Born: Maisons-Laffitte, France, 5 July 1889. Education: Educated at the Lycee Condorcet, Paris, and privately. Career: Entered Parisian literary and theatrical circles, giving readings and attending functions; cofounder, Sheherazade magazine, 1909; collaborated with Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes as librettist, designer and painter, from c. 1911; joined the Red Cross, 1914; co-editor, le Mot, 1914-15; contributor, Paris-Midi, 1919; travelled around the world, under commission to write articles for Paris-Soir, 1936-37; travelled to the United States, 1949. President, Jazz Academy; Honorary President, Cannes Film Festival. Awards: Louions-Delluc prize, 1946; Avant-garde Film Grand prize, 1950. D.Litt.: Oxford University, 1956. Commander, Legion d’honneur, 1961. Member: Academie frangaise, 1955; Royal Academy of Belgium; honorary member, American Academy and German Academy. Died: 11 October 1963.
Publications
Plays
Les Maries de la Tour Eiffel (produced 1921). 1924; as The Eiffel Tower Wedding Party, translated by Dudley Fitts, in The Infernal Machine and Other Plays, 1963; as The Wedding on the Eiffel Tower, translated by Michael Benedikt, in Modern French Plays, edited by Benedikt and George Wellwarth, 1965.
Antigone (produced 1922; revised version, music by Arthur Honegger, produced 1927). 1927; as Antigone, translated by Carl Wildman, in Five Plays, 1961.
Romeo et Juliette, from the play by Shakespeare (produced 1924). 1926.
Orphee (produced 1926). 1927: as Orpheus, translated by Carl Wildman, 1933; also translated by John Savacool, in The Infernal Machine and Other Plays, 1963; Carol Martin-Sperry, 1972.
Le Pauvre Matelot, music by Darius Milhaud (produced 1927). 1927.
Oedipus Rex, music by Stravinsky (produced 1927). 1949.
Oedipe-Roi (produced 1937). 1928.
La Voix humaine (produced 1930). 1930; as The Human Voice, translated by Carl Wildman, 1951.
La Machine infernale (produced 1934). 1934; as The Infernal Machine, translated by Carl Wildman, 1936, revised version, in International Modern Plays, edited by Anthony Bent, 1950; also translated by Albert Bermel, in The Infernal Machine and Other Plays, 1963.
Les Chevaliers de la table ronde (produced 1937). 1937; as The Knights of the Round Table, translated by W.H. Auden, in The Infernal Machine and Other Plays, 1963.
Les Parents terribles (produced 1938). 1938; edited by R.K. Totton, 1972; translated by Jeremy Sans, 1994; as Intimate Relations, translated by Charles Franck, in Five Plays, 1962.
Les Monstres sacres (produced 1940). 1940; as The Holy Terrors,translated by E.O. Marsh, in Five Plays, 1962.
La Machine a ecrire (produced 1941). 1941; as The Typewriter,translated by Ronald Duncan, 1947.
Renaud et Armide (produced 1943). 1943.
L’Aigle a deux tetes (produced 1946). 1946; as The Eagle Has Two Heads, translated by Ronald Duncan, 1948; as The Eagle with Two Heads, translated by Carl Wildman, 1961. Ruy Blas (screenplay). 1947.
Le Sang d’un poete (screenplay). 1948; as The Blood of a Poet, translated by Lily Pons, 1949; also translated by Carol Martin-Sperry, in Two Screenplays, 1968.
Un tramway nomme desir, from the play by Tennessee Williams (produced 1949). 1949.
Theatre de poche (includes scenarios, sketches, and radio works). 1949.
Orphee (screenplay). 1951; as Orphee, in Three Screenplays, 1972.
Bacchus (produced 1951). 1952; as Bacchus, translated by Mary
Hoeck, in The Infernal Machine and Other Plays, 1963.
La Belle et la bete (screenplay). 1958; as La Belle et la bete, translated by Carol Martin-Sperry, in Three Screenplays, 1972.
Cher menteur, from the play by Jerome Kilty (produced 1960). 1960.
Le Testament d’Orphee (screenplay). 1961; as The Testament of Orpheus, translated by Carol Martin-Sperry, in Two Screenplays, 1968.
L’Impromptu du Palais-Royal (produced 1962). 1962. L’Eternel Retour (screenplay), as L’eternel retour, translated by Carol Martin Sperry, in Three Screenplays. 1972.
