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'Sarah Bernhardt' (October 23, 1844 – March 26, 1923) was a stage actress born in Paris. Often referred to as "the most famous actress in the history of the world," she made her fame on the stages of Europe in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the United States. She developed a reputation as a serious dramatic actress, earning the nickname "The Divine Sarah."

Contents

Early life

Stage career

Visual arts and recordings

Social life, marriages and relationships

Silent film career

Later career

Books

Selected roles

Films

Recordings

References

External links

Early life

She was born in Paris as Henrietta Rosine Bernardt, the daughter of Dutch Julie Bernardt and a father of unknown nationality. She was named after her mother, and in fact of Dutch nationality. Most likely, her father was not French. She added the letter h to both her first and last name, and used the name of Edouard Bernardt, her mother's brother, as the name of her father. This was probably to hide the fact that her father was unknown. Her grandfather, Moritz Bernardt, was a notorious Jewish merchant in Amsterdam, Holland. Most likely, her Jewish mother Julie was also born in Amsterdam.
To support herself, she combined the career of an actress with that of a courtesan - at the time, the two were considered scandalous to some degree, but courtesans were widely accepted in many social circles, and looked on as equals in cases where they were highly intellectual and when the art of being a courtesan was merely a sideline for another more respectable career. She was sponsored into the ''Conservatoire de Musique et Déclamation'' by the Duc de Morny in 1859 for theatrical training.

Stage career

Her stage career started in 1862, when she was a student at the Comédie-Française, France's most prestigious theater. However, she was not entirely successful at the conservatory and left to become a courtesan herself by 1865. It was during this time that she acquired her famous coffin which she often slept in in lieu of a bed, claiming it helped her understand her many tragic roles. She made her fame on the stages of Europe in the 1870s, and was soon in demand all over Europe and in the United States in New York. She soon developed a reputation as a serious dramatic actress, earning the title "The Divine Sarah"; arguably, she may have been the most famous actress of the 19th century. She coached many young women in the art of acting, including actress and courtesan Liane de Pougy.

Visual arts and recordings

Although primarily a stage actress, Bernhardt made several cylinders and discs of famous dialogues from various productions. One of the earliest was a reading from ''Phèdre'' by Jean Racine, at Thomas Edison's home on a visit to New York City in the 1880s. Multi-talented, she was involved with the visual arts, acting, painting and sculpting herself, and modeling for Antonio de La Gandara. She also published a series of books and plays.
During her time, Bernhardt had a strong influence on grand opera, an influence that continues to this day. Tosca and Salome, for example, contain two of opera's most sensational heroines, both based on plays written for Bernhardt.

Social life, marriages and relationships

She had an affair with a Belgian nobleman, Charles-Joseph-Eugene-Henri, Prince de Ligne, with whom she had her only child, the writer Maurice Bernhardt, in 1864 (he married a Polish princess, Maria Jablonowska, 1863-1914) (see Jablonowski). Later lovers included several artists, most notably Gustave Doré and Georges Clarin, and actors Mounet-Sully and Lou Tellegen, as well as the famous French writer Victor Hugo. Alphonse Mucha based several of his iconic Art Nouveau works on her. Her friendship with Louise Abbema, a French impressionist painter fourteen years her junior, was so close and passionate that the two women were rumored to be lovers.
She later married Greek-born actor Aristides Damala (aka Jacques Damala) in London in 1882, but the marriage, which legally endured until Damala's death in 1889 at age 34, quickly collapsed, largely due to the young actor's dependence on morphine. During the latter years of this marriage she was involved in an affair with the Prince of Wales, who later became Edward VII. [1]

Silent film career

Bernhardt was also one of the pioneer silent movie actresses, debuting as Hamlet in ''Le Duel d'Hamlet'' in 1900. (Technically, this was not a silent film, as it had accompanying cylinders with dubbed dialogue.) She went on to star in eight motion pictures and two biographical films in all. The latter included ''Sarah Bernhardt à Belle-Isle'' (1912), a film about her daily life at home.
Sarah Bernhardt was made a member of France's Legion of Honor in 1914.

