Prolific French playwright, whose works ranged from high drama to absurdist farce. Jean Anouilh's career spanned over five decades. Although he cannot be linked with any particular school or trend, he partly adopted Sartre's existentialist views and was also influenced by the way Louis Jouvet and Jean Giraudoux created theater. Anouilh hated publicity, and remained reclusive all his life. Often his unsuccessful protagonist, idealistic and intransigent, is in conflict with the world of compromise and corruption.

KING. Well, Thomas Becket, are you satisfied? I am naked at your tomb and your monks are coming to flog me. What an end to our story! You, rotting in this tomb, larded with my barons' dagger thrusts, and I, naked, shivering in the draughts, and waiting like an idiot for those brutes to come and thrash me. Don't you think we'd done better to understand each other? (in Becket, 1959)

Jean Anouilh was born in Bordeaux, the son of François Anouilh, a tailor, and Marie-Magdalène, a violinist, who played in the orchestra of a casino near Bordeaux. The family moved in 1918 to Paris, where Anouilh his early schooling at the Collège Chaptal. He studied law at the Sorbonne for a short period, and worked then as a copywriter at Publicité Damour. He also wrote comic scenes for the cinema. In 1931-32 Anouilh was secretary to the actor and director Louis Jouvet at the Comédie des Champs-Elysées. Jouvet lended him some of the set furniture from the play Siegfried, but was not interested his assistant's attempts at playwriting.

Since 1936, Anouilh worked on several screenplays, alone or in collaboration, including Les Degourdis de la onzième (1936), Vous n'avez rien à declarer (1937), Cavalcade d'amour (1939), Les Otages (1939), Monrieur Vincent (1947), Anna Karenina (1948), based on Leo Tolstoy's famous novel, Pattes Blanches (1949), Un Caprice de Caroline cherie (1951), Le Chevalier de la nuit (1953), La mort de Belle (1961), based on Simenon's novel, and La Ronde (1964), directed by Roger Vadim from Arthur Schnitzler's play.

As a playwright Anouilh started already at the age of 12. In 1929 he collaborated with Jean Aurenche on his first play, Humulus le muet. It was followed in the same year by Mandarine. Anouilh's early plays were produced by Aurélien Lugné-Poe, a theatrical innovator, and the Pitoëffs, whose repertoire also included Paul Claudel, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Luigi Pirandello.

In 1931 Anouilh married the actress Monelle Valentin, who later on played the lead in several of his plays. At the age of twenty-five Anouilh decided to devote himself entirely to writing. During the next years Anouilh completed several plays and gained comparative success with the production of Y'avait un prisonnier (1935) before his breakthrough work Le Voyageur sans bagage (1937), which he made into a movie in 1944, with Pierre Fresnay, Pierre Renoir and Blanchette Brunoy in the central roles. The play was staged by Jouvet's rival, Georges Pitoëff. Its hero is an amnesiac war veteran who, discovering that he had been a vile young man, discards his old self. Since then a new Anouilh play was seen in Paris almost every season.

Anouilh's early works were realistic and naturalistic studies of a sordid and corrupt world. Under the influence of such writers as Giraudoux, Cocteau, and Vitrac, Anouilh found a new angle into writing. Also classical French theater and the Italian dramatist Pirandello shaped his work. He often used the theater as the setting of his plays and struck a balance between farce and seriousness. "Thanks to Molière," Anouilh once said, "the true French theatre is the only one that is not gloomy, in which we laugh like men at war with out misery and our horror. This humor is one of France's messages to the world."

Anouilh grouped his plays under adjectives descriptive of their dominant tone: "black" (tragedies, realistic plays, such as Eurydice, La Sauvage, Antigone and Lark), "pink" (fantasy dominates), "brilliant" (combination of pink and black plays in aristocratic environments, such as Colombe and La Répétition), "jarring" (black plays with bitter humour), "costumed" (with historical characters, such as Becket), "baroque," and mes fours (my failures). These adjectives occurred in the titles of each of his collections of plays.

In 1939 Anouilh was drafted into the Army. For a short time he was a prisoner of war when the Germans conquered France. During the Occupation Anouilh lived and worked in Paris, where his Léocadia (1940), directed by Pierre Fresnay, became a hit at the Théâtre de la Michidière. The lyrical fantasy depicted a prince whose love has died but who finds a new love in a young milliner who resembles her.

