Trivia

Poyen was a child star of the French silent cinema. From age four he starred as Bout-de-Zan, a mischievous but clever gamin, in some 60 short comedies produced by Gaumont between 1912 and 1916.

Was billed as Bout-de-Zan in all his early films. In 1916 Poyen began receiving screen credit under his real name.

Worked almost exclusively with his discoverer, writer-director Louis Feuillade, who continued to give him supporting roles and the occasional lead well into his teens. Poyen's film career faded quickly after Feuillade's death in 1925, and was finished off by talkies. He retired at age 24.

Bout-de-Zan is French for "Little Rascal". In the UK he was known as Tiny Tim, and in Spain as Minutiyo.

After a six-year hiatus, Poyen returned to the screen with small roles in two talkies: an uncredited bit in Clochard (1932), and Le bidon d'or (1932), in which he played Bout-de-Zan as a young adult. He did not adapt well to sound films, and left the business for good.

Poyen is buried at Villeparisis Cemetery in Paris.

When the Bout-de-Zan series had run its course, Louis Feuillade cast Poyen as The Licorice Kid in his 12-chapter crime serial Judex (1916). He was essentially the same character, only playing sidekick to the avenger hero.