| Name |
Sarah Bernhardt |
| Height |
|
| Naionality |
Franch |
| Date of Birth |
22-October-1844 |
| Place of Birth |
Paris, France |
| Famous for |
Acting |
Sarah Bernhardt was a French stage and early film actress, and has been referred to as "the most famous actress the world has ever known". Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of France in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas. She developed a reputation as a serious dramatic actress, earning the nickname "The Divine Sarah".
Bernhardt's stage career started in 1862 while she was a student at the Comedie-Francaise, France's most prestigious theater. She decided to leave France, and soon ended up in Belgium, where she became the mistress of Henri, Prince de Ligne, and gave birth to their son, Maurice, in 1864. After Maurice's birth, the Prince proposed marriage, but his family forbade it and persuaded Bernhardt to refuse and end their relationship. She was not entirely successful at the conservatory, however, and left to become a courtesan by 1865. During this time she acquired her famous coffin, in which she often slept in lieu of a bed – claiming that doing so helped her understand her many tragic roles.
Sarah secured a contract at the Theatre de L’Odeon where she began performing in 1866. Her most famous performance there was her travesty performance as the Florentine minstrel in Francois Coppe's Le Passant (January 1869). With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war performances were stopped and Sarah converted the theatre into a makeshift hospital where she took care of the soldiers wounded on the battlefield. She made her fame on the stages of Europe in the 1870s and was soon in demand all over Europe and in New York. In between tours Sarah took over the lease of the Theatre de la Renaissance, which she ran as producer-director-star from 1893 to 1899.
