Louis Jacques Marie Collin du Bocage (May 14, 1893 – November 3, 1952), better known by the pen name Louis Verneuil, was a French playwright, screenwriter, and actor.

Born in Paris, Verneuil wrote approximately sixty plays and was best known for comedy. Many of his works were produced on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 including Monsieur Lamberthier, adapted into Jealousy (1928) starring John Halliday

John Halliday

John Halliday was an American actor of stage and screen, who often played suave aristocrats and foreigners....

 and Fay Bainter

Fay Bainter

Fay Okell Bainter was an American film and stage actress.-Early life:She was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Charles F. Bainter and Mary Okell. In 1910, she was a traveling stage actress...

, and subsequently adapted again in 1946 as Obsession with Eugenie Leontovich

Eugenie Leontovich

Eugenie Leontovich was a Russian-born stage actress with a distinguished career in theatre, film and television. She was described as "[o]ne of the most colourful figures of the 20th-century theatre, a successful actress, producer, playwright and teacher."...

 and Basil Rathbone

Basil Rathbone

Sir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...

; and Affairs of State (1950) which starred Celeste Holm

Celeste Holm

Celeste Holm is an American stage, film, and television actress, known for her Academy Award-winning performance in Gentleman's Agreement , as well as for her Oscar-nominated performances in Come to the Stable and All About Eve...

 and Harry Bannister

Harry Bannister

Harry Bannister was an American stage, film and television actor, and theater producer and director.Born in Holland, Michigan, Bannister began acting in movies and on Broadway in the 1920s. He married the actress Ann Harding in 1926, and appeared with her in two films, Her Private Affair and The...

. Affairs of State

Affairs of State

Affairs of State is a 1950 Broadway comedy written and directed by Louis Verneuil. It opened at the Royale Theatre, then moved to the Music Box Theatre and played for a total of 610 performances.It was the first play Verneuil wrote in English.-Cast:...

ran for 610 performances at the Music Box Theatre

Music Box Theatre

The Music Box Theater is a Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to...

 and was the first work Verneuil wrote in English.

His screenwriting credits include Avec Le Sourire (With a Smile) (1936) which starred Maurice Chevalier

Maurice Chevalier

Maurice Auguste Chevalier was a French actor, singer, entertainer and a noted Sprechgesang performer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including Louise, Mimi, Valentine, and Thank Heaven for Little Girls and for his films including The Love Parade and The Big Pond...

, and Cosas de Mujer (Feminine Wiles) (1951). The Bette Davis

Bette Davis

Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...

 film Deception (1946) was a third adaptation of his Monsieur Lamberthier.

Verneuil was once married to Lysiane Bernhardt, the granddaughter of Sarah Bernhardt

Sarah Bernhardt

Sarah Bernhardt was a French stage and early film actress, and has been referred to as "the most famous actress the world has ever known". Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of France in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas...

.

Verneuil committed suicide at the age of 59 by slashing his throat. Police found his body in a bathtub. Verneuil is buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery

Père Lachaise Cemetery

Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the...

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