The Quinault family were French actors, active in the first half of the 18th century. * Jean Quinault was the father of this family. He was born at Bourges around 1656 or 1658, and died before June 1728. Said to be the son of a doctor from Issoudun, he joined an acting company based in Rouen called the troupe du Dauphin in 1679 and again in 1681. In Amiens in 1686 he married Marie Saintelette, daughter of a baker from Verdun. In March 1694 he and his wife joined the troupe of Leopold, Duke of Lorraine; the following year he auditioned for the Comédie-Française and was accepted for a quarter-share position. Instead of remaining in Paris, however, he returned to Lorraine and headed the duke's troupe from 1695 to 1705. Typically of provincial actors at the time, he led an itinerant life; var