ANTIGONE: Vous me dégoûtez tous avec votre bonheur! Avec votre vie qu'il faut aimer coûte que coûte. On dirait des chiens qui lèchent tout ce qu'ils trouvent. Et cette petite chance pour tous les jours, si on n'est pas trop exigeant. Moi, je veux tout, tout de suite, – et que ce soit entier - ou alors je refuse! Je ne veux pas être modeste, moi, et me contenter d'un petit morceau si j'ai été bien sage. Je veux être sûre de tout aujourd'hui et que cela soit aussi beau que quand j'étais petite – ou mourir. (in Antigone, 1944)

In 1944 Anouilh gained a wide audience with Antigone, an ambiguous version of Sophocles' classical drama, which he had completed in 1942. Monelle Valentin played the leading role as the daughter of a king in this thinly disguised attack on the Vichy government. First censored by the Nazis it was eventually premiered with the permission of the authorities at the Théâtre de l'Atelier. This play, in a production directed by André Barascq, ran long after the fall of Marshal Pétain's regime and proved popular with French and German audiences alike. Otherwise Anouilh remained mostly aloof from politics, but in the late 1950s he clashed with General de Gaulle, with whom he had come into conflict after the liberation of France. When the writer Robert Brasillach was condemned to death for being a collaborator, Anouilh signed with other intellectuals a petition for clemency, which was delivered to de Gaulle, as head of the provisional government; Brasillach was executed by firing squad in February 1945.

Anouilh's plays often mixed reality with illusion and were presented as improvisations. Antigone opens with the instruction: "Set without historical or geographical implications. Three identical doors. At curtain rise all the characters are onstage, chatting, knitting, playing cards, and so on." In the tragedy the heroine rejects the authoritarian King Creon and chooses death. The playwright's own wife had a personal triumph in the main role.

After the war Anouilh was one the most celebrated playwrights in Europe. However, the American writer John Steinbeck beat Anoulh, Robert Graves, and Lawrence Durrell to the Nobel laureateship in 1962. Moreover, the French poet Saint-John Perse had won the prize in 1960. In the United States Anouilh enjoyed fame with the "costumed" plays to which he turned in the 1950s. Among them was L'Alouette (1953, The Lark), about Joan of Arc, translated into English by Lillian Hellman. "By 1955 I needed money," said Hellman later in Pentimento. "I wish I could tell myself that was why I adapted Jean Anouilh's The Lark. But my reason was not money: I was feeling mischievous ..."

The play was first performed in Paris on October 14, 1953. In New York it was staged at Longacre Theatre in 1955, starring Julie Harris. The American director William Wyler had read the play in Paris in 1955 and wrote: "... about Joan of Arc and it's too late for that, or too early". Becket (1959), which won a Tony Award and the Antoinette Petty Award for Best Play of the Season (1960-61), was adapted for the screen with Peter O'Toole as Henry Plantagenet and Richard Burton as Thomas à Becket. "Did you love me when I made you Chancellor? I wonder sometimes if you're capable of love," says Henry. The film suggest that behind their lonstanding friendship was a sexual motivation, which prompted Newsweek to write that Anouilh, "by descending to the realm of the psychic and implying a sexual attraction between the two, muddies the issue."

Anouilh's sexual farce La Valse des Toréadors (1952, The Waltz of the Toreadors) also became an international hit. Its hero, General Saint Pé, appeared in several plays as a caricature of the author. The title was inspired by Georges Bizet's famous 'March of the Toreadors' from Carmen. In John Guillermin's film version from 1962 the events took place just prior to the outbreak of World War I. Peters Sellers played a licentious retired army general, whose mistress falls in love with his son. "And under this carnival disguise the heart of an old youngster who is still waiting to give his all. But how to be recognized under this mask? This is what they call a fine career." (in The Waltz of the Toreadors) Sellers based the voice of the general on the Earl of Dudley, whom he knew.

