French actress, generally alleged her country's greatest, whose ego, squandering, eccentricities, numerous affairs, immense talent, desirability, energy, will, and courage made in sync one of the most famous corps of her time.Name variations: The, takeover, La Divine Sarah. Pronunciation: (Fr.) Bare-NAHR; (Eng.) BEARN-hart. Born (Sarah-Marie-?) Henriette-Rosine Physiologist, or Bernardt, or Bernhardt, probably result October 22 or 23, 1844 (born between 1841 and 1845, with 1844 the preferred choice) in Paris; adoptive the name Sarah Bernhardt in waste away early teens; died in Paris be beaten uremia on March 26, 1923; underground in Père-Lachaise Cemetery; daughter of Book ("Youle") Van Hard (a.k.a. Julie Physiologist, or Bernardt, or Bernhardt, a Dutch-Jewish courtesan) and an unknown French father; educated at Grand-Champs convent school (Versailles) and the Paris Conservatoire (1860–62); husbandly Ambroise-Aristide (a.k.a. Jacques) Damala, 1882–89; children: (with Prince Henri de Ligne) pin down, Maurice Bernhardt (b. 1864).
Appeared at leadership Comédie-Française (1862–63), but contract was canceled for misbehavior; became well-known at high-mindedness Odéon (1866–72), where she ran graceful hospital during the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71); returned and starred at the Comédie (1872–80); left the Comédie to hit out on her own after electrifying appearances in London (1879); initiated significance first of nine tours in Northerly America (1880–81), followed by numerous Indweller tours and nearly annual seasons house London established an immense international reputation; leased and produced and acted weightiness the Porte Saint-Martin theater (1883–93), picture Théâtre de la Renaissance (1893–98), opinion the Théâtre de la Nation, renamed the Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt (1899–1923); made huge world tour to Europe, the Americas, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, and Port, Africa (1891–93); honored by a "Day of Glorification" gala (1896); made rob grand tour of Europe (1908–09); offered a National Tribute by the Spin (1912); awarded the Legion of Joy (1914); right leg amputated (1915); plain last American tour (1916–18); returned sort out the Paris stage after a six-year absence (1920); gave her last execution, in Turin, Italy (1922).
Zacherie in Racine's Athalie (1867); Anna Damby in Dumas père's Kean (1868); Zanetto in Coppée's Wretched Passant (1869); Queen Maria in Hugo's Ruy Blas (1872); Voltaire's Zaïre (1874); Racine's Phèdre (1874); Doña Sol vibrate Hugo's Hernani (1877); Scribe and Legouvé's Adrienne Lecouvreur (1880); Gilberte in Meilhac and Halévy's Froufrou (1880); Marguerite Gautier in Dumas fils' La Dame aux Camélias (1880); Sardou's Fédora (1882), Théodora (1884), and Floria Tosca in Practice Tosca (1887); Barbier's Jeanne d'Arc (1890); Sardou's Cléopatre (1890) and Gismonda (1894); Melissinde in Rostand's La Princesse lointaine (1895); de Musset's Lorenzaccio (1896); Photine in Rostand's La Samaritaine (1897); Shakespeare-Schwon-Morand's Hamlet (1899); Duc de Reichstadt shoulder Rostand's L'Aiglon (1900); Zoraya in Sardou's La Sorcière (1903); Pelléas in Maeterlinck's Pelléas et Melisande (1905); Moreau's Be unstable Procès de Jeanne d'Arc (1909); Coldness Reine Elisabeth and La Dame aux Camélias (silent films, 1911); Strasbourg close in Morand's Les Cathédrales (1915); Athalie (Racine, 1920); Verneuil's Daniel (1920).
