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Sarah Bernhardt (October 22, 1844 – March 26, 1923) was a French stage actress, and has been referred to as "the most famous actress in the history of the world". Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of Europe in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
. She developed a reputation as a serious dramatic actress, earning the nickname "The Divine Sarah."

was born in Paris as Sara-Marie-Henriette Rosine Bernardt, the daughter of Julie Bernardt and a father of Dutch nationality
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
.






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Sarah Bernhardt (October 22, 1844 – March 26, 1923) was a French stage actress, and has been referred to as "the most famous actress in the history of the world". Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of Europe in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
. She developed a reputation as a serious dramatic actress, earning the nickname "The Divine Sarah."

Early life

She was born in Paris as Sara-Marie-Henriette Rosine Bernardt, the daughter of Julie Bernardt and a father of Dutch nationality
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
. She added the letter "H" to both her first and last name, and used the name of Édouard Bernardt, her mother's brother, as the name of her father. This was probably done to hide the fact that her father was unknown. Her grandfather, Moritz Bernardt, was a Jewish merchant in Amsterdam
Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the Capital of the Netherlands and List of cities in the Netherlands with over 100,000 people of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands of North Holland in the west of the country....
. Most likely, her Jewish mother was also born in Amsterdam.

Much of the uncertainty about Bernhardt's life arises because of her tendency to exaggerate and distort. Some claim she was born in Iowa
Iowa

The State of Iowa is a U.S. state in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland." It is bordered by Minnesota to the north, Wisconsin and Illinois to the east, Nebraska and South Dakota to the west, and Missouri to the south....
 and ran away to Paris, where she assumed a new identity as a French citizen to begin a stage career. Alexandre Dumas, fils
Alexandre Dumas, fils

Alexandre Dumas, fils was a French author and dramatist. He was the son of Alexandre Dumas, p?re, also a writer and playwright....
 (the author of La Dame aux camélias, in which she performed almost 3000 times) described her as a notorious liar.

To support herself, it is assumed that she combined the career of an actress and that of a courtesan
Courtesan

A courtesan is mainly what one may call a high-class prostitute. A courtesan would offer her charms and sexual pleasures, generally and more usually to people of substantial wealth, in return for a good and respectable living, especially during hard times of poverty....
. At the time, the two were considered scandalous to some degree. She was sponsored by the Duc de Morny in 1859 for the Conservatoire de Musique et Déclamation, for theatrical training.
Sarah Bernhardt Nadar

Stage career

Bernhardt's stage career started in 1862 while she was a student at the Comédie-Française
Comédie-Française

The Com?die-Fran?aise or Th??tre-Fran?ais is one of the few state theaters in France. It is the only state theater to have its own troupe of actors....
, France's most prestigious theater. However, she was not entirely successful at the conservatory and left to become a courtesan
Courtesan

A courtesan is mainly what one may call a high-class prostitute. A courtesan would offer her charms and sexual pleasures, generally and more usually to people of substantial wealth, in return for a good and respectable living, especially during hard times of poverty....
 by 1865. It was during this time that she acquired her famous coffin, in which she often slept 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 New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
. 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 even traveled to Cuba
Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
 and performed in the Sauto Theatre, in Matanzas, in 1888. She coached many young women in the art of acting, including actress and courtesan Liane de Pougy
Liane de Pougy

Liane de Pougy , was a Folies Berg?res dancer renowned as one of Paris's most beautiful and notorious courtesans....
.

Visual arts and recordings

Although primarily a stage actress, Bernhardt made several cylinder
Phonograph cylinder

The earliest method of Sound recording was on phonograph cylinders. Commonly known simply as "records" in their era of greatest popularity , these cylinder shaped objects had an audio recording engraved on the outside surface which could be reproduced when the cylinder was played on a mechanical phonograph....
s and disc
Gramophone record

A gramophone record is an analog signal sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove usually starting near the periphery and ending near the centre of the disc....
s of famous dialogue
Dialogue

A dialogue is a conversation between two or more people. It is also a literary form in which two or more parties engage in a discussion....
s from various productions. One of the earliest was a reading from Phèdre by Jean Racine
Jean Racine

Jean Racine was a France dramatist, one of the "big three" of 17th century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition....
, at Thomas Edison's
Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph and the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb....
 home on a visit to New York City in the 1880s. She was involved with the visual arts, acting, painting and sculpting herself, and modeling for Antonio de La Gandara
Antonio de La Gandara

Antonio de la G?ndara was a painter, pastellist and draughtsman.He was born in Paris, France, but his father was of Spain ancestry, born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and his mother was from England....
. She also published a series of books and plays.

