French actor noted for his combination of broad range and economy of effect.

Immediately after leaving the Conservatoire Guitry appeared as Armand in La Dame aux camélias (1878). His style of acting, sparing in gesture and theatrical effects, at first surprised, rather than pleased, the public and the critics. Sarah Bernhardt asked him to play at the Théâtre de la Renaissance in 1893, where he achieved his first successes. He appeared in plays of the most varied character and succeeded in representing the utmost frenzy of passion with the greatest economy of method. From 1918 onward he frequently acted in the plays of his son Sacha Guitry; he was remarkably successful in creating the principal part in Pasteur. A biography by his son was published in 1930 and Sacha Guitry: The Last Boulevardier by James Harding in 1968.