Étienne Meynier was born in
Paris,
France on 10 June 1752. After he participated in an amateur troupe, he integrated that of
Mademoiselle Montansier at
Versailles, then moved to
The Hague where he stayed three years. He performed in
Lyon in 1781, then at the
Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. On 8 July 1782, Saint-Fal made his debut at the
Comédie-Française in
Gaston et Bayard by
Belloy. Received as a test on 17 March 1783, he was definitely admitted on 25 March of the following year. At the time of the
French Revolution, Saint-Fal was denounced by
La Bussière and thrown into jail. On his release, he joined
Mlle Raucourt at the
Théâtre Louvois and then gave the exact measure of his talent. On the night of 2 September 1793, he was arrested again, along with 12 other comedians in the
Théâtre Français remained loyal to the monarchy, as "suspects" and imprisoned in the
Madelonnettes Convent, for playing a theatrical performance judged seditious:
Pamela. At the fusion of the two troupes of French actors, he took over from his model, actor
Molé, and became dean of the
Comédie-Française. He retired in 1824, eleven years before he died. He died in Paris, France on 22 November 1835 and is buried in the 19th division of the
Père Lachaise cemetery. His brother
Charles Meynier (1768–1832) was a renowned painter. == See also ==