During her time, Bernhardt had a strong influence on grand opera
Grand Opera

File:Robert-le-diable.jpgGrand Opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterised by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage-effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events....
, an influence that continues to this day. Tosca
Tosca

Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Victorien Sardou drama, La Tosca....
, for example, contains one of opera's most sensational heroines, and it was based on a play written for Bernhardt.

In 1914, Bernhardt was made a member of France's Legion of Honour
Légion d'honneur

The L?gion d'honneur or Ordre national de la L?gion d'honneur is a France order established by Napoleon I of France, First Consul of the French First Republic, on May 19, 1802....
.

Private life

Bernhardt had an affair with a Belgian nobleman, Charles-Joseph Eugène Henri, Prince de Ligne, with whom she had her only child, Maurice Bernhardt, in 1864. He married a Polish princess, Maria Jablonowska (see Jablonowski
Jablonowski

Jablonowski is the surname of a Poland szlachta family. Because Polish adjectives have different forms for the genders, Jablonowska is the form for a female family member...
). Later, close friends included several artists, most notably Gustave Doré
Gustave Doré

Paul Gustave Dor? was a France artist, engraver, illustrator and sculpture. Dor? worked primarily with wood engraving and steel engraving....
 and Georges Clarin, and actors Mounet-Sully and Lou Tellegen
Lou Tellegen

Lou Tellegen was a Netherlandsborn silent film and stage actor, Film director and screenwriter....
, as well as the famous French author Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo

Victor-Marie Hugo was a France poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romanticism movement in France....
. Alphonse Mucha based several of his iconic Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an international Art movement and style of art, architecture and applied art?especially the decorative arts?that peaked in popularity at Fin de si?cle of the 20th century ....
 works on her. Her friendship with Louise Abbema
Louise Abbéma

Louise Abb?ma was a French painter, sculptor, and designer of the Belle ?poque....
, a French impressionist painter
Impressionism

Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists art exhibition their art publicly in the 1860s....
 14 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 (known in France by the stage name Jacques Damala
Jacques Damala

Aristides Damalas , known in France by the stage name Jacques Damala, , was a Greeks military officer-turned-actor, who is mostly remembered as being husband to Sarah Bernhardt for a number of years....
) in London in 1882, but the marriage, which legally endured until Damala's death in 1889 at age 34, quickly collapsed, largely due to Damala's dependence on morphine
Morphine

Morphine is a highly potent opiate analgesic Medication, is the principal active agent in opium, and is considered to be the prototypical opioid....
. During the later years of this marriage, Bernhardt was said to have been involved in an affair with the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the Heir Apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom . The current Prince of Wales is Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom....
, who later became Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Edward VII was Monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death on 6 May 1910....
.

Bernhardt was not known to be a religious person, and once stated, "Me pray? Never! I'm an atheist." However, she had been baptised a Roman Catholic, and accepted the Last Rites of the Church shortly before her death.

Silent film career

Bernhardt was one of the pioneer silent movie
Silent Movie

Silent Movie is a 1976 in film comedy film directed by and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976. The ensemble cast includes Dom DeLuise, Marty Feldman, Bernadette Peters, Sid Caesar, Anne Bancroft, Henny Youngman, Liza Minnelli, Burt Reynolds, James Caan, and Paul Newman....
 actresses, debuting as Hamlet
Hamlet

Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle King Claudius, who has murdered King Hamlet, the King, and then taken the throne and married Gertrude ....
 in the two minute long film Le Duel d'Hamlet
Hamlet (1900 film)

Hamlet, also known as Le Duel d'Hamlet, is a 1900 in film France film adaptation of an excerpt from the William Shakespeare Play Hamlet....
 in 1900. (Technically, this was not a silent film, as it had an accompanying Edison cylinder
Phonograph cylinder

The earliest method of Sound recording was on phonograph cylinders. Commonly known simply as "records" in their era of greatest popularity , these cylinder shaped objects had an audio recording engraved on the outside surface which could be reproduced when the cylinder was played on a mechanical phonograph....
 with sound effects.) 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.