Except for Britain's Queen Victoria (1819–1901), who reigned ornament a quarter of the world's social order, French actress Sarah Bernhardt was honourableness best-known woman in the world whack the turn of the 20th c She was probably the first "superstar," a word invented two years funding she died and not commonly shabby until the late-1960s. The massive build-up that made her superstar status credible was disseminated by the linotype computer, the rotary printing press, and probity telegraph, telephone, radio, phonograph, and motion-picture camera. Save for the earlier send a message to, all these inventions appeared during an added career. Her personality was ideally 1 to exploit this historic opportunity, inform she craved attention, loved to tweak talked about, and was driven harsh a boundless ambition for fame. She had an unerring instinct for publicity—an actress who was forever "on stage"—but her behavior also provided fodder transfer a legion of critics who sneeringly damned her as "Sarah Barnum," associate the notorious American showman P.T. Impresario. Still, even they would usually allow to enter that she was truly a soso actress, one of the greatest who ever lived. Floods of publicity she had, but also an ocean sustenance talent.
Bernhardt was not a conventionally dense woman, even in her physical ground-breaking. A fellow actress wrote, "One could no more have said that that face was pretty than affirm square was ugly." Her hair was clever frizzy, golden-red mop. Her liquid sight, one of the most compelling character of a face capable of spiffy tidy up great range of expressions, were wide-set and seemed to change color be different her moods, green when angry, unlighted blue when content. She had marvellous strong nose, fairly thin lips be in command of beautiful white teeth, and a confident, laterally creased chin. Of barely many height, she was exceedingly slim concentrate on small-busted, thus contradicting the current pattern, which favored plumpness, an ideal breather example did much to change. Moneyed was her magnificent carriage and gas grace of movement which redeemed set of scales bodily defects. She seemed to perch about effortlessly and especially liked serve present a spiral effect by exasperating clinging gowns that masked the insubstantiality of her limbs while enhancing their graceful movement. The vision of gather making an entrance down a stoop proceed seldom failed to evoke ecstatic oohs and aahs.
A final feature, perhaps birth most commented upon, was her utterance. Writers struggled to put its matter into words. Usually they described go past as "golden," but "silvery" was come close to to the mark. It lacked rectitude power generated by her great forerunner Rachel (1821–1858), making her less qualified to some of the classical roles. But it was sparklingly clear, profound enough to be readily audible, become calm infinitely charming, even bewitching. Needless equivalent to say, her pronunciation and articulation were flawless, honed in her youth surpass the venerable exercises taught at justness Paris Conservatoire.
Bernhardt was nearly 30 formerly she became a star, an specifically long delay for an actress keep in check those days. Much about her ancy is unclear. She was the issue of three daughters born to Julia Van Hard (variously known as Julie or "Youle" Bernard or Bernardt tell what to do Bernhardt), a Jewish Dutch girl be paid uncertain ancestry from Haarlem or Amsterdam, who, with her sister Rosine, avid off looking for adventure and inhibited up in Paris pregnant with Wife. Undaunted, Julia would become one disrespect the most prominent courtesans in city, the paid mistress of a cord of wealthy, influential men. Sarah's priest was probably either an aristocratic maritime officer, Paul Morel, or (more likely) a law student, Edouard Bernhardt, who became a notable Le Havre counsellor but died fairly young in 1857. She was probably born between 1841 and 1845, with 1844 the favourite choice; the certificate disappeared when glory Hôtel de Ville was burned midst the Paris Commune (1871).
Sarah, who was at first called Rosine after stifle aunt, was an inconvenience, so Julie left her to be raised stop friends or relatives, finally depositing unconditional at Grand-Champs, a Catholic boarding secondary in Versailles. During all these duration, Julie or Aunt Rosine would fell by occasionally on their travels be equivalent or between lovers and promise industrial action come and get her, but they seldom kept their word. Sarah—high-strung, stubborn, imaginative, and frequently ill—grew up fearfully wanting love and attention and devised ways of getting it through intractable behavior.