In the 1950s Anouilh examined his antagonism with General de Gaulle in L'Hurluberlu, ou Le Reactionnaire amoureux (1958) and La Songe du critique (1960). His works began to lose their critical favour with the emergence of such playwrights as Ionesco and Beckett, though he shared with them a similar desperate vision of human existence. After abandoning writing for a while, he then returned with plays which were marked by conservative attitudes and in which his principal character longs for the past. These works include La Culotte (1978), in which the theme was women's liberation. In the 1980s Anouilh directed some of his own plays as well as those of other authors. He died of a hear attack in Lausanne, Switzerland on October 3, 1987. Divorced from Monelle Valentin, he was survived by his second wife, Nicole Lançon, and four children.

Anouilh also wrote ballets and translated and adapted works from such authors as Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, and Graham Greene. Little Molière (1959), originally written as a film scenario, depict the unhappy relationship between the writer and his wife. Leonardo Bercovici's film Monsoon (1952) was based on Anouilh's play Romeo et Jeannette (1946). Le Scénario (1976) was Anouilh's attack on the movie world.

For further reading: Jean Anouilh: les jeux d’un pessimiste by Jacqueline Blancart-Cassou (2007); Jean Anouilh: Life, Work and Criticism by C.N. Smith (1985): Interpreting Events by P. Hernadi (1985); The Theatre of Jean Anouilh by H.G. McIntyre (1981); Jean Anouilh by L.W. Falb (1979); Jean Anouilh by M. Archer (1971); Jean Anouilh by A.M. Della Fazia (1969); Le théâtre de Jean Anouilh by P. Jolivet (1961); The World of Jean Anouilh by L.C. Pronko (1961); Jean Anouilh by R. Luppé (1959); Jean Anouilh by H. Gignoux (1946) - Note: Anouilh's daughter Catherine Anouilh is a stage and screen actress.

Selected works:

