BLUM, ERNEST:
French dramatist; born in Paris Aug. 15, 1836. The son of an actor, he began at an early age to work for the theater. At eighteen he produced his first piece, for the Variétés, entitled "Femme Qui Mord." His subsequent works for various theaters included the following: for the Délassements Comiques: "L'Escarcelle d'Or" (in collaboration with Al. Flan), "Suivez le Monde," "Les Délassements en Vacances" (1860), "L'Almanach Comique" (1860), "A Vos Souhaits" (1860), "Paris Journal," "Le Plat du Jour," "La Tour de Nesle pour Rire" (1861), "En Zigzag" (1861), "Les Jolies Farceurs" (1862), "Les Noces du Diable" (1863), etc.; for the Gaité: "La Petite Pologne" (with Lambert Thiboust, 1861); for the Variétés: "Crockbête et Ses Lions" (with Clairville, 1863), "Montjoie Fait Peur" (with Giraudin, 1863), "La Revue au Cinquième Etage" (with Giraudin and Clairville, 1863); for the Ambigu: "Rocambole" (with Anicet Bourgeois, and Ponson du Terrail, 1864), "Rose Michel" (1875), "L'Espion du Roi" (1876); for the Châtelet: "La Lanterne Magique" (with Clairville and Monnier, 1865), "Cendrillon" (with the same, 1866), "Le Diable Boiteux" (with Clairville and Flan, 1866), "Les Voyages de Gulliver" (with Clairville and Monnier, 1867), "Le Vengeur" (with F. Brisebarre, 1868); for the Renaissance: "La Jolie Parfumeuse" (with H. Crémieux, 1874). He also wrote "Une Avant-Scène" (1876),with Toché, "La Revue des Variétés" (1879), "Belle Lurette" (1880), "La Noce d'Ambroise" (1881), "Le Château de Tire-Larigot" (1884), "Le Petit Chaperon Rouge" (1885), "Mademoiselle Gavroche" (1885), "Le Parfum" (1888), "Les Femmes Nerveuses" (1888), "Le Cadenas" (1889), "Paris Fin de Siècle" (1890), "Madam Mongodin" (with Toché), at the Vaudeville (1890); "Madame l'Amiral" (1892), "Monsieur Coulisset" (1892), "La Maison Tamponin" (1893), "La Rieuse" (1894), "Le Carnet du Diable" (1895), "Le Carillon" (1897).
In book form he has published "Entre Bicêtre et Charenton" (1866), "Journal d'un Vaudevilliste" (1891,) and "Les Mémoires d'un Vieux Beau" (1896). He is also the author of a "Biographie Complète d'Henri Rochefort" (Brussels, 1868.)
Blum was for several years on the editorial staff of the "Charivari," and he has been associated with "Le Rappel" since its establishment in 1869.