Screenplays: Le Sang d’un poete, 1930; La Comedie du bonheur, 1940; Le Baron fantome, with Serge de Poligny, 1943; L’Eternel Retour, 1943; Les Dames du Bois du Boulogne, with Robert Bresson, 1945; La Belle et la bete, 1946; Ruy Blas, 1947; L’Aigle a deux tetes, 1948; Les Parents terribles, 1948; Noces de sable, 1949; Les Enfants terribles, 1950; Orphee, 1950; La Villa Santo-Sospiro, 1952; La CoronaNegra, 1952; Le Testament d’Orphee, 1960; La Princesse de Cleves, 1961; Thomas l’imposteur, 1965.
Ballet scenarios: Le Dieu bleu, 1912; Parade, 1917; Le Boeuf sur le toit, 1920; Le Train bleu, 1924; Le Jeune Homme et la mort, 1946; La Dame a la licorne, 1953; Le Poete et sa muse, 1959.
Fiction
Le Potomak. 1919; revised edition, 1934.
Le Grand Ecart. 1923; as The Grand Ecart, translated by Lewis Galantiere, 1925; as The Miscreant, translated by Dorothy Williams, 1958.
Thomas l’imposteur. 1923; as Thomas the Imposter, translated by Lewis Galantiere, 1925; as The Imposter, translated by Dorothy Williams, 1957.
Le Livre blanc. 1928; as The White Paper, 1957; as The White Book, translated by Margaret Crosland, 1989.
Les Enfants terribles. 1929; as Enfants Terribles, translated by Samuel Putnam, 1930; as Children of the Game, translated by Rosamond Lehmann, 1955; as The Holy Terrors, translated by Lehmann, 1957.
Le Fantome de Marseille. 1936. Le Fin du Potomak. 1940.
Deux travestis. 1947.
Verse
La Lampe d’Aladin. 1909.
Le Prince frivole. 1910.
La Danse de Sophocle. 1912.
Le Cap de Bonne-esperance. 1919.
Ode a Picasso. 1919.
Discours du grand sommeil. 1920.
Escales, with Andre Lhote. 1920.
Poesies 1917-20. 1920.
Vocabulaire. 1922.
Plain-chant. 1923.
La Rose de Frangois. 1923.
Poesie 1916-23. 1924.
Cri ecrit. 1925.
Priere mutilee. 1925.
L’Ange Heurtebise. 1926.
Opera: Oeuvrespoetiques 1925-27. 1927.
Morceaux choisis. 1932.
Mythologie. 1934.
Allegories. 1941.
Les Poemes allemands. 1944.
Leone. 1945; translated as Leoun, 1960.
La Crucifixion. 1946.
Poemes. 1948.
Le Chiffre. 1952.
Appogiatures. 1953.
Dentelle d’eternite. 1953.
Clair-obscur. 1954.
Poemes 1916-1955. 1956.
Gondole des morts. 1959.
Ceremonial espagnol du phenix; La Partie d’echecs. 1961.
Le Requiem. 1961.
Faire-part. 1969.
Tempest of Stars: Selected Poems (bilingual edition), translated by Jeremy Reed. 1992.
Other
Le Coq et l’arlequin: Notes autour de la musique. 1918; as Cock and Harlequin, translated by Rollo H. Myers, 1921.
Dans le ciel de la patrie. 1918.
Carte blanche. 1920.
La Noce massacree. 1921.
Le Secret professionnel. 1922; Professional Secrets: An Autobiography, edited by Robert Phelps, translated by Richard Howard, 1970.
Dessins. 1923.
Picasso. 1923.
Ferat. 1924.
Le Mystere de l’oiseleur. 1925.
Lettre a Jacques Maritain. 1926.
Le Rappel a l’ordre (essays). 1926; as A Call to Order, translated by Rollo H. Myers, 1926.
Maison de sante: dessins. 1926.
Le Mystere laic. 1928.
Une entrevue sur la critique avec Maurice Rouzaud. 1929.
25 Dessins d’un dormeur. 1929.
Essai de critique indirecte. 1932; as An Essay in Indirect Criticism, translated by Olga Rudge, 1936.
Opium. 1932; as Opium: Diary of an Addict, translated by Ernest Boyd, 1932: also translated by Margaret Crosland and Sinclair Rood, 1957.
Portraits-souvenir 1900-1914. 1935; as Paris Album 1900-1914, translated by Margaret Crosland, 1956; as Souvenir Portraits: Paris in the Belle Epoch, translated by Jesse Browner, 1991.