• Humulus le muet, 1929 (with Jean Aurenche)
  - Humulus the Mute (tr. Michael Benedikt, 1964)
  - TV film 1985, in Le petit théâtre d'Antenne 2, dir. Fabienne Strouve, starring Denise Grey, Jacques François, Jean Parédès, Eric Legrand
• Mandarine, 1929
• Jézabel, 1932
• L'Hermine, 1932
  - The Ermine (tr. 1966; in Five Plays, Vol. 1, 1958)
• Le Bal des voleurs, 1932
• La Sauvage, 1934
  - The Restless Heart (tr. Lucienne Hill, 1958)
  - Villilintu (suom. Toini Havu, 1949)
• Y'avait un prisonnier, 1935
• Le petit bonheur, 1935
• Le Voyageur sans bagage, 1937
  - Traveller Without Luggage (tr. John Whiting, 1959)
  - Matkamies ilman matkatavaroita (suom. Arvi Kivimaa)
  - Films: 1944, prod. Éclair-Journal, dir. Jean Anouilh, starring Pierre Fresnay, Pierre Renoir and Blanchette Brunoy; TV movie 1963: Reisender ohne Gepäck, dir. Ludwig Cremer, starring Lil Dagover, Robert Graf and Gertrud Kückelmann; TV film 1965: Traveller Without Luggage, in Thursday Theatre, dir. George R. Foa, starring Reginald Beckwith, Madeleine Christie and Clifford Earl; TVdrama 2004, dir. Pierre Boutron, starring Jacques Gamblin, Micheline Presle and Florence Pernel
• Le Rendez-vous de Senlis, 1937
  - Dinner with the Family (tr. Edward Owen Marsh, 1958)
  - Tervetuloa Senlis'iin / Perhejuhla (suom. Helvi Nurminen, 1965)
  - Film 1945: Quartieri alti, prod. Industrie Cinematografiche Italiane (ICI), dir. Mario Soldati, screenplay Mario Bonfantini, Renato Castellani, Ercole Patti, Mario Soldati, Steno; TV drama 1961: Das Rendezvous von Senlis, dir. Walter Rilla, starring Heinz Bennent, Herbert Fleischmann and Gisela Trowe; TV movie 1968: Het rendez-vous van Senlis, dir. Anton Peters
• Le Bal des voleurs, 1938
  - Thieves' Carnivals (tr. Lucienne Hill, 1952)
  - Varkaiden tanssiaiset (suom. Klaus Kalima, 1947)
•   Cavalcade d'amour, 1940 (screenplay)
  - Film 1940, prod. Compagnie Internationale de Productions Cinématographiques (CIPRA), dir. Raymond Bernard, starring Claude Dauphin, Michel Simon and Janine Darcey
• Léocadia, 1940
  - Time Remembered (tr. Patricia Moyes, 1956) / Leocadia (tr. Timberlake Wertenbaker, 1987)
  - Films: TV comedy 1958, dir. Rainer Wolffhardt; TV drama 1961: Prinssi ja hatuntekijä, prod. Suomen Televisio, dir. Seppo Wallin, starring Liisi Tandefelt, Kerstin Nylander and Stig Fransman; TV drama 1964, dir. Harald Benesch, starring Vera Tschechowa, Walter Riss and Hilde Wagener
• Pièces noires, 1942
• Eurydice, 1942
  - Legend of Lovers (tr. Kitty Black, 1952) / Eurydice (tr. Peter Meyer, 1997)
  - Eurydike (suom. Katri Ingman, 1950)