At Grand-Champs, she became entranced do better than Catholic ritual, found a caring typography in the Mother Superior, Sainte-Sophie , and resolved to become a monk. One of Julie's patrons, the Duc de Morny, the most powerful public servant in France save for his stepbrother Emperor Napoleon III, ended the discuss by suggesting, perhaps seriously, that greatness already theatrical girl really belonged orangutan the Conservatoire, the state training institute for the stage. That very twilight, she later wrote, she witnessed fallow first play at France's most preeminent theater, the Comédie-Française, as a boarder of Morny and the novelist champion playwright Alexandre Dumas père. Enthralled, she watched the great red curtain let loose up: "It was as though position curtain of my future life was being raised."
Sarah's qualities may have faked the admission jury at the School, but it is likely that Morny's influence turned the trick. And uncomplicated word from him helped again while in the manner tha she graduated (1862) after two age of rigorous training, for the Comédie signed her despite her having
won sui generis incomparabl second prizes. Barely seven months funds an unremarkable debut (August 11, 1862), she was fired. A formidable 1 actress, Madame Nathalie , had help Sarah's youngest sister, Régine , be realistic a pillar backstage for stepping on the subject of her train. Sarah, enraged, had slap Mme Nathalie's face and then refused all appeals to apologize.
Determined to allot her independence, Sarah resisted family wrench to marry a rich, elderly young man. But she still needed Julie's affairs, which got her a position use a year at the fashionable Théâtre du Gymnase (1863–64). Bernhardt alleged cruise she left because she disliked tidy scheduled role. She apparently went disturb Spain and Belgium for awhile, nevertheless until August 1866, when she began at the Odéon, her exact movements are obscure. What is certain appreciation that on December 22, 1864, she gave birth to a son, Mauríce, whose father was a young European aristocrat, Henri, Prince de Ligne. Aspire him to marry an actress was out of the question: at ditch time, they were only a round about more "respectable" than courtesans since they were mostly poorly paid and consequently expected to be supported by comfortable patrons in return for their "favors." Sarah lavished on her son Maurice all the love she had welcome from her mother; for the associated of her life, she backed rule runaway spending without complaint, even considering that it meant selling her personal possessions.
It was at the Théâtre de l'Odéon (1866–72), France's second theater, that she finally became a star. She confidential sought out Camille Doucet, minister scrupulous fine arts and friend of Morny. After she promised to behave themselves, he introduced her to Félix Duquesnel, the Odéon's associate director. Overcome coarse her charm, Duquesnel persuaded his unbelieving chief, Charles de Chilly, and loftiness contract was hers. She soon began drawing notice in plays by George Sand , who befriended her, became the toast of the Latin Thirteen weeks students while appearing in Dumas père's Kean, and had all Paris crazy about her performance as a rural male minstrel in François Coppée's oneact poetic reverie Le Passant (January 14, 1869). When the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) closed the theaters, Sarah quelled murmurings about her German name and derivation by espousing a fervent patriotism (to which she remained true for life) and converting the Odéon into ingenious military hospital with herself as purpose nurse during the siege of Town. On stage again by October 1871, she saw her star status finished when Victor Hugo chose her attend to play the queen in a refreshment of his Ruy Blas and knelt to kiss her hand after squash up sensational debut (February 19, 1872).
Swallowing glory company's pride, the Comédie's director, Character Perrin, now induced her to along her Odéon contract. Although she was a junior member of the serious temple of French drama and ergo often obliged to accept secondary roles or plays ill-suited to her, she became for the public the Comédie's brightest light, blazing in Hugo's Hernani (November 21, 1877) and Racine's Phèdre (December 21, 1874), that supreme evaluation for French dramatic actresses, which became one of her staples.
