author
Paulette Pax
1887–1942
A lively force in French theater, she was an actress, stage director, and scenographer who helped shape Paris’s Théâtre de l’Œuvre between the wars. She is also remembered for bringing early works by major playwrights such as Jean Anouilh to the stage.
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About the author
Paulette Pax was a French actress, theater director, and scenographer active in the first half of the 20th century. Reliable library and reference sources identify her as Paulette Ménard, known professionally as Paulette Pax, and place her life from 1886 to 1942, even though some catalogs list 1887.
She co-directed the Théâtre de l’Œuvre in Paris from 1929 until her death, taking an important role in one of the city’s notable experimental theaters. Sources also credit her with staging the 1932 premiere of Jean Anouilh’s L'Hermine, an early sign of her eye for new dramatic voices.
Alongside her theater work, she also appeared in film, but her strongest legacy seems to be on the stage—as a performer, director, and creative organizer who helped keep modern French theater moving forward in the 1930s and early 1940s.