Joseph Isidore Samson

File:Joseph Isidore Samson z91850).jpg

Pencil and charcoal sketch by Édouard Blot (1850)

Joseph Isidore Samson (2 July 1793 – 28 March 1871) was a 19th-century French actor and playwright.

Samson was born at St. Denis, the son of a restaurateur. He took first prize for comedy at the Conservatoire in 1812, married an actress with whom he had toured in France, and joined the Comédie-Française in 1826. There he remained until 1863, creating more than 250 parts.

In 1829 Samson became a professor at the Conservatoire, under whom Rachel Félix (1821–1858), Rose Cheri (1824–1861), the Brohans and others were trained. He wrote several comedies, among them La Belle-Mère et le gendre (1826), and La Famille poisson (1846). Samson died in Paris on 28 March 1871.

Works

Theatre

• La Fête de Molière, comédie épisodique in 1 act and in verse, Paris, Théâtre de l'Odéon, 15 January 1825
• La Belle-mère et le gendre, comedy in 3 acts, in verse, Paris, Théâtre de l'Odéon, 20 April 1826
• Un veuvage, comedy in 3 acts and in verse, Paris, Théâtre-Français, 27 May 1842
• Un péché de jeunesse, comedy in 1 act, mingled with song, with Jules de Wailly. Paris, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 28 March 1843
• La Famille Poisson, ou les Trois Crispins, comedy in 1 act, Paris, Théâtre-Français, 15 Decembre 1845
• La Dot de ma fille, comedy in 1 act, in verse, Paris, Théâtre-Français, 13 December 1854

Other

• Collection des rapports faits par M. Samson, de l'Association de secours mutuels entre les artistes dramatiques, 1851 Text online
• Mémoires de Samson, de la Comédie française, 1862 Text online
• L'Art théâtral, 2 vol., 1863-1865

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 

Bibliography

• Eugène de Mirecourt, Samson, J.-P. Roret, Paris, 1854 Text online
• Madame Joseph-Isidore Samson, Rachel et Samson : souvenirs de théâtre, foreword by Jules Claretie, P. Ollendorff, Paris, 1898 Text online

External links

• Mémoires de Samson