The Village's Treasures
Michel ROUX, The Actor
In earlier decades, we saw Patachou in Acquigny, and Yves Montand and Simone Signoret in Autheuil-Authouillet. Jacques Martin would drop by Bois-Ricard to visit Etienne Collaro, Stéphane’s father, who was renting the Countess of Orglandes’s property at the time.
Michel Roux initially used to visit his in-laws and his wife Gilberte’s uncle and aunt regularly, then eventually fell in love with Heudreville and bought the “Maison Blanche” on Rue du Prés du Gord.
He really enjoyed living and working there, especially in the summer; in the evenings after the theater, he would return to the Hom to sleep in peace and quiet and wake up the next morning to the sight of the Eure River, which he loved.
He liked to say that he loved the people of Heudreville because they left him alone and respected his privacy.
Michel was hardly ever seen, as he spent a lot of time planning the staging on the large drafting table in his office. He was always there whenever he was called upon in the town—whether by the festival committee or when he would welcome the residents of Heudreville with warmth and generosity into his dressing room after performances of various plays that we remember for bringing us so much laughter and joy: *Le vision voyageur*, “Le canard à l’orange,” “La cage aux folles,” and many others.
