Tchaikovsky
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Lucien Guitry

French dramatic actor, born Lucien Germain Guitry on 13 December 1860 in Paris.

A graduate of the Paris Conservatoire, Guitry made his stage debut in 1878, and went on to become the most prominent French actor of his time  From 1882 to 1891 he performed at the French Theatre in Saint Petersburg, where in 1885 he first met the composer and Modest Tchaikovsky. In 1887 Guitry suggested that the composer should write incidental music to accompany his performance in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, which resulted in the composition of Tchaikovsky's overture-fantasia (1888) and the incidental music (1891) on the subject.

After leaving Russia, Guitry later went on to become an artist and director at the Comédie Française in Paris. His son Sacha Guitry (1885-1957) also became a noteable performing artist.

Lucien Guitry died in Paris on 1 June 1925, aged 64.