Later career

In 1915, ten years after a serious injury, her right leg was amputated, confining her to a wheelchair for several months. Bernhardt supposedly refused a $10,000 offer by a showman to display her amputated leg as a medical curiosity (while P.T. Barnum is usually cited as the one to have made the offer, he had been dead since 1891). Nonetheless, she continued her career, and contrary to belief without the use of a wooden prosthetic limb. She carried out a successful tour of America in 1915, and on returning to France she played in her own productions almost continuously until her death. Her later successes included ''Daniel'' (1920), ''La Gloire'' (1921), and ''Régine Armand'' (1922). Her physical condition confined her practically to immobility on the stage, but the charm of her voice, which had altered little with age, ensured her triumphs. [2] She died in the arms of her son Maurice. She is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France.
Sarah Bernhardt has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1751 Vine Street.
The actress La Berma, a fictional character in Marcel Proust's ''In Search of Lost Time'', was inspired by Bernhardt.
In 1880 Bernhardt allegedly saved the life of Mary Todd Lincoln, widow of President Abraham Lincoln. A ship, l’Amérique, was traveling from Nice to New York when it was hit by an enormous wave that knocked down Mrs. Lincoln and sent her rolling across the deck toward a companionway. As she was about to plunge headfirst down the stairs, Bernhardt managed to grab one of her legs and save her. This story is undoubtably apocryphal. Sarah was a notorious liar and Alexandre Dumas fils (the son of the more famous author) said of the notoriously thin actress, "You know, she's such a liar, she may even be fat!"

Books

★ ''Dans les Nuages, Impressions d'une Chaise Charpentier'' (1878)

★ ''L'Aveu, drame en un acte en prose'' (1888)

★ ''Adrienne Lecouvreur, drame en six actes'' (1907)

★ ''Ma Double Vie'' (1907; as ''My Double Life'', 1908)

★ ''Un Coeur d'Homme, pièce en quatre actes'' (1911)

★ ''Petite Idole'' (1920; as ''The Idol of Paris'', 1921)

★ ''L'Art du Théâtre: la voix, le geste, la prononciation, etc.'' (1923; as ''The art of the Theatre'', 1924)

Selected roles

★ 1862: Racine's ''Iphigénie'' in the title rôle, her debut.

★ 1862: Eugène Scribe's ''Valérie''

★ 1862: Molière's ''Les Femmes Savantes''

★ 1864: Labiche & Deslandes, ''Un Mari qui Lance sa Femme''

★ 1866: T & H Cognard's ''La Biche aux Bois''

★ 1866: Racine's ''Phèdre'' (as Aricie)

★ 1866: Pierre de Marivaux's ''Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard'' (as Silvia)

★ 1867: Molière's ''Les Femmes Savantes'' (as Armande)

★ 1867: George Sand's ''Le Marquis de Villemer''

★ 1867: Georges Sand's "François le Champi" (as Mariette)

★ 1868: Dumas père ''Kean'' (as Anna Damby)

★ 1869: Coppée's ''La Passant,'' as a male troubador (Zanetto); her first major stage success

★ 1870: George Sand's ''L'Autre''

★ 1871: Theuriet's ''Jeanne-Marie''

★ 1871: Coppée's ''Fais ce que Dois''

★ 1871: Foussier and Edmond ''La Baronne''

★ 1872: Bouilhet's ''Mademoiselle Aïssé''

★ 1872: Hugo's ''Ruy Blas'' (as Doña Maira de Neubourg, Queen of Spain)

★ 1872: Dumas père ''Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle'' (as Gabrielle)

★ 1872: Racine's ''Britannicus'' (as Junie)

★ 1872: Beaumarchais's ''Le Mariage de Figaro''

★ 1872: Sandeau's ''Mademoiselle de la Seiglière''

★ 1873: Feuillet's ''Dalila'' (as Princess Falconieri)

★ 1873: Ferrier's ''Chez l'Avocat''

★ 1873: Racine's ''Andromaque''

★ 1873: Racine's ''Phèdre'' (as Aricie)

★ 1873: Feuillet's ''Le Sphinx''

★ 1874: Voltaire's ''Zaire''

★ 1874: Racine's ''Phèdre'' (as Phèdre)

★ 1875: Bornier's ''La Fille de Roland''

★
★ Dumas fils' ''L'Étrangère'' (as Mrs. Clarkson)

★
★ Parodi's ''Rome Vaincue''

★ 1877: Hugo's ''Hernani'' (as Doña Sol)

★ 1879: Racine's ''Phèdre'' (as Phèdre)

★ 1880: Émile Augier's ''L'Aventurière''

★ 1880: Legouvé & Scribe's ''Adrienne Lecouvreur''

