Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau (1889-1963), French poet, writer, painter, and dramatist, who also wrote and directed several films and he was involved in many modern movements in the arts and supported the composers known as Les Six (Darius Milhaud, Francois Poulenc, and others). He collaborated with Picasso, Diaghilev, and other well-known names in producing ballets and wrote a number of poetic dramas, including Oedipus and The Infernal Machine. His films, which are surrealistic in style, include beauty and the Beast (1946) and Orpheus (1950). Cocteau also wrote a number of novels and over 20 volumes of poetry and essays; in 1957 he painted the interior of the St Pierre Chapel at Villefranche
