Her lover in the play was her lover off-stage, as well, Mounet-Sully. Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Fascinating Women: Florence Foster Jenkins, Courtesans, cocottes and Cléo | Limpid Lech's finds, The Titanic: Food For Thought | Norwizzle's Almanac, http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22694, Lily Langtry (the real Irene Adler? [75], Bernhardt's first American tour carried her to 157 performances in 51 cities. Sarah Bernhardt. The theater had 1,700 seats, twice the size of the Renaissance, enabling her to pay off the cost of performances more quickly; it had an enormous stage and backstage, allowing her to present several different plays a week; and since it was originally designed as a concert hall, it had excellent acoustics. Upon seeing the results, she reportedly recoiled in horror, demanding that the negative be destroyed. His posters became icons of the Art Nouveau style. [188] On 21 May 1856, when she was baptized, she was registered as the daughter of "Edouard Bernhardt residing in Le Havre and Judith Van Hard, residing in Paris. Her patrons and friends included Charles de Morny, Duke of Morny, the half-brother of Emperor Napoleon III and President of the French legislature. [205] Upon returning to Paris, she found a minor role for Damala in La Dame aux Camelias and a leading role in another play without her, Les Meres Ennemies by Catulle Mendés. There are no certainties rather on the nature of the relationship that bound to the Bernhardt Ida Rubistein and Anna de Noailles, but it is certain that the great actress, with courage in making public their emotional and sexual preferences in an era when it was considered at least unbecoming, He contributed greatly, thanks to the prestige of his position and his talent gave it, to break down the barriers of prejudice (Article from: notizie.it) (photo: wikipedia.org). She continued to entertain guests at her home. During the performance, she went on stage, but could not remember what she was supposed to say. [57] Bernhardt asked Chilly if he would match the offer, but he refused. Duquesnel described the reading years later, saying, "I had before me a creature who was marvelous gifted, intelligent to the point of genius, with enormous energy under an appearance frail and delicate, and a savage will." The play opened on Broadway in September at the American Airlines Theater for a limited run. Bernhardt was diagnosed with uremia, and had to have an emergency kidney operation. Dumas, her strongest supporter, commented after one performance, "she has the head of a virgin and the body of a broomstick. "[110] Anatole France wrote of her performance in Lorenzaccio: "She formed out of her own self a young man melancholic, full of poetry and of truth. The daughter of a beautiful but dissolute Parisian courtesan named Judith, the future Sarah Bernhardt only met her father a couple of times, but he did pay for her education and provided her with a trust fund once she came of age. Her great-granddaughter, Terka, married a grandson of. In addition, the grandmother of her father donated 120,000 francs. Lovers aplenty. "[178] He wrote that in her roles, "enchantment is smothered in artifice. Sarah Bernhardt was born in the early 1840s in Paris, France. Giovanni Borgia was murdered by her brother Cesare? In 1917 she made a film called Mothers of France (Mères Françaises). The play and Richepin's acting were poor, and it quickly closed. "[179], Sarah Bernhardt's performances were seen and appraised by many of the leading literary and cultural figures of the late 19th century. She also loaned her name and image to real estate ventures in the Bronx and endorsed products from face powder to aperitifs. I would have married any one of them with pleasure. L'Aiglon was a verse drama, six acts long. A widely circulated photo of a peaceful Bernhardt lying in a coffin, eyes closed, draped with flowers, no doubt served to fuel public curiosity. Her first performances with the theater were not successful. Publicity Listings Love what you're reading? Bernhardt arranged for serious cases to be transferred to another military hospital, and she rented an apartment on rue de Provence to house the remaining 20 patients. We all loved each other. [84] When she returned to Paris, Bernhardt contrived to make a surprise performance at the annual 14 July patriotic spectacle at the Paris Opera, which was attended by the President of France, and a houseful of dignitaries and celebrities. William Heinemann/D. The jury’s split. [31] She decided abruptly to quit the theater to travel, and like her mother, to take on lovers. The money appealed to her, and she began negotiations. [69] She did not settle the debt until 1900. Besides Guitry, she shared the stage with Edouard de Max, her leading man in 20 productions, and Constant Coquelin, who frequently toured with her. The critics and audiences were not impressed, and the play was unsuccessful. Regina accidentally stood on the train of the gown of a leading actress of the company, Zaire-Nathalie Martel (1816–1885), known as Madame Nathalie. Yes. [186] She said he frequently travelled overseas, and that when she was still a child, he died in Pisa "in unexplained circumstances which remain mysterious. [211] In 1913, The Literary Digest reported that she became vegetarian to lose weight and regain her figure. Sarah Bernhardt was born in the early 1840s in Paris, France. "[111] This was followed by another successful melodrama by Sardou, Gismonda, one of Bernhardt's few plays not finishing with a dramatic death scene. [134], Despite the injury to her leg, she continued to go on tour every summer, when her own theater in Paris was closed. [21] For the stage, she changed her name from "Bernard" to "Bernhardt". Rudolph Valentino-The Legend: Interview with Gabriel Garko, Ciao. [65], On 4 June 1879, just before the opening curtain of her premiere in Phèdre, she suffered an attack of stage fright. Most popular were her dramatic death scenes. [153] The film was a success in the United States, and in France, the young French artist and later screenwriter Jean Cocteau wrote, "What actress can play a lover better than she does in this film? I remember my few months at the Comédie Française. Her intuitive understanding of “brand management” plus her extraordinary success as an actor and entrepreneur established the blueprint for the stars of today. ;) E'…, Urban myth, It was not low! As a result, in Texas and Kansas City, Bernhardt and her company performed under an enormous circus tent, seating 4,500 spectators, and in skating rinks in Atlanta, Savannah, Tampa, and other cities. Give us Hugo!". Bernhardt added a maid and a cook to her household, as well as the beginning of a collection of animals; she had one or two dogs with her at all times, and two turtles moved freely around the apartment. She played 19-year-old Joan of Arc when she was 46. Accessed August 30, 2011. In April 1843, she gave birth to twin girls to a "father unknown." This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Madame Kelly was shrewd, aligning her brothel with the Jockey-Club de Paris and selling shares of the incredibly profitable business to wealthy, but anonymous investors. [153], Bernhardt was also the subject and star of two documentaries, including Sarah Bernhardt à Belle-Isle (1915), a film about her daily life at home. [52] When the coal supply of the city ran out, Bernhardt used old scenery, benches, and stage props for fuel to heat the theater. The scene was Prince Hamlet's duel with Laertes, with Bernhardt in the role of Hamlet. She exhibited a 2-m-tall canvas, The Young Woman and Death, at the 1878 Paris Salon. The photo is of a replica chair located in a sex museum in Prague, but Sean Thomas of The First Post did some investigating, and the original chair used by Bertie himself is apparently still in use. [40] The Odéon was second in prestige only to the Comédie Française, and unlike that very traditional theater, specialized in more modern productions. She was on tour for 15 months, from early 1886 until late 1887. One of her mother’s lovers, a half brother of Napoleon III, arranged for Bernhardt to gain entry into the French national theater company. She looked for additional ways to earn money. Early in Bernhardt's career, she had an affair with a Belgian nobleman, Charles-Joseph Eugène Henri Georges Lamoral de Ligne (1837–1914), son of Eugène, 8th Prince of Ligne, with whom she bore her only child, Maurice Bernhardt (1864–1928). She chose to recite two romantic poems by Victor Hugo, unaware that Hugo was a bitter critic of the emperor.