★ 1880: Meilhac & Halévy's ''Froufrou''

★ 1880: Dumas fils' ''La Dame aux Camélias'' (as Maguerite)

★ 1882: Sardou's ''Fédora''

★
★ Sardou's ''Théodora'' (as Theodora, Empress of Byzantium)

★ 1887 : ''La Tosca''de Victorien Sardou

★
★ Dumas fils' ''La Princesse Georges''

★ 1890: Sardou's ''Cléopâtre'', as Cleopatra

★ 1893: Lemaître's ''Les Rois''

★ 1894: Sardou's ''Gismonda''

★ 1895: Molière's ''Amphytrion''

★ 1895: ''Magda''(translation of Sudermann's ''Heimat'')

★ 1896: ''La Dame aux Camélias''

★ 1896: Musset's ''Lorenzaccio'' (as Lorenzino de' Medici)

★ 1897: Sardou's ''Spiritisme''

★ 1897: Rostand's ''La Samaritaine''

★ 1898: Catulle Mendès ''Medée''

★ 1898: ''La Dame aux Camélias'' (as Marguerite Gautier)

★
★ Barbier's ''Jeanne d'Arc'' (as Joan of Arc)

★
★ Morand & Sylvestre's ''Izéïl'' (as Izéïl)

★
★ Shakespeare's ''King Lear'' (as Cordelia)

★ 1899: Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' (as Hamlet)

★
★ Shakespeare's ''Antony and Cleopatra'' (as Cleopatra)

★
★ Shakespeare's ''Macbeth'' (as Lady Macbeth) (in French)

★
★ Richepin's ''Pierrot Assassin'' (as Pierrot)

★ 1900: Rostand's ''L'Aiglon'' as L'Aiglon

★ 1903: Sardou's ''La Sorcière''

★ 1904: Maeterlinck's ''Pelléas et Mélisande'' (as Pelléas)

★ 1906: Ibsen's ''The Lady From the Sea''

★ 1906: Mendès' ''La Vierge d'Avila'' (as Saint Theresa)

★ 1911: Moreau's ''Queen Elizabeth'' (as Queen Elizabeth)

★ 1913: Bernard's ''Jeanne Doré'' (as Jeanne Doré)

Films

★ 1900: ''Le Duel d'Hamlet'' (''Hamlet'', as Hamlet) An excerpt from the play, featuring Sarah in a duel to the death with Laertes.

★ 1908: ''La Tosca'' (''Tosca'', as Tosca) A one-reel condensation of the play by the same name.

★ 1911: ''La Dame aux Camélias'' (''Camille'', as Camille) A two-reel condensation of the play by the same name. Co-starring Lou-Tellegen.

★ 1912: ''Adrienne Lecouvreur'' (''An Actress's Romance''; as Adrienne Lecouvreur) A two-reel condensation of the play by the same name. Co-starring Lou-Tellegen.

★ 1912: ''Elisabeth Reine d'Angleterre'' (''Queen Elizabeth''; a major success) A four-reel condensation of the play by the same name. Co-starring Lou-Tellegen.

★ 1912: ''Sarah Bernhardt à Belle-Isle'' (''Sarah Bernhardt at Home'', as herself) This documentary features Sarah at home with her family and friends, fishing for shrimp, and cuddling indoors with her pet dogs.

★ 1915: ''Mères Françaises'' (''Mothers of France'', as Madame Jeanne D'Urbex, a woman losing her husband during war. When she learns that her son has also been wounded, she searches the battlefields, crawls through trenches, and finally reaches him at a medical station only to have him die in her arms. After this tragedy, she dedicates her life to helping others survive the ravages of war.

★ 1915: ''Ceux de Chez Nous'' (biographical, home movies) A brief scene featuring Sarah sitting on a park bench and reading an excerpt from a book. The footage is silent; no sound was ever recorded.

★ 1916: ''Jeanne Doré'' (as Jeanne Doré). Based on a play by the same name. Sarah appears as a widowed mother, who lavishes attention on her son, Jacque. When he is seduced by a temptress and accidentally murders a man, she visits him at his cell door on the night before his execution, pretending to be his fiance, so he can have one moment of final pleasure.

★ 1921: ''Daniel'' (5-minute death scene from the play of the same name.) Sarah appears as a morphine addict in the final hour before death.