Later career

In 1905, while performing in Victorien Sardou
Victorien Sardou

File:Victorien SardouVF.jpgFile:Sardou Grave.JPGVictorien Sardou was a French dramatist. He is perhaps best remembered today for the play La Tosca on which Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca is based....
's La Tosca in Rio de Janeiro, Bernhardt injured her right knee during the final scene which required her to leap from a high wall. The leg never healed properly. By 1915, gangrene
Gangrene

For the American football team nicknamed "Gang Green," see New York Jets.Gangrene is a complication of necrosis characterized by the decay of biological tissues, which become black and malodorous....
 had set in and her entire right leg was amputated, confining her to a wheelchair
Wheelchair

A wheelchair is a wheeled mobility device in which the user sits. The device is propelled either manually or via various automated systems. Wheelchairs are used by people for whom walking is difficult or impossible due to illness , injury, or disability....
 for several months. Bernhardt reportedly refused a $10,000 offer by a showman
Showman

Showman can have a variety of meanings, usually by context.Travelling Funfair are people who run Amusement and side show equipment at regional Shows, Capitol Shows, events and festivals throughout Australia....
 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 tried using one, but didn't like it). She carried out a successful tour of America in 1915, and on returning to France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of 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.

On 26 March 1923, Bernhardt died of uremia
Uremia

Uremia is a term used to loosely describe the illness accompanying renal failure , in particular the nitrogenous waste products associated with the failure of this organ....
 in the care of her son Maurice. She is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery

P?re Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France at , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.P?re Lachaise is one of the List of cemeteries in the world....
, Paris, France.

Sarah Bernhardt has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, that serves as an entertainment hall of fame....
 at 1751 Vine Street.

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: Memoirs of Sarah Bernhardt, (1907) William Heinemann
  • 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)
  • Sarah Bernhardt My Grandmother (1940)


Selected roles

  • 1862: Racine's Iphigénie in the title rôle, her debut.
  • 1862: Eugène Scribe
    Eugène Scribe

    Augustin Eug?ne Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years....
    's Valérie
  • 1862: Molière
    Molière

    Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known by his stage name Moli?re, was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature....
    's Les Femmes Savantes
  • 1864: Labiche
    Eugène Marin Labiche

    Eug?ne Marin Labiche , was a France dramatist....
     & 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
    Pierre de Marivaux

    Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux, commonly referred to as Marivaux , was a France novelist and dramatist.He is considered one of the most important France playwrights of the 18th century, writing numerous comedy for the Com?die-Fran?aise and the Com?die-Italienne of Paris....
    's Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard (as Silvia)
  • 1867: Molière
    Molière

    Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known by his stage name Moli?re, was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature....
    's Les Femmes Savantes (as Armande)
  • 1867: George Sand
    George Sand

    Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin, later Baroness Dudevant , best known by her pseudonym George Sand , was a France novelist and feminist....
    's Le Marquis de Villemer
  • 1867: Georges Sand's "François le Champi" (as Mariette)
  • 1868: Dumas père
    Alexandre Dumas, père

    Alexandre Dumas, p?re , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his numerous historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world....
     Kean (as Anna Damby)
  • 1869: Coppée's
    François Coppée

    Fran?ois Edouard Joachim Copp?e , was a France poet and novelist....
     La Passant, as a male troubador (Zanetto); her first major stage success
  • 1870: George Sand's L'Autre
  • 1871: Theuriet's
    André Theuriet

    File:Andr? Theuriet.jpgClaude Adh?mar Andr? Theuriet French poet and novelist, was born at Marly-le-Roi , and was educated at Bar-le-Duc in his mother's province of Lorraine ....
     Jeanne-Marie
  • 1871: Coppée's Fais ce que Dois
  • 1871: Foussier and Edmond La Baronne
  • 1872: Bouilhet's
    Louis Bouilhet