  - Films: TV drama 1957, prod. Südwestfunk (SWF), dir. Harald Braun, starring Udo Vioff, Karl Hellmer, Gitty Djamal; TV drama 1960, prod. Suomen Televisio, dir. Seppo Wallin, starring Martti Romppanen, Reino Valkama and Eeva-Kaarina Volanen; TV drama 1961, dir. Lars-Levi Læstadius, starring Erik 'Bullen' Berglund, Mona Malm, Per Myrberg; TV drama 1964: Point of Departure, in Thursday Theatre, dir. Donald McWhinnie; TV drama 1964, dir. Ludwig Cremer, starring Christoph Bantzer, Alfred Balthoff and Heidelinde Weis; TV drama 1964, dir. Leon Feder, starring Frits Helmuth, John Price, Malene Schwartz; 2012: Vous n'avez encore rien vu, dir. Alain Resnais, adaptation Laurent Herbiet, Alain Resnais, starring Lambert Wilson, Mathieu Amalric and Michel Piccoli
• Antigone, 1944
  - Antigone (adapted by Lewis Galantiere, 1946; tr. Barbara Bray, 1991; Dan Freeman, 2000)
  - Antigone (suom. Eino Kalima, 1947)
  - Films: TV movie 1958, prod. Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), dir. Franz Josef Wild, starring Maria Körber, Rosel Schäfer, Georg Thomas; TV movie 1959, prod. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), starring Dorothy Tutin, Jennifer Wilson, Basil Sydney, David McCallum; TV drama 1962, prod. Suomen Televisio, dir. Tom Segerberg, starring Ingrid Söderblom, Leo Golowin, Gundel Henrikson, Rose-Marie Törngren; 1965, prod. Bavaria Atelier, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), dir. Franz Peter Wirth, starring Andrea Jonasson, Paul Hoffmann, Heidelinde Weis, Helmut Griem, Annemarie Holtz; TV film 1974, dir. Gerald Freedman, starring Geneviève Bujold, Stacy Keach and Leah Chandler; 1980, prod. Hellenic Radio & Television (ERT), dir. Marietta Rialdi
• Orestre, 1945
• Nouvelles pieces noires, 1946
• Roméo et Jeannette, 1946
  - Romeo and Jeannette (tr. Miriam John, in Five Plays, Vol. 1, 1958)
  - Romeo ja Jeannette (suom. Anna-Maija Tallgren ja Tyyni Tuulio, 1948)
  - Films: 1952, Monsoon, prod. CFG Productions, Film Group Judd, dir. Rod Amateau, starring Ursula Thiess, Diana Douglas, George Nader; 1958, dir. Jürgen Goslar, starring Wera Frydtberg, Karl Michael Vogler, Pinkas Braun; TV drama 1968, dir. Karl Peter Biltz, starring Isolde Miler, Knut Hinz and Gefion Helmke
• Médée, 1946
  - Medea (tr. Lothian Small, 1956; Arthur Klein, 1957; Mykola Ponedilok)
  - Medeia (suom. Katri Ingman, 1951)
• L'Invitation au château, 1947
  - Ring Round the Moon (adapted by Christopher Fry, 1950)
  - Linnan vieraskutsut / Juhlat linnassa (suom. Eino Kalima, 1949)
  - Films: TV drama 1961: Einladung ins Schloß, dir. Klaus Wagner, starring Harald Leipnitz, Krista Keller and Ingrid Ernest; TV drama 1966: Juhlat linnassa, dir. Seppo Wallin, starring Lasse Pöysti, Ruth Snellman and Marita Nordberg
• La Répétition ou l'Amour puni, 1947
  
