Bernhardt, Sarah Henriette Rosine

1844

1923

Regarded by many as the greatest actress of the second half of the nineteenth century, she was born in Paris about 22 October 1844, the illegitimate daughter of a Dutch courtesan, Julie Bernard. Her real name was Henriette Rosine Bernard, but she was destined to be called ‘The Divine Sarah.’ After training at the Paris Conservatoire she was accepted at the Comédie-Française in 1862, but soon she was discharged. She acted at the Odéon between 1866 and 1872, having a great success as Anna Damby in “Kean” (1868) and a triumph as Zanetto in “Le Passant” (1869). Bernhardt returned to the Comédie-Française in 1872 and proceeded to a number of great portrayals: the Queen in “Ruy Blas”, the title roles in Voltaire’s “Zaire and Racine’s Phèdre”, Doña Sol in Hugo’s Hernani, Desdemona in Shakespeare’s “Othello” and Marguerite in Dumas’ “La dame aux camellias”. Tours in England, throughout continental Europe, the United States, Australia and South America in the 1880s and 1890s established her international reputation. She also became famous for her series of affairs and for her independent and sometimes unconventional behaviour. In the 1880s Victorien Sardou wrote four plays for her: “Fèdora” (1882), “Thèdora” (1884), “La Tosca” (1887) and “Cléopâtre” (1890). In 1893 she became manager of the Théâtre de la Renaissance, then in 1899 of the Théâtre des Nations, which she renamed the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt and managed until her death. (That theatre is now known as the Théâtre de la Ville.) She acted Hamlet in 1899, at the age of 55, and created the role of the Duke of Reichstadt in Rostand’s “L’Aiglon” in March 1900. In 1915 her right leg had to be amputated as a result of an accident when jumping off the parapet in the last scene of “La Tosca” some years before, but she continued to act, appearing in roles that allowed her to remain seated. She died in Paris on 26 March 1923. (See B0132 and B1056.)