    Louis Hyacinthe Bouilhet was a France poet and dramatist.He was born at Cany-Barville, Seine Inf?rieure. He was a schoolfellow of Gustave Flaubert, to whom he dedicated his first work, Miloenis , a narrative poem in five cantos, dealing with Roman manners under the emperor Commodus....
     Mademoiselle Aïssé
  • 1872: Hugo's
    Victor Hugo

    Victor-Marie Hugo was a France poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romanticism movement in France....
     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
    Jules Sandeau

    Leonard Sylvain Julien Sandeau , was a France novelist.He was born at Aubusson, Creuse , and was sent to Paris to study law, but spent much of his time in unruly behaviour with other students....
     Mademoiselle de la Seiglière
  • 1873: Feuillet's
    Octave Feuillet

    Octave Feuillet was a France novelist and dramatist....
     Dalila (as Princess Falconieri)
  • 1873: Ferrier's
    Paul Ferrier

    Paul Ferrier , France dramatist, was born at Montpellier.He had already produced several comedies when in 1873 he secured real success with two short pieces, Chez l'avocat and Les Incendies de Massoulard....
     Chez l'Avocat
  • 1873: Racine's Andromaque
  • 1873: Racine's Phèdre (as Aricie)
  • 1873: Feuillet's Le Sphinx
  • 1874: Voltaire
    Voltaire

    Fran?ois-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French Age of Enlightenment writer, essayist, and philosophy known for his wit, philosophical sport, and defense of civil liberty, including freedom of religion and free trade....
    's Zaire
  • 1874: Racine's Phèdre (as Phèdre)
  • 1875: Bornier's
    Henri de Bornier

    Henri, vicomte de Bornier was a France poet and dramatist, born in Lunel .He came to Paris in 1845 with the object of studying law, but in that year he published a volume of verse, Les Premieres Feuilles, and the Comedie Francaise accepted a play of his entitled Le Manage de Luther....
     La Fille de Roland
    • Dumas fils'
      Alexandre Dumas, fils

      Alexandre Dumas, fils was a French author and dramatist. He was the son of Alexandre Dumas, p?re, also a writer and playwright....
       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
    Émile Augier

    Guillaume Victor ?mile Augier was a French dramatist. He was the thirteenth member to occupy seat 1 of the Acad?mie fran?aise on 31 March 1857....
    's L'Aventurière
  • 1880: Legouvé & Scribe's Adrienne Lecouvreur
  • 1880: Meilhac
    Henri Meilhac

    Henri Meilhac , was a France dramatist and opera librettist....
     & Halévy's
    Ludovic Halévy

    Ludovic Hal?vy was a France author and playwright. He was of Jewish ancestry, however his father had converted to Christianity prior to his birth....
     Froufrou
  • 1880: Dumas fils' La Dame aux Camélias (as Maguerite)
  • 1882: Sardou's
    Victorien Sardou

    File:Victorien SardouVF.jpgFile:Sardou Grave.JPGVictorien Sardou was a French dramatist. He is perhaps best remembered today for the play La Tosca on which Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca is based....
     Fédora
    • Sardou's Théodora (as Theodora, Empress of Byzantium)
  • 1887 : de Victorien Sardou
    Victorien Sardou

    File:Victorien SardouVF.jpgFile:Sardou Grave.JPGVictorien Sardou was a French dramatist. He is perhaps best remembered today for the play La Tosca on which Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca is based....
    • Dumas fils' La Princesse Georges
  • 1890: Sardou's Cléopâtre, as Cleopatra
  • 1893: Lemaître's
    Jules Lemaître

    Fran?ois ?lie Jules Lema?tre , was a France critic and dramatist.He was born at Vennecy . He became a professor at the university of Grenoble, but was already well known for his literary criticism, and in 1884 he resigned his position to devote his time to literature....
     Les Rois
  • 1894: Sardou's Gismonda
  • 1895: Molière's Amphytrion
  • 1895: Magda(translation of Sudermann's
    Hermann Sudermann