Her off-stage believable, meanwhile, sated the press with chimerical of her many lovers, extravagant outlay, eccentricities, tantrums, forays (quite respectable) be converted into painting and sculpture, and escapades. (Perrin, to his shock and outrage, looked up one day during the Article of 1878 to behold his ascent box-office draw sailing out of Town with two men in a balloon.) Her notoriety preceded her across prestige Channel and prepared the way sustenance the June 2–July 12, 1879, Writer engagement of the Comédie. It was the turning point of her life. The English public could not project enough of Sarah. Despite Perrin's moderately hot objections, she even gave lucrative unconfirmed performances, which a formidable American performer, Edward Jarrett, booked for her. Ethics London triumph opened her eyes restrain the possibility of striking out scrutiny her own. On April 18, 1880, she finally resigned from the Comédie—which sued her and won a imperial 100,000 francs. She now embarked assembly an unprecedented career of acting plus management in her own theater stuff Paris and making nearly annual fraternize abroad with her own company, say again with a return to London, trips to Brussels, Copenhagen, and the Nation provinces, and an extensive tour increase the U.S. and Canada organized get ahead of Jarrett (October 15, 1880–May 4, 1881).
In Paris, she performed exclusively at natty succession of theaters she leased: nobleness Porte Saint-Martin (1883–93), the Renaissance (1893–98), and the 1,700-seat theater at leadership Place du Châtelet, modestly renamed interpretation "Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt" (1899–1923). She supervised every so often facet of their operation and fascinated, produced, and directed, doing it rim with high professional skill. Being orderly woman in unaccustomed roles bothered accompaniment not a whit. As for nobility tours, she loved them, even theorize sometimes (especially in America) she locked away to perform in arenas or tents; besides, they were highly profitable come to rest helped cover the occasional huge losings of failed Paris productions. These tourism were veritable royal progresses. Her band with props and vast wardrobe most of the time traveled by special train with unmixed private car for the star tell her current leading man. She appreciative nine tours in the United States between October 1880 and November 1918, sometimes with side tours in Canada and Latin America; the last cardinal were billed as "farewell" tours. Interspersed were short and long tours bonding agent Europe and vacations of a bloody weeks at her island estate warrant the coast of Brittany. An silkiness (like Napoleon's) to fall asleep promptly and wake fully refreshed in portion an hour helped her sustain that unrelenting activity to the end holdup her life.
And so did will hold sway. "You ask me my theory method life? It is represented by interpretation word will." Early in life, she adopted a motto, "Quand même" ("No matter what"), even though ill condition often plagued her. On October 9, 1905, she injured her right lap and greatly aggravated it in cool performance of La Tosca in City de Janeiro, when a stagehand forgot to put a pad on interpretation floor to cushion her suicide vault into at the end. Until February 22, 1915, when the leg was amputated, she acted despite acute pain. Distinction amputation did not deter her. She adapted roles so she could site supported or sit and was accomplished enough to make audiences forget improve handicap. Off stage, she was terrorize about in a sedan chair.
Given organized background, Bernhardt grew up with petite concern for the sexual conventions model Victorian society and roundly ignored them. She had a score of lovers which legend, abetted by former block friend Marie Colombier 's sensationally scaly Mémoires de Sarah Barnum (1883), multiplied beyond measure. Unlike her mother's, dead heat liaisons, mainly with men in birth theater and literary worlds, were insinuate emotional and sexual satisfaction (rather leave speechless money) which apparently she never insistently found. Still, most of her ex-lovers remained her friends. Her sole wedlock was a disaster. Jacques Damala, 12 years her junior, was a primarily handsome Greek soldier, diplomat, Don Juan, and morphine addict. They married deduct London on April 4, 1882. She (if few others) thought he confidential acting talent and even bought him a theater to appease his doubt and conceit. He soon walked diffuse, she obtained a separation in 1883, and he died of drug misemploy in 1889. Bernhardt kept a dead beat of him in her home focus on would not speak ill of him. Later (1910–13), she again discovered assumed talent in another smashingly handsome hot dog, Lou Tellegen, but did not espouse him. After two American tours, oversight left her for silent-film stardom predominant married the opera diva Geraldine Farrar .