• Monsieur Vincent, 1947 (film script)
  - Film 1947, dir. Maurice Cloche, screenplay Jean Bernard-Luc, starring Pierre Fresnay, Aimé Clairiond, Jean Debucourt, Lise Delemare
• Ardèle ou la Marguerite, 1948
  - Ardele (tr. Lucienne Hill, in Five Plays Vol 2., 1959)
  - Ardèle eli onnenkukka (suom. Eino Kalima)
  - Films: TV comedy 1970, dir. Gerhard Klingenberg, starring Axel von Ambesser, Eva Zilcher and Blanche Aubry; TV film 1981, dir. Pierre Desfons
• Anna Karenina, 1948 (screenplay, with Julien Duvivier, Guy Morgan)
  - Film 1948, prod. London Film Productions, dir. Julien Duvivier, starring Vivien Leigh, Ralph Richardson and Kieron Moore
• Épisode de la vie d'un auteur, 1948
  - Episode in the Life of an Author (tr. 1969)
• Cécile ou l'École des pères, 1949
  - Cécile, or The School for Fathers (tr. Luce Klein and Arthur Klein, 1958)
  - Isien koulu (suom. Marja Rankkala, 1954)
  - Films: TV comedy 1958: Cécile oder Die Schule der Väter, dir. Ettore Cella; TV comedy 1960: Cecile of Een school voor vaders; prod. Mechels Miniatuur Theater (MMT), N.I.R.; TV comedy 1962: Cécile... oder Die Schule der Väter, dir. Hans-Dieter Schwarze; TV film 1963: Fadersskolan, dir. Josef Halfen, starring Marianne Wesén, Lena Brundin, Carl-Åke Eriksson, Sture Lagerwall; TV film 1965: Isien koulu, prod. Mainostelevisio (MTV), dir. Ritva Nuutinen, starring Jussi Jurkka, Tuija Vuolle, Kyllikki Forssell, Esko Salminen
• La Répétition ou l'Amour puni, 1950
  - The Rehearsal (tr. Pamela Hansford Johnson and Kitty Black, 1961)
  - Films: TV film 1958, dir. Jean-Paul Carrère; TV drama 1963: Die Probe oder Die bestrafte Liebe, dir. Rainer Wolffhardt; TV film 1968: Repetitionen, dir. Håkan Ersgård, starring Marianne Aminoff, Tina Hedström, Tor Isedal, Frej Lindqvist, Georg Rydeberg, Marianne Wesén, Sven Wollter
• Pièces brillantes, 1951
• Colombe, 1951
  - Colombe (tr. Dennis Cannan, 1951) / Mademoiselle Colombe (tr. Louis Kronenberger, 1954)
  - Colombe (suom. Marja Rankkala ja Marja Samooja, 1953)
  - Films: TV movie 1958, dir. Ulrich Erfurth, starring Ingrid Andree, Hilde Hildebrand and Peter Fricke; 1965, dir. Hans-Dieter Schwarze, starring Heidelinde Weis, Elisabeth Flickenschildt and Fritz Wepper; 1967, starring Joop Admiraal, Sigrid Koetse and Ramses Shaffy; 1981, starring Heidelinde Weis, Susanne von Almassy, Wolfgang Wolter and Werner Pochath; TV movie 1996, dir. Kjetil Bang-Hansen, starring Mette Maria Ahrenkiel, Ander G. Koch, Mikael Birkkjær; 2010, dir. Dominique Thiel, starring Sara Giraudeau, Anny Duperey, Gregori Baquet
• Deux sous de violettes, 1951
  - Film 1951, prod. Gaumont Distribution, Cinéphonic, Société Générale de Gestion Cinématographique (SGGC), screenplay Monelle Valentin and Jean Anouilh, dir. Jean Anouilh
• La Valse des toréadors, 1952
  - The Waltz of the Toreadors (tr. Lucienne Hill, 1953)
  - Toreadorien valssi (suom. Ritva Arvelo, 1977)
  - Films: 1962, prod. Independent Artists, Julian Wintle/Leslie Parkyn Productions, dir. John Guillermin, starring Peter Sellers, Dany Robin, Margaret Leighton; TV drama 1980: Toreadorvalsen, dir. Per Bronken
• L'Alouette, 1953
  - The Lark (tr. Lillian Hellman, 1956; Christopher Fry, 1956)
  - Leivonen (suom. Raimo Hakamies, 1954)
  - Films: TV drama 1956: Jeanne oder Die Lerche, dir. Franz Peter Wirth, starring Liselotte Pulver (as Jeanne d'Arc), Ludwig Anschütz and Robert Meyn; 1957, The Lark, in Hallmark Hall of Fame, dir. George Schaefer, starring Julie Harris (as Joan of Arc), Ward Costello and Harry Davis; TV drama 1966: Jeanne oder Die Lerche, dir. Imo Moszkowicz, starring Elisabeth Schwarz (as Jeanne D'Arc), Erwin Linder and Fritz Wepper ; TV drama 2002: Ciocârlia, dir. Constantin Dicu, starring Ana Ciontea (as Jeanne d'Arc), Constantin Codrescu and Ion Pavlescu
• Le Chevalier de la nuit, 1953 (screenplay)
  - Film 1953, prod. Télouet Films, Zodiaque Productions, dir. Robert Darène, starring Renée Saint-Cyr, Jean-Claude Pascal and Grégoire Aslan
• Ornifle ou le Courant d'air, 1955
  - Ornifle (tr. Lucienne Hill, 1970)
  - Films: TV comedy 1959: Der Herr Ornifle, dir. Raoul Wolfgang Schnell; TV film 1972: Ornifle oder Der erzürnte Himmel, dir. Helmut Käutner, starring Peter Pasetti, Adelheid Seeck and Walter Jokisch; TV film 1972: Der Herr Ornifle, dir. Hans Knötzsch
• Pauvre Bitos ou le Dîner de têtes, 1956
  - Poor Bitos (tr. Lucienne Hill, 1964)
  - Films: TV drama 1962: Arme Bitos, prod. AVRO Television, dir. Joris Diels; TV film 1963: Der arme Bitos... oder Das Diner der Köpfe, dir. Peter Beauvais; TV drama 1965: Poor Bitos, in Theatre 625, dir. Donald McWhinnie, starring John Neville, Noel Davis and Rolf Lefebvre
• Pièces grinçantes, 1956
• L'Hurluberlu ou le Réactionnaire amoureux, 1958
  - The Fighting Cock (tr. Lucienne Hill, 1960)
  - Rakastunut kenraali (suom. Raimo Hakamies, 1959)
• Oreste, 1959
• Five Plays, Vol. 1, 1958 (contains Antigone, Eurydice, The Ermine, The Rehearsal, Romeo and Jeannette)
• Five Plays, Vol. 2, 1959
• La petite Molière, 1959 (with Roland Laudenbach)
  
