Monstre sacre

From his obituary in The Independent:

Jeannot, as he was known to his friends and fans, was a monstre sacre of the French stage and cinema. He had a long career that took on mythical proportions. His friend (and one might almost say "creator") Jean Cocteau defined Jean Marais' appeal to both men and women: "It does not depend only on sensual grace. It flows from the child still at the heart of the mature man. That is the true source of the expressive beauty of his eye, of the way he looks at you, imposes his physical presence."

"Life is unfair. I got nothing but the best."

"As a child, I think I must have been a real monster. There was a show-off side to me, because I wanted to be an actor. I would do anything to attract others; and in order to do so I set out to improve myself in all those areas where I felt there was some lack in me. So people have always liked me, even loved me, but I often had the feeling that it was for the wrong reasons."

Jean Marais (11th December 1913 – 8th November 1998)