Jean Marais (1913–1998) was a French actor, theatre director, painter, sculptor, visual artist, writer, and photographer, celebrated for his iconic collaborations with Jean Cocteau and for his status as one of the most popular leading men in mid-twentieth-century French cinema. Born Jean-Alfred Villain-Marais in Cherbourg in 1913, he moved to Paris as a child and began his artistic life through photography and small theatrical roles. His early career included uncredited film appearances in the 1930s, but his breakthrough came in 1937 when Jean Cocteau discovered him during a stage production of Oedipe.

Marais quickly became Cocteau’s muse and principal actor, appearing in the playwright’s major theatrical works and later in his...