Jean Anouilh

French writer, the leading dramatist after WW II, a period that was exceptionally rich in French theater. His heroes rejected society and conventional happiness, choosing to remain alone. Anouilh's work included "The Lark," 1955 and "The Waltz of the Toreadors," 1956. His works were translated into 27 languages.

A tailor's son, Anouilh grew up in Bordeaux. He was in his teens when he moved to Paris after graduating from high school. He studied law briefly and then joined an advertising firm. His passion for theater had already been firmly planted when he was still a student. As a young man, he served briefly as secretary to the great French director-actor-teacher Louis Jouvet, learning quickly that a play needed to be vested in human truth, whether it dealt with a legendary Greek figure, an archbishop, a saint or a seamstress.

He was known for his idiosyncrasies, wryness of inventions and depth of humanity in a world that he clearly perceived as inhuman. His wide range of interests included writing dialogue and scripts for movies and the translation and adaptation of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" and three Shakespearean comedies. He never hid his loathing of television, comparing it to something "between the plague and cholera."

Ferociously private and slightly dour, he looked more like an accountant than a writer with his closely cropped hair and round-rimmed eyeglasses. Anouilh seldom gave interviews. His best work was written in the prolific first half of a career than spanned roughly 50 years.

He lived in Switzerland for many years, where he had his first heart attack in 1983.

Died of a heart attack on 3 October 1987, Lausanne, Switzerland; Anouilh was survived by his wife, one son and three daughters.