David under Charles Dutoit for Erato (with Valère as the prophetess). Partial filmography 1943: Strange Inheritance - Gilles Mauvoisin 1945: Father Goriot - Bianchon 1945: The Last Judgment - Kyril 1946: Sylvie and the Ghost - Frédéric 1946: Pastoral Symphony - Jacques Martens - son fils 1946: Patrie (directed by Louis Daquin) - Karloo 1946: The Revenge of Roger - Raymond de Noirville 1947: Amours, délices et orgues - Jean Pelletier dit 'Pivoine' 1947: Carré de valets - Jacques de la Bastide 1948: Une grande fille toute simple - Michel 1949: L'échafaud peut attendre - Michel Vincent 1949: The Mark of the Day - Larzac 1949: La veuve et l'innocent - Claude Girelle 1949: Keep an Eye on Amelia (Occupe-toi d'Amélie) - Marcel Courbois 1950: Chéri - Fred Peloux, dit 'Chéri' 1950: Véronique - Florestan 1951: Demain nous divorçons - Max Blachet 1952: Jocelyn - Jocelyn 1954: Royal Affairs in Versailles - Marivaux 1955: Les Grandes manoeuvres (directed by René Clair) - Victor Duverger 1955: On ne badine pas avec l'amour - Perdican 1958: Maigret tend un piège - Marcel Maurin 1958: Les Grandes Familles (directed by Denys de La Patellière) - François Schoudler 1959: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Sen noci svatojánské) (animation directed by Jiří Trnka) - Narrator (French