French actress, one of the most famous in the history of the
theater, known by an adoring public as ``the Divine Sarah.''
She was born Rosine Bernard in Paris on Oct. 23, 1844, an illegitimate
child of mixed French-Dutch parentage and of partly Jewish descent.
At the age of 13 she entered the drama school of the Paris Conservatoire.
Her debut at the Theatre Francais (later the Comedie Francaise)
on Sept. 1, 1862, in Racine's Iphigenie en Aulide, was greeted
with only mild interest. She soon quarreled with the Comedie
and left it for an unsuccessful attempt at burlesque.
reputation was established in 1869 by her appearance as Zanetto,
the wandering minstrel in Francois Coppee's Le Passant, and
affirmed in 1872 by her triumph as the Queen in Victor Hugo's
Ruy Blas. Soon after this she returned to the Comedie Francaise,
where she won further acclaim for her performances in Racine's
Phedre and Hugo's Hernani. Bernhardt's position as the greatest
actress and one of the most magnetic personalities of her time
was by now secure. She was eulogized for her voix d'or (golden
voice) and for the scope and emotional power of her acting.
1880, after a triumphant season in London, she broke her contract
with the Comedie Francaise and embarked upon an independent
career with the first of six tours of America, returning to
Europe for triumphs in England and Denmark. Her repertoire included
La Dame aux Camelias by the younger Alexandre Dumas and Frou-frou
by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy. She became manager of the
Theatre de la Renaissance, which she opened with a performance
of Jules Lemaitre's Les Rois. In 1898 she sold her lease of
this theater and bought the Theatre des Nations, which she renamed
the Theatre Sarah-Bernhardt.
opening play, a revival of Victorien Sardou's La Tosca, was
followed by a production in French of Hamlet. Max Beerbohm,
in a review, captured the essential incongruity of Bernhardt
in the title role by labeling her ``Hamlet, Princess of Denmark.''
Undaunted by her critics, she promptly ventured on the title
role in Edmond Rostand's L'Aiglon. The hero of this play is
Napoleon's son, who is kept in semi-captivity after the fall
of the empire. Despite the seeming audacity of a middle- aged
woman playing a boy's part, L'Aiglon was one of the greatest
financial successes ever achieved in Paris. In 1905, while performing
in Rio de Janeiro, she suffered an injury to her right leg.
By 1911 she was unable to walk unsupported, and in 1915 the
leg was amputated. Despite the handicap of an artificial leg,
she continued her acting career, even performing at the front
during World War I. In 1914 she became a Chevalier of the Legion
of Honor. Her last stage appearance was in La Gloire (1922)
by Maurice Rostand. She died in Paris on Mar. 26, 1923.
was the first great actress to appear in films, starring in
La Reine Elizabeth and La Dame aux Camelias in 1911. Bernhardt'
s artistic gifts included sculpture and writing; she published
several plays and her memoirs, Ma Double Vie (1907).
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