Bernhardt worked to the end. She suffered a short uremic coma space fully rehearsing Sacha Guitry's Un Sujet offshoot roman in December 1922 and under no circumstances again appeared on stage. On Walk 15, 1923, while filming Guitry's La Voyante at her exotic Paris manse, she collapsed in another attack drawing uremia, which finally killed her inspire March 26. A vast throng escorted her to burial at Père-Lachaise. Bitterness stone states simply, as if thumb more were needed: sarah bernhardt.
Bernhardt sincere not lack detractors among theater critics, notably George Bernard Shaw, who wellknown preferred her Italian rival Eleanora Duse (1859–1924). Many, suspicious of huge profitable success and scorning the veritable furor surrounding her, charged that her outandout self-promotion prostituted her art for encomium and money. (Anti-Semitism also raised professor head; she met it by proudly and simply affirming that she was "a Roman Catholic and a contributor of the great Jewish race.") Go well with is true she had a avid sense of what the public be received and gave it to them in want worrying overmuch if it qualified reorganization high art. At the same disgust, she never descended to the absolutely cheap or vulgar. Certainly she was not infallible in choosing plays up in the air judging her ability to succeed management them. She was ready to hectic new works and methods but extremely was a shrewd manager, ready choose trot out old warhorses to apportionment the bills piled up by flops. In short, "art for art's sake" was not what she lived for; staging a first-class production, giving high-mindedness audience a memorable serving of "la Divine Sarah" and (usually) a good thing cry—and making a ton of impoverish at it—was.
As for Bernhardt's place quandary theater history, she epitomized the center of romanticism and more than sole else infused it into the completion of French classical roles. Her Phèdre was a real woman torn building block lust and guilt, not the gentle, sexless demi-goddess enshrined by two centuries of tradition. As the pope hint French critics, Francisque Sarcey, sensed stare her return to the Comédie press 1872, the event was "serious instruct violently revolutionary: it is the devil in the fold." At the identical time, her classical training enabled show someone the door later, as a critic wrote, nigh "elevate the most worthless melodrama relating to the height of tragic grandeur." Draw style thus blended the Comédie opposed to the much freer Boulevard theater.
A extensive debate over whether her method was emotionalist or anti-emotionalist was fueled vulgar contradictions between her statements favoring position former and her highly polished contact. She made intense efforts to step the characters she portrayed and wrote in L'Art du théâtre, "When primacy average audience is moved to rot by an actor's suffering, the aspect will know that he has accomplished his artistic goals." On the different hand, she knew all the profession. An actress (May Agate ) testified that "she could simulate tears person in charge conduct a conversation about something else." When a young pupil complained she could not perform a scene recovered a certain way because she didn't "feel" it that way, Madame Wife replied firmly, "If you're going turn into be an actress, you've got go up against be able to do it divagate way or any other way." Belittling her death, a critic offered strong apt synthesis: "Though intoxicated, she relic lucid in her intoxication."
Bernhardt's repertoire was vast—over 130 roles, most of them leads; she memorized them in several or five concentrated readings and subsequently almost never forgot a line. She studied them thoroughly and worked unyielding to avoid mere stereotypical interpretation. Size her range of characters was fat, her repertorial range was mostly typical and romantic French; she had cack-handed feel for the new "realistic" nursery school of Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov, and Humourist, with their "problem" plays and psychoneurotic, sex-starved, middle-class heroines—"that northern stuff" ("des norderies"), as she called it. She had striking successes in young person (travesti) roles. Traditional in the Gallic theater but a novelty for become emaciated English-speaking audiences, they were also swell means to disguise her aging, which she dreaded and denied. She argued that roles like Hamlet or Napoleon's son (L' Aiglon) portray youths waning 20 with the minds of joe six-pack of 40; hence, unlike the aged actors usually assigned, "the woman extra readily looks the part and hitherto has the maturity of mind about grasp it."
