Nicolas Bataille

Nicolas Bataille was a French actor and stage director, born Roger Bataille and the son of a Parisian architect, who trained in drama under teachers including Rene Simon and Tania Balachova and began acting during the German occupation of France. He is best known for staging Eugene Ionesco's first play, The Bald Soprano, in 1950 at the Theatre des Noctambules, and for keeping it in the repertory at the Theatre de la Huchette from 1957, where he played Monsieur Martin until 2007 before audiences totalling more than one and a half million. He also directed plays by Sade, Romain Weingarten and Claude Mauriac, won prizes in France and Japan, and appeared in films by Louis Malle, Jean Dreville and Jacques Tati. He died in October 2008.