Sarah Bernhardt (1844–1923) was a French actress. Renowned for her outstanding beauty, the grace of movement, “voice of gold,” and technical adaptability, Bernhardt was arguably the greatest of all French actresses and indeed the foremost actress of her age. She dominated the Paris stage c.1872–1914.
Born Sarah-Henriette-Rosine Bernard in Paris, Bernhardt rose to prominence with the Comédie Française 1872–80, where her excellent portrayals in Jean Racine‘s Phédre (1874) and Victor Hugo‘s Hernani (1877) earned her the title ‘Divine Sarah.’
In 1880, she began tours of Europe and the United States and managed several theaters. In 1899, she founded the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt in Paris, where she played male roles as the lead in Shakespeare‘s Hamlet (1899,) Napoleon’s son in Edmond Rostand’s L’Aiglon (1901, and Lorenzo in Alfred de Musset‘s Lorenzaccio (1897.) She appeared in silent films and continued to perform until her death, despite illness and an amputated limb.
Bernhardt was also known for her numerous affairs and her much-rumored extravagant lifestyle. She was dedicated to the national cause during World War I, when, despite her amputation, she insisted on visiting the frontlines to entertain the French troops.
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For the theatre one needs long arms; it is better to have them too long than too short. An artiste with short arms can never, never make a fine gesture.
—Sarah Bernhardt
Topics: Acting, Actors
You must have this charm to reach the pinnacle. It is made of everything and of nothing, the striving will, the look, the walk, the proportions of the body sound of the voice, the ease of the gestures. It is not at all necessary to be handsome or to be pretty; all that is needful is charm.
—Sarah Bernhardt
Topics: Actors, Acting
The truth, the absolute truth, is that the chief beauty for the theatre consists in fine bodily proportions.
—Sarah Bernhardt
The monster of advertisement… is a sort of octopus with innumerable tentacles. It throws out to right and left, in front and behind, its clammy arms, and gathers in, through its thousand little suckers, all the gossip and slander and praise afloat, to spit out again at the public.
—Sarah Bernhardt
Topics: Gossip
We must live for the few who know and appreciate us, who judge and absolve us, and for whom we have the same affection and indulgence. The rest I look upon as a mere crowd, lively or sad, loyal or corrupt, from whom there is nothing to be expected but fleeting emotions, either pleasant or unpleasant, which leave no trace behind them.
—Sarah Bernhardt
Topics: Commitment
Life begets life. Energy becomes energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich.
—Sarah Bernhardt
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