60 Dessins pour ”Les Enfants terribles.” 1935.
Mon Premier Voyage: Tour du monde en 80 jours. 1936; as Round the World Again in Eighty Days, translated by Stuart Gilbert, 1937; as My Journey Round the World, translated by Walter J. Strachan, 1958.
Enigme. 1939.
Dessins en marge du texte des ”Chevaliers de la table ronde.” 1941.
Le Greco. 1943.
Serge Lifar a l’opera. 1944.
Portrait de Mounet-Sully. 1945.
La Belle et la bete: Journal d’un film. 1946; as The Diary of a Film, translated by Ronald Duncan, 1950.
Poesie critique. 1946.
Oeuvres completes. 11 vols., 1946-51.
La Difficulte d’etre. 1947; as The Difficulty of Being, translated by Elizabeth Sprigge, 1966.
Le Foyer des artistes. 1947.
Art and Faith: Letters Between Jacques Maritain and Jean Cocteau, translated by John Coleman. 1948.
Drole de menage. 1948.
Reines de France. 1948.
Lettre aux americains. 1949.
Maalesh: Journal d’une tournee de theatre. 1949; as Maalesh: A Theatrical Tour in the Middle-East, translated by Mary C. Hoeck, 1956.
Dufy. 1949.
Orson Welles, with Andre Bazin. 1950.
Modigliani, 1950.
Jean Marais. 1951.
Entretiens autour du cinematographe, edited by Andre Fraigneau. 1951; revised edition, edited by Andre Bernard and Claude Gauteur, 1973; as Cocteau on Film, translated by Vera Traill, 1954; as The Art of Cinema, translated by Robin Buss, 1992.
Gide vivant, with Julien Green. 1952.
La Nappe du Catalan. 1952.
Journal d’un inconnu. 1953; as The Hand of a Stranger, translated by Alec Brown, 1956; as Diary of an Unknown, translated by Jesse Browner, 1988.
Aux confins de la Chine. 1955.
Lettre sur la poesie. 1955.
Le Dragon des mets. 1955.
Journals, edited and translated by Wallace Fowlie. 1956.
Adieu a Mistinguett. 1956.
L’Art est un sport. 1956.
Impression: Arts de la rue. 1956.
Cocteau chez les sirenes, edited by Jean Dauven. 1956.
Temoignage. 1956.
Entretiens sur la musee de Dresde, with Louis Aragon. 1957; as
Conversations in the Dresden Gallery, 1983.
Erik Satie. 1957.
La Chapelle Saint-Pierre, Villefranche-sur-Mer. 1957.
La Corrida du premier mai. 1957.
Comme un miel noir (in French and English). 1958.
Paraprosodies, precedees de 7 dialogues. 1958.
La Salle des mariages, Hotel de Ville de Menton. 1958.
La Canne blanche. 1959.
Poesie critique: Monologues. 1960.
Notes sur ”Le Testament d’Orphee." 1960.
Le Cordon ombilical: Souvenirs. 1962.
Hommage. 1962.
Anna de Noailles oui et non. 1963.
Adieux d’Antonio Ordonez. 1963.
La Mesangere. 1963.
Entretien avec Roger Stephane. 1964.
Entretien avec Andre Fraigneau. 1965.
Pegase. 1965.
My Contemporaries, edited and translated by Margaret Crosland. 1967.
Entre Radiguet et Picasso. 1967.
Lettres a Andre Gide, edited by Jean-Jacques Kihm. 1970.
Cocteau’s World (selections), edited and translated by Margaret Crosland. 1972.
Cocteau, poete graphique, edited by Pierre Chanel. 1975.
Lettres a Milorad, edited by Milorad. 1975.
Le Passe defini (journals), edited by Pierre Chanel. 2 vols., 1986; as Past Tense: The Cocteau Diaries, translated by Richard Howard, 2 vols., 1987-90. Lettres a Jean Marais. 1987.
Journal 1942-1945, edited by Jean Touzot. 1989.
Correspondance, 1911-1931, with Anna de Noailles, edited by
Claude Mignot-Ogliastri. 1989.
Lettres a sa mere 1: 1898-1918, edited by Pierre Caizergues. 1989.
Correspondance, with Lucien Clerque. 1989.
Correspondance, with Guillaume Apollinaire, edited by Pierre Caizergues and Michel Decaudin. 1991.