★ 1923: ''La Voyante'' (''The Fortuneteller'',) Sarah appears as a clairvoyant, who makes predictions that influence the outcome of national events. This film was Sarah's final performance, and was made while she was actually dying. It was eventually completed with unfilmed scenes made with a stand-in performing Bernhardt's character with her back turned to the camera.
Menefee, David W. Sarah Bernhardt in the Theater of Films and Sound Recordings. North Carolina: McFarland, 2003.

Recordings

Phèdre (1902)
Written by Jean-Baptist Racine
Recorded at Pathé
An excerpt from the play of the same name, a spine-tingling tirade from Phedre about her steaming, illicit passion for her Greek step-son, Hippolyte.
Le Lac (1902)
Written by Maurice Bernhardt
Recorded at Pathé
A poem about the Divine Worker and his creation of a beautiful lake.
La Fiancée du Timbalier (1902)
Written by Victor Hugo
Recorded at Pathé
A thrilling lament from a woman to a handsome soldier playing a
timpani drum in a parade.
Lucie (1902)
Written by Alfred de Musset
Recorded at Pathé
A dreamy poem spoken to a voluptuous woman singing and playing a harpsichord.
Le Lac (The Lake) (1903)
Written by Maurice Bernhardt
Recorded at G and T
A later version of the poem about the Divine Worker and the creation
of His lake under tropical skies.
La Samaritaine (1903)
Written by Edmond Rostand
Recorded at G and T
An excerpt from the play of the same name, about Photine, the woman who met Jesus at the well, and who was told by Him to go forth and love.
Les Vieux (The Old) (1903)
Written by Rosemonde Géard (Mme. Edmont Rostand)
Recorded at G and T
A tender poem about two old lovers sitting under a trellis in the twilight years of their lives.
Un Évangile (A Gospel) (1903)
Written by François Coppée
Recorded at G and T
A moving tale of Jesus and Saint Peter helping a fisherman's widow and her little baby.
Phèdre (1903)
Written by Jean-Baptist Racine
Recorded at G and T
An excerpt from the play of the same name, a later version of the illicit passion between Phedre and Hippolyte.
La Mort d'Izéil (The Death of Izéil) (1903)
Written by Maurice Bernhardt
Recorded at G and T
An excerpt from the play of the same name, an ode to the death of Izeil, the girl who died of love.
La Rêverie de Théroigne de Méricourt (The Dream of Théroigne de Méricourt) (1903)
Written by Paul Ernest Herview
Recorded at Zonophone
A tirade to revolution, an excerpt from a play, during which Sarah's vocal gymnastics reach unnerving heights.
Un Peu de Musique (A Little Music) (1903)
Written by Victor Hugo
Recorded at Zonophone
The tale of a lady and a count riding into the mad mystery of love.
L'Aiglon (The Eaglet) (1910)
Written by Edmond Rostand
Recorded at Edison
An excerpt from the play of the same name, with a full cast of unknown actors, and Sarah as Napoleon’s son languishing among dying soldiers at Wagram.
Phèdre (1910)
Written by Jean-Baptist Racine
Recorded at Edison (4-minute long version)featuring Lou-Tellegen
The passionate love between Phèdre and Hippolyte.
Les Buffons (The Buffoons) (1908)
Written by Miguel Zamacois
Recorded at Edison
An excerpt from the play of the same name, a whimsical story of a zephyr, who falls in love with a beautiful girl spinning wool, and anguishes
when she marries a Prince.
La Samaritaine (1910)
Written by Edmond Rostand
Recorded at Edison (4-minute long version)
An excerpt from the play of the same name, about the encounter between Jesus and Photine, the woman at the well.
L'Étoile dans la Nuit (The Star in the Night) (1918)
Written by Émile Guérinon and Henri Cain
Recorded at Vocalion
A divine affirmation of faith expressed to a brilliant star in the night sky.
La Prière pour nos Ennemis (A Prayer for our Enemies) (1918)
Written by Louis Payen
Recorded at Vocalion
An excerpt from Champ d'Honneur, a patriotic speech by Marc, a wounded soldier, who is clutching his flag after a raging battle.

References

★ ''Sarah Bernhardt in the Theater of Films and Sound Recordings'' by David W. Menefee. North Carolina: McFarland, 2003.

★ '' by David W. Menefee. Connecticut: Praeger, 2004.

External links

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★ Sarah Bernhardt cylinder recordings, from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.