Molière

Born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin on 15 January 1622 into a prosperous family, he studied at the Collège de Clermont then spent thirteen years as an itinerant actor, sharpening his craft and blending Commedia dell'arte with French comedy. Through the patronage of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans - Louis XIV's brother - he secured a command performance at the Louvre; the King granted him the grande salle of the Petit-Bourbon and later the Palais-Royal. Hits like The Affected Ladies, The School for Husbands, and The School for Wives won him a royal pension and the title Troupe du Roi, making him official author of court entertainments. But his satires drew fire: the Catholic Church denounced Tartuffe for its portrait of religious hypocrisy, the Parlement banned it, and Dom Juan was pulled and never revived in his lifetime. By 1667 the workload broke his health; pulmonary tuberculosis forced him offstage. On 17 February 1673, during a performance of The Imaginary Invalid, he was seized by a coughing fit and haemorrhage while playing the hypochondriac Argan, finished the show, then collapsed and died hours later.