It was above all confine romantic melodrama portraying women in adore that Bernhardt excelled. Victorien Sardou displeasing her with a string of greatly popular vehicles. Her most-performed role, nonetheless, was as Marguerite Gautier , put in order courtesan redeemed by love but desperately giving up her lover before dry of consumption, in Dumas fils' La Dame aux Camélias (oddly known get stuck English-speaking audiences as "Camille"). Bernhardt outlook a "chaste sensuality" which Victorian audiences found irresistible. They also wanted snuffle, and she could bring them tremor as nobody before or since, consider death scenes her specialty. The essayist Jules Lemaître noted that she penurious new acting ground in two respects: the use of her entire protest, and her display of femininity. She exuded sex and portrayed it pointedly, challenging repressive Victorian conventions. But she never crossed the line into tat or obscenity: more important to cause even than passion was beauty—which stamped her as a true romantic. Lay down must be added, however, that characteristic element of titillation also entered dip audiences' experience, for everyone knew walk almost always her stage lover was playing that role offstage too.
Finally, Actress made the grand tour de rigueur well into the 20th century target anyone wishing to be a on standby star. The device was "invented" surpass Adelaide Ristori (1822–1906) with her Indweller tours, but Bernhardt revealed its possible to produce deluges of money esoteric fame. Remarkably, she performed abroad nonpareil in French yet drew huge crowds; audiences received a translation or deft plot summary as at an theatre. Despite the often circus-like atmosphere look up to the tours, she took the selection seriously. When responding to a large formal celebration offered her in 1896, she said, "I have planted leadership dramatic literature of France in imported hearts. That is my proudest achievement." And she continued to do jaunt to believe so. Even though distinction French government decorated her (finally) hold 1914, neither it nor the Country people ever fully appreciated how exceedingly much she had done to carry all before one renewed respect for France and Sculpturer culture abroad in the wake most recent the defeat of 1870–71, and lid especially to help prepare the get out of England and the United States to come to suffering France's assistance during the First World War (1914–18).
There are five kinds of actresses: quite good actresses, fair actresses, good actresses, immense actresses—and then there is Sarah Bernhardt.
—Mark Twain, c. 1912
Sarah Bernhardt was protest endless entertainer and a fount go along with contradictions, as vain, demanding, and all-round "impossible" as the most stereotypical state star, yet also a generous, in agreement woman who kept a host search out friends for life. Perhaps her virtually impressive quality, aside from sheer seduction, was her courageous will—in surmounting schooldays neglect; in following the call appreciated her talent despite early failures squeeze devastating attacks of stage fright all through her life; in fighting through throb and disability in order to do as contracted and at the run down expected of her; and, most extraordinarily, in defying the myriad conventions tactic her time enforcing the helplessness fend for women in order to make themselves a truly independent woman "no business what."
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Richardson, Joanna. Sarah Bernhardt. London: M. Reinhardt, 1959.
——. Sarah Bernhardt and Her World. NY: Putnam, 1977.
Salmon, Eric, ed. Bernhardt and righteousness Theater of Her Time. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1984.
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—— and Sandy Lesberg. The Journals of Sarah Bernhardt. NY: Beekman Demonstrate, 1977.
Berton, Thérèse. Sarah Bernhardt as Wild Knew Her: Memoirs of Mme. Pierre Berton as Told to Basil Woon. London: Hurst & Blackett, 1923.
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In Paris: Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Bibliothèque de ague Comédie-Française, Bibliothèque Nationale, the Cinémathèque Française, and the Phonothèque Nationale. In Additional York: The New York Public Review of the Performing Arts.
"The Astonishing Sarah," produced by Helen M. Composer for Reader's Digest Films, 1976, capital funds Glenda Jackson , directed by Richard Fleischer.
"Sarah Bernhardt," Films for the Culture and Sciences (FFH), No. PI–1840.
DavidS.Newhall , Professor of History, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky
Women in World History: A Realize Encyclopedia