Daniel Mesguich

Daniel Mesguich — Biography

French theatre director, stage actor and writer Daniel Mesguich was born in Algiers in 1952, during French Algeria. After studying at the regional conservatory in Marseille, he was admitted to the CNSAD in Paris in 1970, and soon after founded his own troupe, the Théâtre du Miroir, where he began teaching drama. A decade later he returned to the CNSAD to teach at the invitation of Jean-Pierre Miquel, becoming its youngest instructor, and he went on to head the institution from 2007 to 2013. His screen debut came in 1979, when Marie-France Pisier's recommendation brought him a part in François Truffaut's Love on the Run; though he never broke through as a film star, he is regarded as one of the towering names of French theatre, having performed in over a hundred plays and roughly fifty operas. His film credits include The Lady Banker, L'Autrichienne, La femme fardée, Le Radeau de la Méduse and The Musketeer, and he continued acting into 2025 with Kaamelott: The Second Chapter. He holds knighthoods in the Legion of Honour and the National Order of Merit as well as the rank of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres; his son William Mesguich also works as an actor.