    Hermann Sudermann was a Germany dramatist and novelist....
     Heimat)
  • 1896: La Dame aux Camélias
  • 1896: Musset's
    Alfred de Musset

    Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay was a France dramatist, poet, and novelist.Along with his poetry, he is known for writing La Confession d'un enfant du si?cle from 1836....
     Lorenzaccio (as Lorenzino de' Medici)
  • 1897: Sardou's Spiritisme
  • 1897: Rostand's
    Edmond Rostand

    Edmond Eug?ne Alexis Rostand was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism, and is best known for his play Cyrano de Bergerac ....
     La Samaritaine
  • 1898: Catulle Mendès
    Catulle Mendès

    Catulle Mend?s was a France poet and man of letters.Of Portuguese Jewish extraction, he was born in Bordeaux. He early established himself in Paris, attaining speedy notoriety by the publication in the Revue fantaisiste of his Roman d'une nuit, for which he was condemned to a month's imprisonment and a fine of 500 francs....
     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
      William Shakespeare

      William Shakespeare was an English people poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist....
       King Lear
      King Lear

      King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1603 and 1606, and is considered one of his greatest works....
       (as Cordelia)
  • 1899: Shakespeare's Hamlet
    Hamlet

    Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle King Claudius, who has murdered King Hamlet, the King, and then taken the throne and married Gertrude ....
     (as Hamlet)
    • Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra
      Antony and Cleopatra

      Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623.The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Life of Markus Antonius and follows the relationship between Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Mark Antony from the time of the Roman-Persian Wars to Cleopatra's suicide....
       (as Cleopatra)
    • Shakespeare's Macbeth
      Macbeth

      Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest Shakespearean tragedy and is believed to have been written some time between 1603 and 1606, with 1607 being the very latest possible date....
       (as Lady Macbeth) (in French)
    • Richepin's Pierrot Assassin (as Pierrot)
  • 1900: Rostand's L'Aiglon
    L'Aiglon

    L'Aiglon was the nickname of Napoleon I of France son, Napoleon II of France. The name is French language for "eaglet" .It is also the name of a play, L'Aiglon, by Edmond Rostand about Napoleon II's life....
     as L'Aiglon
  • 1903: Sardou's La Sorcière
  • 1904: Maeterlinck's
    Maurice Maeterlinck

    Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard, Count Maeterlinck was a Belgian playwright, poet and essayist who wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911 in literature....
     Pelléas et Mélisande
    Pelléas et Mélisande (play)

    Pell?as and M?lisande is a Symbolism play by Maurice Maeterlinck about the forbidden, doomed love of the title characters. It was first performed in 1893 in literature....
     (as Pelléas)
  • 1906: Ibsen's
    Henrik Ibsen

    Henrik Johan Ibsen was a major Nineteenth-century theatre Norway playwright of realism drama and poet. He is often referred to as the "father of modern drama" and is one of the founders of modernism in the theatre....
     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
    Tristan Bernard

    Tristan Bernard was a French playwright, novelist, journalist and lawyer....
     Jeanne Doré (as Jeanne Doré)


Films

  • 1900: Le Duel d'Hamlet
    Hamlet (1900 film)

    Hamlet, also known as Le Duel d'Hamlet, is a 1900 in film France film adaptation of an excerpt from the William Shakespeare Play Hamlet....
     (Hamlet
    Hamlet

    Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle King Claudius, who has murdered King Hamlet, the King, and then taken the throne and married Gertrude ....
    , as Hamlet) An excerpt from the play, featuring Bernhardt in a duel to the death with Laertes
    Laertes

    In Greek mythology, La?rtes was the son of Arcesius and Chalcomedusa. He was the father of Odysseus and Ctimene by his wife Anticlea, daughter of the thief Autolycus....
    .
  • 1908: La Tosca
    La Tosca

    La Tosca is a five-act dramatic play by Victorien Sardou, first produced in Paris in 1887, with Sarah Bernhardt in the title role.The New York revival with Bernhardt in 1900 was also well received....
     (Tosca, as Tosca) A one-reel condensation of the play by the same name by Victorien Sardou
    Victorien Sardou