• Madame de..., 1959
  - Madame De... (tr. John Whiting, 1959)
  - Films: TV drama 1967: Madame de..., prod. Mainostelevisio (MTV), dir. Ritva Nuutinen, starring Sakari Puurunen, Eeva-Kaarina Volanen, Jussi Jurkka, Pekka Laiho; TV movie 1972, prod. Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck, Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), dir. Georg Madeja, Ferry Bauer, starring Brigitte Schmuck, Karl Heinz Köhn and Volker Krystoph
• Becket ou l'Honneur de Dieu, 1959
  - Becket, or The Honour of God (tr. Lucienne Hill, 1960) / Beckett (tr. Jeremy Sams, 1991; Stephen Raphael, 2004)
  - Becket eli Jumalan kunnia (suom. Leo Kontula, 1994)
  - Films: TV film 1962: Becket oder Die Ehre Gottes, dir. Rainer Wolffhardt, starring Heinz Baumann, Heinrich Schweiger and Robert Bürkner; 1964, prod. Paramount Film Service, Keep Films, Paramount Pictures, dir. Peter Glenville, screenplay Edward Anhalt, starring Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, John Gielgud; 2012, prod. Smuggler Films, Henceforth, dir. William Monahan
• La Songe du critique, 1960
• Pieces Costumees, 1960
• La Mort de Belle, 1961 (screenplay, based on a novel by Georges Simenon)
  - Film 1961, prod. Cinéphonic, Odeon, dir. Edouard Molinaro, starring Jean Desailly, Alexandra Stewart and Monique Mélinand
• La sauvage; suivi de L'invitation au château, 1961
• L'Orchestre, 1962
  - The Orchestra (tr. Miriam John, 1975)
  - Orkesteri (suom. Ritva Arvelo, 1971)
• La Grotte, 1961
  - The Cavern (tr. Lucienne Hill, 1966)
  - TV drama 1963: Die Grotte, dir. Michael Kehlmann, starring Carl-Heinz Schroth, Alois Maria Giani and Anneliese Stöckl-Eberhard
• Graham Greene, L'Amant complaisant, 1962 (translator, with Nicole Anouilh)
• La Foire d'empoigne, 1962
  - Catch as Catch Can (tr. Lucienne Hill)
• Le Boulanger, la Boulangère et le Petit Mitron, 1964
  - The Baker, the Baker's Wife, and the Baker's Boy (tr. Lucienne Hill, 1972)
  - Rakas minä eli Leipurit (suom. Raimo Meltti, 1969)
• La Ronde, 1964 (adaptation from Arthur Schnitzler's play)
  - Film 1964, prod. Interopa Film, Paris Film Productions, Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinéma, dir. Roger Vadim, starring Jean-Claude Brialy, Francine Bergé, Marie Dubois, Jane Fonda, Anna Karina
• Ardèle; and Pauvre Bitos , 1965 (ed. R.T. Riva)
• Seven Plays, Vol. III, 1967
• Cher Antoine ou l'Amour raté, 1969
  - Dear Antoine (tr. Lucienne Hill, 1971)
  - Rakas Antoine eli Romutettu rakkaus (suom. Raimo Meltti, 1970)
  - TV film 1970: Cher Antoine oder Die verfehlte Liebe, dir. Stefan Meuschel, Rolf Henniger, starring Peter Mosbacher, Albert Lieven and Friedrich Joloff
• Ne réveillez pas Madame, 1970
• Pièces grinçantes, 1970
• Le Théâtre; ou, La Vie comme elle est, 1970
• Les poissons rouges, 1970
• Théâtre, 1951-1970 (7 vols.)
• A Time for Loving, 1971 (screenplay)
  - Film 1975, prod. London Screenplays, dir. Christopher Miles, starring Joanna Shimkus, Mel Ferrer, Britt Ekland, Philippe Noiret, Susan Hampshire
• Le Directeur de l'Opéra, 1972
  - The Director of the Opera (tr. Lucienne Hill, 1973)
• TTu étais si gentil quand tu étais petit, 1972 [You Were So Nice When You Were Young]
• Monsieur Barnett, 1974
  - Films: TV drama 1968: Monsieur Barnett, in The Wednesday Play, dir. Donald McWhinnie, starring Michael Redgrave, Miriam Karlin and Harold Lang; TV drama 1968, dir. Gösta Folke, starring Olof Bergström, Rune Ek and Marianne Hedengrahn; TV film 1969, dir. Wolfgang Liebeneiner, starring Kurt Ehrhardt, Louise Martini and Horst Bollmann; TV movie 1975, dir. Josée Dayan, starring Alexis Nitzer, Paul Bisciglia, Rachel Boulenger, Yvette Petit
• L'Arrestation, 1975
• Le Scénario, 1976
  - Film 1976, dir. François Chatel, starring Jean Barney, Sylvie Favre, Alexandre Grecq, Florence Blin
• Chers zoiseaux , 1976
• Vive Henri IV!, ou, La Galigaï, 1978
• La Culotte, 1978
  - Pöksyt (suom. Matti Brotherus, 1979)
• Le Nombril, 1981
  - Number One (tr. Michael Frayn, 1985)
• Jean Anouilh: Five Plays, 1987 (introduced by Ned Chaillet)
• Anouilh Plays: One: Antigone, Léocadia, The Waltz of the Toreadors, The Lark, and Poor Bitos, 1987
  
• Five Plays: Antigone, Eurydice, The Ermine, The Rehearsal, Romeo and Jeannette, 1990
  
• Anouilh Plays: 2: The Rehearsal, Becket, The Orchestra, and Eurydice, 1997
  
• En marge du théâtre, 2000 (ed.by Efrin Knight)
  
• Théâtre, 2007 (2 vols., ed. by Bernard Beugnot)