François Florent, founder of the famous drama training course of the same name, died Monday in Paris at the age of 84, his wife Kanee Florent told AFP.
François Florent died from a long illness at Necker hospital, she said.
Born in Mulhouse in 1937 into an Alsatian Catholic family, François Eichholtzer adopted the name François Florent when he arrived in Paris in 1956 to study at the National School of Theater Arts and Techniques.
The following year, he joined the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art where he met René Simon, founder of the famous Cours Simon.
It is through his contact that he understands that his real passion is teaching drama.
He then became a professor in district conservatories.
Read also50 years of Cours Florent: the best students tell a legendary school
In 1967, he created the Cours Florent, which attracted aspiring actors from all over France.
School is still today one of the best ways to enter the Conservatory or direct access to the profession.
Many actors or comedians who have become big names in theater and cinema have passed through Cours Florent, including Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil, Guillaume Canet, Jeanne Balibar ...
Since 2011, Cours Florent has belonged to the private higher education group Galiléo Studiali.
But "François Florent always chaired the last course of the free class competition," Frédéric Montfort, current director of Cours Florent, told AFP.
In 2008, the professor had published
This obscure clarity
(Gallimard), a book of memories and reflections on the profession of actor.
