Dramatis Personae - The Barman of the Ritz
By Philippe Collin
BLANCHE AUZELLO (NÉE RUBENSTEIN): American-born wife of Claude Auzello.
CLAUDE AUZELLO: Former manager of the Ritz, married to Blanche Auzello.
LUCIANO BARESI (NÉ LEVI): Frank Meier’s young Italian apprentice, also secretly Jewish.
MADAME BOURHIS: Housekeeper at the Ritz.
MADAME DELMAS: Head housekeeper at the Ritz.
HANS ELMIGER: Interim manager of the Ritz and Swiss nephew of Marie-Louise Ritz’s lover, Baron Pfyffer.
FRANK MEIER: Barman of the Ritz. Austrian by birth, a veteran of the First World War.
CÉSAR RITZ: Deceased owner of the Ritz.
MARIE-LOUISE RITZ: Widow of hotel owner César Ritz and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Ritz.
GEORGES SCHEUER: Assistant to Frank Meier at the Petit Bar and Frank’s comrade-in-arms during the First World War.
MARIE SÉNÉCHAL: Chambermaid at the Ritz.
MONSIEUR SÜSS: Deputy manager of the Ritz.
GENERAL VON CHOLTITZ: Military governor of Paris from August 1944.
BARON VON DINCKLAGE: German officer and lover of Coco Chanel.
REICHSMINISTER JOSEPH GOEBBELS: Minister of Propaganda for Nazi Germany.
REICHSMINISTER HERMANN GÖRING: Prominent Nazi military leader and supreme commander of the Luftwaffe (air force), also known as the Great Huntsman for his reputation as an avid outdoorsman and hunter.
CAPTAIN ERNST JÜNGER: German author, military officer and regular at the Petit Bar.
HELMUT KNOCHEN: Head of the Gestapo in Paris.
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL SOEHRING: Officer of the Luftwaffe.
HANS SPEIDEL: A colonel of the German Empire and the Wehrmacht, a regular at the Petit Bar.
GENERAL CARL-HEINRICH VON STÜLPNAGEL: Wehrmacht general, later military commander of France, and younger cousin to Otto von Stülpnagel.
GENERALLEUTNANT OTTO VON STÜLPNAGEL: Head of the occupying forces and military commander of France.
ARLETTY: French actress and singer of the 1940s and a regular patron of the Petit Bar.
CHARLES BEDAUX: French social climber and businessman who has aligned himself with the Nazi Party.
ARNO BREKER: German sculptor supported by the Nazi Party.
GABRIELLE “COCO” CHANEL: The famous French fashion designer, and resident of the Ritz.
JEAN COCTEAU: French poet, playwright and filmmaker.
LAURA CORRIGAN: Wealthy American socialite and resident of the Ritz.
SCOTT FITZGERALD: American writer and novelist, married to Zelda Fitzgerald.
ZELDA FITZGERALD: American novelist and socialite, married to Scott Fitzgerald.
FLORENCE GOULD: American writer who held a famous literary salon in Paris during the Occupation. She narrowly escaped high treason charges in 1945.
SACHA GUITRY: French actor, director, and playwright and friend of Frank Meier.
INGA HAAG: Secretary and niece of Admiral Canaris, the head of German military intelligence.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY: American writer.
BARBARA HUTTON: American philanthropist and heiress to the Woolworth fortune.
JOSEPH JOANOVICI: Metal merchant and profiteer, allied with the occupying forces.
LILY KHARMAYEFF: Russian ballet dancer and close friend of Blanche Auzello. She is outspoken against the Nazi Party.
HENRI LAFONT: Member of the French underworld who was one of the first to offer his services to the occupying forces.
SERGE LIFAR: Dancer and choreographer.
FERNAND DE BRINON: French lawyer and one of the architects of the Vichy collaboration.
FERSEN: Scandinavian diplomat and ally of Frank Meier.
PIERRE LAVAL: Prime minister of France.
MARÉCHAL PÉTAIN: Commander of the French Army in the First World War who later became head of the collaborationist regime of Vichy France, from 1940 to 1944.
MARIA HUTTING: Frank Meier’s ex-wife.
JEAN-JACQUES MEIER: Frank Meier’s son.
PAULINE NEUMAYER: Frank Meier’s niece.
SOFIA BARESI: Luciano Baresi’s mother.
BARON PFYFFER: Swiss president of the Ritz, lover of Marie-Louise Ritz, and uncle of Hans Elmiger.