    File:Victorien SardouVF.jpgFile:Sardou Grave.JPGVictorien Sardou was a French dramatist. He is perhaps best remembered today for the play La Tosca on which Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca is based....
    .
  • 1911: La Dame aux Camélias (Lady of the Camelias - Camille, in the U.S. release, as Camille) A two-reel condensation of the play by the same name, and co-starring Lou Tellegen
    Lou Tellegen

    Lou Tellegen was a Netherlandsborn silent film and stage actor, Film director and screenwriter....
    .
  • 1912: Adrienne Lecouvreur
    Adrienne Lecouvreur

    Adrienne Lecouvreur was a France actor.Born in Damery, she first appeared professionally on the stage in Lille. After her Paris debut at the Com?die Fran?aise in 1717, she was immensely popular with the public, until her mysterious death....
     (An Actress's Romance; as Adrienne Lecouvreur) A two-reel condensation of the play by the same name. Co-starring Lou Tellegen.
  • 1912: Les Amours d'Elisabeth, Reine d'Angleterre
    Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth

    Les Amours de la reine ?lisabeth , Les Amours d'Elisabeth, Reine d'Angleterre or La reine ?lisabeth is a 1912 short 4-reel French cinema silent film based on the love affair between Elizabeth I of England and the Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex....
     (Queen Elizabeth; a major success) A four-reel condensation of the play of 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 war widow in World War I. 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 (Those at Home: biographical, home movies) Among other celebrated persons of the era, there is a brief scene featuring Sarah sitting on a park bench and reading from a book.
  • 1916: Jeanne Doré (as Jeanne Doré). Based on a play of the same name. Sarah appears as a widowed mother, who lavishes attention on her son, Jacques. When he is seduced by a temptress and accidentally murders a man, she visits him in his cell on the night before his execution, pretending to be his fiancée, 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 hour before death.
  • 1923: La Voyante (The Fortune Teller,) 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 mortally ill. It was eventually completed with scenes made with a stand-in performing Bernhardt's character with her back turned to the camera.


Recordings

  • Phèdre (1902)
  • Le Lac (The Lake) (1902)
  • La Fiancée du Timbalier (1902)
  • Lucie (1902)
  • Le Lac (1903)
  • La Samaritaine (1903)
  • Les Vieux (The Old Ones) (1903)
  • Un Évangile (A Gospel) (1903)
  • Phèdre (1903)
  • La Mort d'Izéil (The Death of Izéil) (1903)
  • La Rêverie de Théroigne de Méricourt (The Dream of Théroigne de Méricourt) (1903)
  • Un Peu de Musique (A Little Music) (1903)
  • L'Aiglon (The Eaglet) (1910)
  • Phèdre (1910)
  • Les Buffons (The Buffoons) (1908)
  • La Samaritaine (1910)
  • L'Étoile dans la Nuit (The Star in the Night) (1918)
  • Prière pour nos Ennemis (A Prayer for our Enemies) (1918)


Further reading

  • Lorcey, Jacques. Sarah Bernhardt, l'art et la vie, Paris : Éditions Séguier, 2005. 160 pages. Avec une préface d'Alain Feydeau. ISBN 2-84049-417-5.
  • Menefee, David W. Sarah Bernhardt in the Theater of Films and Sound Recordings. North Carolina: McFarland, 2003.
  • Menefee, David W. The First Female Stars: Women of the Silent Era. Connecticut: Praeger, 2004.
  • Skinner, Cornelia Otis
    Cornelia Otis Skinner

    Cornelia Otis Skinner was an United States author and actor....
    . Madame Sarah. Paragon House, 1966.


External links

  • , from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project
    Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project

    The Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project is a free digital collection maintained by the University of California, Santa Barbara Libraries with streaming and downloadable versions of over 6,000 phonograph cylinders manufactured between 1895 and the mid 1920s....
     at the University of California, Santa Barbara
    University of California, Santa Barbara

    The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public university research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system....
     Library.
  • at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin
    University of Texas at Austin

    The University of Texas at Austin is a public university research university located in Austin, Texas, Texas, United States, and is the flagship#University campuses institution of University of Texas System....
    .
  • photo gallery series 1 NYP Library
  • photo gallery series 2 NYPLibrary