MADELEINE BEJART (1618-72) was at the head of the travelling company to which her sister Genevieve (1631-75)—who played as Mlle Herve—and her brothers belonged, before they joined Moliere in forming l'Illustre Theatre (1643) . With Moliere she remained until her death on Feb. 17 1672. She was an excellent actress, particularly in soubrette parts, a number of which Moliere wrote for her. Among her creations were Marotte in Les Precieuses ridicules, Lisette in L'Ecole des maxis, Dorine in Tartuffe.
Her sister, ARMANDE GRESINDE CLAIRE ELIZABETH BEJART (1645-1700), seems first to have joined the company at Lyons in 1653. In 1662 Moliere married her, he being then 4o and she 17. Neither was happy; the wife was a flirt, the husband jealous. They separated after the birth of a daughter in 1665 and met only at the theatre until 1671. But Moliere could not resist her charm and they were reconciled. Her portrait is given in Act.
9 of Le Bourgeois gentilhomme. Mme Moliere's first appearance on the stage was in 1663, as Elise in the Critique de l'ecole des femmes. She was out of the cast for a short time in 1664, when she bore Moliere a son—Louis XIV. and Henrietta of England standing sponsors. But in the spring, beginning with the fetes given at Versailles by the king to Anne of Austria and Maria Theresa, she started her long list of important roles. She was at her best as Celimene—really her own highly finished portrait—in Le Misanthrope and hardly less admirable as An gelique in Le Malade imaginaire. She was the Elmire at the first performance of Tartuffe, and the Lucile of Le Bourgeois gentil homme. After Moliere's death Armande leased the Theatre Guenegaud, and by royal ordinance the residue of her company were combined with the players from the Theatre du Marais, the fortunes of which were at low ebb. The combination, known as the troupe du roi, at first was unfortunate, but in 1679 they secured Mlle du Champmesle and absorbed the company of the Hotel de Bourgogne. Mme Moliere in 1677 had married Eustache Francois Guerin (1.636-1728), an actor, and by him she had one son (1678-1708). She retired in 1694, and died on Nov. 3o, 1700.