Pierre FRESNAY. Autograph manuscript of an interview with André Parinaud, [1956]; 11pages in-4 with erasures and corrections and insertion of a few typed passages. Important interview on his career as an actor and his conception of theater. Fresnay wrote the entire interview, copying Parinaud's questions. He talks about his theatrical vocation and his stage debut at Réjane's in 1912, thanks to his uncle Claude Garry: "I'm quite incapable of defining theatrical vocation. I don't even know when or how mine manifested itself. I've always lived with it. For me, the meaning of the word 'acting' in its theatrical sense merges absolutely with that of childish play: that explains my entire career. For as long as I can remember, my memories have been linked to the theater: probably because of my uncle, who was an actor". Theater is his life. He has had the good fortune to play Bourdet, Guitry, Géraldy, Achard, Pagnol, Roussin, Porché, Passeur, and to have helped young playwrights get their start: Anouilh, Obey, Clouzot, etc. As for "Boulevard theater is living theater, it's the theater of the times"... He talks about his work as theater director at La Michodière, with its risks and financial constraints, and rails against the "reduced-rate ticket" policy. As for the avant-garde, it should be "a theater using new formulas - happy or unhappy - but which, in any case, the public may find difficult to accommodate". In two years, Yvonne Printemps presented at La Michodière "the first plays by three new authors", including Roland Laudenbach's Bille en tête, which he defends, despite its lack of success.... He talks about the role of critics... And he ends by indicating the next plays to be performed at the Michodière, and the films he will be shooting...