The Passionate Penis: Drawings, with introduction by Margaret Crosland. 1993.
A Day With Picasso: Twenty-four Photographs by Jean Cocteau by Billy Kluver Editor, Almanach du theatre et du cinema. 1949.
Editor, Choix de lettres de Max Jacob a Jean Cocteau 1919-1944. 1949.
Editor, Amadeo Modigliani: Quinze dessins. 1960.
Critical Studies:
Cocteau by Margaret Crosland, 1956; Scandal and Parade: The Theatre of Jean Cocteau by Neal Oxenhandler, 1957; Jean Cocteau: The History of a Poet’s Age by Wallace Fowlie, 1966; Cocteau: The Man and the Mirror by Elizabeth Sprigge and Jean-Jacques Kihm, 1968; An Impersonation of Angels: A Biography of Jean Cocteau by Frederick Brown, 1968; Cocteau: A Biography by Francis Steegmuller, 1970; Jean Cocteau by Bettina L. Knapp, 1970, revised edition, 1989; Jean Cocteau and Andre Gide: An Abrasive Friendship by Arthur King Peters, 1973; Jean Cocteau by William Fifield, 1974; Jean Cocteau and His Films of Orphic Identity by Arthur B. Evans, 1977; The Esthetic of Cocteau by Lydia Crowson, 1978; Jean Cocteau and the French Scene edited by Arthur Peters, 1984; The Dance Theatre of Jean Cocteau by Frank W.D. Ries, 1985; Les Enfants terribles by Robin Buss, 1986; Jean Cocteau and the Dance by Erik Aschengreen, 1986; Jean Cocteau and His World by Arthur K. Peter, 1987; Reviewing Orpheus: Essays on the Cinema and Art of Jean Cocteau, edited by Cornelia A. Tsakiridou, 1997;Jean Cocteau by Patrick Mauries, 1998.
Precociously Jean Cocteau published his first volume of verse at the age of 19. A small public flattered him and applauded the facile brilliance of the poems. Between 1917 and 1919, with three very different works, Cocteau became a public figure. Parade, of 1917, a ballet performed in Rome, was an early experiment with the theatre. Le Coq et l’arlequin (Cock and Harlequin), a manifesto against the disciples of Debussy and Wagner, revealed his interest in aesthetics and his powers as a critic. Le Cap de Bonne-esperance [The Cape of Good Hope], a volume of war poems, placed him in the ranks of the best young poets. Poetry was the mark of all three works, and the principle which was thereafter to direct Cocteau’s varied activities.
His sentence is swift and seemingly lucid, but the content is mysterious and enigmatical. Cocteau’s style became a manner of expressing complicated matters with discerning simplicity. The poems of Vocabulaire contained the key words of his poetic experience, symbols and characters projected out of his imagination that were to form in time his mythology—episodes, myths, and characters charged with the duty of narrating the poet’s drama. Kidnappers, sailors, angels, and cyclists appear and disappear as if searching for their poet.
The play Orphee (Orpheus), performed in Paris in 1926 by Georges and Ludmilla Pitoeff, was his first work to reach a fairly wide public. In Orpheus, the poet appears to be the combined characters of Orpheus and Angel Heurtebise. The action of the play is both familiar and esoteric; in it Orpheus is both poet and hierophant, both husband and priest.
Les Enfants terribles (The Holy Terrors) was written in three weeks and published in 1929. This topic has now become a classic, both as a novel belonging to the central tradition of the short French novel, and as a document of historical-psychological significance in the study it offers of the type of adolescent referred to in the title. The intertwined destinies of brother and sister, Paul and Elisabeth, with the dark forbidding figure of Dargelos behind them, provide an unusual picture of adolescence in its actions and speech and games.
The theme of Cocteau’s first film, Le Sang d’unpoete (The Blood of a Poet), was an idea close to the romantics a century earlier, in which the poet writes with his own blood. Much later, in the film Orphee Cocteau developed this lesson of the poet and borrowed from The Blood of a Poet and his play Orpheus. These films are two esoteric poems for the screen.
In his plays, as in La Machine infernale (The Infernal Machine), on the Oedipus theme, Cocteau presented experimentations on the stage with the enthusiasm of a dramatist enamoured of the theatre and of the idea of a spectacle. Between the death of Apollinaire in 1918 and his own death in 1963, Cocteau occupied an active position in all the domains of French art.
