Jean Stelli was born on December 6, 1894 in Lille, France as Jules Elie Ernoult. He was a director and writer, known for La valse blanche (1943), Alerte au deuxième bureau (1956) and Rapt au deuxième bureau (1958). He died on February 2, 1975 in Grasse, Alpes-Maritimes, France.
In 1956, he directed Baratin (1956) which was the adaptation of the operetta of the same name played in L'Européen in Paris in 1949. It is in this operetta that the composer Henri Betti and his lyricist André Hornez have met their future wife Françoise Engels and Gisèle Fréry who were dancers.