Marc Camoletti Biography

Marc was a French citizen born in Geneva in 1923 and initially trained as an architect. Playwriting took over when in 1958 his theatre career got off to a flying start with three plays being presented simultaneously in Paris, the first La Bonne Anna running for 1300 performances and going on to play throughout the world. Already an established success in Paris as Pyjama pour Six, the initial London production of the English language version Don’t Dress for Dinner (translated by Robin Hawdon), ran for six years in the West End, opening at the Apollo Theatre and transferring to the Duchess Theatre. The play has also been performed in several US venues, as well as in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and in different languages throughout the world, always to great acclaim. Marc Camoletti’s first great British success was Boeing-Boeing, which recently enjoyed a smash hit revival on Broadway following its West End triumph. The original London production ran for seven years at the Apollo and Duchess Theatres, notching up over 2000 performances. In a long theatrical career, Marc Camoletti gained worldwide acclaim through the multitude of productions of his plays in numerous languages in 55 countries. In Paris alone 18 of his plays have enjoyed around 20,000 performances in all. Ten of Marc Camoletti’s plays have also been shown on television, the latest being Sexe et Jalousie (Ding Dong). An Associate of the Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts, Marc Camoletti became a Chevalier de la Legion d’Honeur—one of France’s highest honors. He died in 2003.