Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (UK: /ˈkɒktoʊ/ KOK-toh, US: /kɒkˈtoʊ/ kok-TOH; French: [ʒɑ̃ mɔʁis øʒɛn klemɑ̃ kɔkto]; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist, and critic. He was one of the most important innovative artists of the 20th century and had a major influence on the Surrealist and Dadaist movements, among others. The National Observer said, "of the artistic generation whose daring gave birth to Twentieth Century Art, Cocteau came closest to being a Renaissance man."

He is best known for his novels Le Grand Écart (1923), Le Livre blanc (1928), and Les Enfants Terribles (1929); the stage plays La Voix Humaine (1930), La Machine Infernale (1934), Les Parents terribles (1938), La Machine à écrire (1941), and L'Aigle à deux têtes (1946); and the films The Blood of a Poet (1930), Les Parents Terribles (1948), Beauty and the Beast (1946), Orpheus (1950), and Testament of Orpheus (1960). These films, along with The Blood of a Poet and Orpheus, form what is called the Orphic Trilogy. AllMovie described him as "one of [the] avant-garde's most successful and influential filmmakers." According to Annette Insdorf, Cocteau "left behind a body of work unequalled for its variety of artistic expression."

Although his work included many different types of art, Cocteau always called himself a poet. He grouped his varied works—poems, novels, plays, essays, drawings, films—into categories such as poésie, poésie de roman, poésie de thêatre, poésie critique, poésie graphique, and poésie cinématographique.

Biography

Jean Cocteau was born in Maisons-Laffitte, Yvelines, to Georges Cocteau and Eugénie Lecomte, a well-known Parisian family. His father, a lawyer and artist, died by suicide when Cocteau was nine years old. From 1900 to 1904, Cocteau attended the Lycée Condorcet, where he met Pierre Dargelos, a schoolmate who later appeared in Cocteau’s work titled John Cocteau: Erotic Drawings.

At fifteen, Cocteau left home. At nineteen, he published his first book of poems, Aladdin's Lamp. By twenty-two, he was known in artistic circles as "The Frivolous Prince," a title from a book he wrote. Edith Wharton described him as someone who saw poetry as "a sunrise" and sunsets as "the foundation of the Heavenly City."

In his early twenties, Cocteau worked with writers like Marcel Proust, André Gide, and Maurice Barrès. In 1912, he helped create Le Dieu bleu for the Ballets Russes, with dancers Tamara Karsavina and Vaslav Nijinsky. During World War I, Cocteau drove ambulances for the Red Cross. This was when he met poet Guillaume Apollinaire, artists Pablo Picasso and Amedeo Modigliani, and many others who later worked with him.

Russian producer Sergei Diaghilev asked Cocteau to write a story for a ballet, leading to Parade in 1917. Diaghilev produced it, with Picasso designing the sets, Apollinaire writing the story, and Erik Satie composing the music. Cocteau once said that if Apollinaire had not been in the military, "women would have gouged our eyes out with hairpins."

Cocteau was an important figure in avant-garde art, influencing a group of composers called Les Six. In the early 1920s, he and Les Six often visited a popular bar named Le Boeuf sur le Toit, which Cocteau helped name. The bar’s popularity was partly because of Cocteau and his friends.

In 1918, Cocteau met poet Raymond Radiguet. They worked together, traveled, and Radiguet wrote a book, Le Diable au corps, which Cocteau helped publish. Some people thought their friendship might have had a romantic side, but Cocteau denied it.

After Radiguet’s sudden death in 1923, some said Cocteau was deeply sad and struggled with opium addiction. Others noted he did not attend Radiguet’s funeral and left Paris immediately for a performance in Monte Carlo. Cocteau said his opium use was unrelated to Radiguet and happened after meeting Louis Laloy, an opera administrator. His opium use and recovery changed his writing style. His famous book, Les Enfants Terribles, was written in one week during his effort to stop using opium.

In 1929, Cocteau wrote Opium: Diary of a Cure, describing his recovery from addiction. The book includes drawings and reflections on his life. His friend Jacques Maritain, a Catholic philosopher, supported him during recovery. Cocteau briefly returned to the Catholic Church and later worked on religious art projects.

In 1926, Cocteau’s play Orphée was performed in Paris. He also created an art exhibition called Poésie plastique–objets, dessins. He wrote the story for Igor Stravinsky’s opera Oedipus rex, which premiered in Paris in 1927. His novel Les Enfants terribles was published in 1929.

In 1930, Cocteau made his first film, The Blood of a Poet, which was shown publicly in 1932. Though now considered a surrealist film, the surrealist movement did not accept it as truly surrealist. His other works from the 1930s, like La Voix humaine and Les Parents terribles, were popular. His 1934 play La Machine infernale is seen as his greatest work for the stage. He also wrote travel reports for a newspaper.

Cocteau avoided political movements, saying his politics were "non-existent." He believed strongly in peace and fighting racism. He praised Picasso’s painting Guernica and signed a petition against antisemitism in France. He later said he was "ashamed of his white skin" after seeing the suffering of colonized people.

In 1938, Cocteau compared Hitler to a harmful figure who wanted to harm Jews. However, he was convinced by a friend that Hitler was a pacifist who cared about France. During World War II, Cocteau met with French and German intellectuals, including Nazi scholar Carl Schmitt. He later wrote about Hitler’s sexuality and praised the work of a Nazi sculptor, leading to accusations of collaboration after the war. He was cleared of wrongdoing but tried to save friends like Max Jacob. Later, he supported communists and called Joseph Stalin "the only great politician of the era."

In 1940, Cocteau’s play Le Bel Indifférent, starring Édith Piaf, was a success. Piaf died the day before Cocteau.

In his later years, Cocteau focused on films, which helped introduce avant-garde ideas to French cinema and influenced the French New Wave. His films, which he wrote and directed, remain important in film history.

Honours and awards

In 1955, Cocteau was made a member of the Académie Française and the Royal Academy of Belgium.

Throughout his life, Cocteau was a commander in the Legion of Honor, a member of the Mallarmé Academy, the German Academy (Berlin), the American Academy, the Mark Twain (U.S.A.) Academy, the Honorary President of the Cannes Film Festival, the Honorary President of the France-Hungary Association, and the President of the Jazz Academy and the Academy of the Disc.

Influence

Film critic Pauline Kael noted that new showings of the film Blood of a Poet helped Jean Cocteau be seen as one of the most important filmmakers of his time. She explained that Cocteau used film to express his own ideas, which made people begin to see films differently. His work encouraged audiences to think of themselves as participants in the filmmaking process, rather than just passive viewers.