The great French actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) always surrounded herself with secrets. Even in her memories there are so many unsaid things that real story life famous actress, who became, in fact, the first superstar, can be traced with great difficulty. Sarah Bernhardt was happy with this situation; it was not for nothing that she even said: “I don’t know everything about myself.” During the period of her stage fame, and it was extremely long, performances with the participation of Sarah Bernhardt were always sold out. Sarah Bernhardt was the idol of the audience, the queen of the theater and a recognized master of shocking. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, a kind of bohemian chaos reigned in Sarah Bernhardt's apartment. The actress took an extraordinary approach to decorating the interiors of her home. She “decorated” her apartment with stuffed birds holding skulls in their beaks. Even the choice of pets was ambiguous: in addition to traditional cats and dogs, the actress acquired a monkey; a cheetah, a white Irish wolfhound and chameleons lived in the garden. In Sarah Bernhardt's bedroom there was a real coffin with a thick mattress made from love letters. The story of this “interior detail” is as follows”... Sarah Bernhardt’s mother was a courtesan and prepared her daughter for this profession, but the girl refused this role, although she considered it very profitable. Doctors gave little Sarah a terrible verdict - tuberculosis. Then the girl persuaded her mother buy her a beautiful coffin so that she would not be put in some “freak.” It was this coffin that accompanied her, already an adult woman, on all trips. However, despite the pessimistic forecasts of doctors, Sarah lived a very long and eventful life. bright events life. In the coffin, Sarah Bernhardt rested, read, and learned new roles. She posed for photographers in this coffin, making sinister jokes during the photo shoot.
There were rumors in Paris that Sarah Bernhardt indulged in lovemaking in her coffin. It was rumored that not all of her lovers were satisfied with such a strange bed. When her sister visited her, Sarah gave her her bed, and she moved into the coffin for the night. As the actress explained, two beds would not fit in her bedroom anyway. Of course, the ominous bed became a reason for gossip. Seeing the actress in the coffin, her manicurist ran out of the room in horror. The actress called another episode related to the coffin “tragicomic.” After the death of her sister, the coffin with the deceased stood in the bedroom until the undertakers arrived. When they finally appeared and saw the two coffins, they were embarrassed and were about to send for the second hearse, but Sarah, who at that moment was reviving her mother, overtook them and defended her beloved deathbed. Her eccentric antics were the enduring “spite of the day.” During the 1878 World's Fair, Sarah ventured into a hot air balloon, breakfasting on goose pate and champagne at an altitude of 2,300 m. This is how caricaturists captured her flight - Sarah Bernhardt reclines in a languid pose in the famous coffin, replacing the basket of a hot air balloon. They said that Bernard seduced almost all the heads European countries. Among her admirers were the heir to the English throne, who later became King Edward VII, Emperor of Austria Franz Joseph I, King Alfonso of Spain, King Umberto of Italy, and King Christian IX of Denmark. And when they asked who the father of her son Maurice was, she answered light-heartedly: “Who knows, maybe Hugo, or maybe Mirbeau.”
What kind of poisoned arrows did rumor send her! What a rumor, I.S. himself. Turgenev wrote about her: “I cannot say how angry I am with all the madness being committed about Sarah Bernhardt, this arrogant and distorted poufist, this mediocrity, who only has a lovely voice. Is it really possible that no one will tell her the truth in print?..” Sarah Bernhardt generally toured a lot. She was in the USA only 9 times. Language barrier did not exist for her. American journalists wrote that if Bernard had played in Chinese, the public would still have flocked to her performances.
before the start of Sarah's performance... They say that, having met Theodore Roosevelt (she dined with him during a tour in America in 1892), Sarah summed up: “Oh, this man and I could rule the world perfectly!” And she was not far from the truth, because she never followed adopted laws- she installed them. Sarah Bernhardt came to Russia three times. The public greeted her enthusiastically. The actress was invited to the Winter Palace. After the performance, she was introduced to Alexander III. Sarah Bernhardt was about to curtsy. The king stopped her: “It is I, madam, who must bow to your high art.” She was independent, ambitious and absolutely fearless. She didn't care about the opinions of others. To all the “don’ts” of her time, she asked the only question: “Why?” Sarah claimed that if she were a man, she would fight duels all the time. She shot a pistol accurately, fenced well, and rode a horse superbly. The huge earnings that Sarah Bernhardt's foreign tours brought gave her the opportunity to lead a luxurious lifestyle. Banquets and social receptions followed literally one after another. Guests were treated to exquisite and, accordingly, expensive food. Sarah Bernhardt strictly punished the cooks for the slightest omission. And her cooks didn’t stay long. The servants also got it. Sarah could hit a maid she didn't like with the first thing she could get her hands on. However, she was quick-witted. And, having calmed down, she compensated for the moral and even physical damage with a valuable gift. Sarah Bernhardt was a multi-talented and enthusiastic person. She wrote novels, stories, plays, and critical articles. She studied painting and sculpting. Her sculptures were exhibited at the annual Paris Salon. The audience was delighted. True, the great Rodin called the sculptural works of Sarah Bernhardt outright hackwork. And the public is a fool. Sarah Bernhardt was not offended. In everything else that did not relate to the theater, she considered herself an amateur. She just did what she liked. No more.
She visited an anatomical specialist, worked on the construction site of her own house, tamed a tiger, euthanized herself with chloroform, personally cared for the wounded in her hospital... “I have to survive this. “By all means,” Sarah repeated her catchphrase. Sarah Bernhardt was not inclined to hide anything. Including years. She believed that even her advanced age did not prevent her from looking young. They say that in one of the plays Sarah was supposed to play a woman of 38 years old. A fifty-year-old actor was invited to play the role of her brother. “He might be mistaken for my father,” 76-year-old Sarah was sincerely indignant. When the actress was in her eighties, her leg was amputated due to an injury during a tour in Rio de Janeiro. But the very next year she went on tour to the USA again. At her request, the posters read: “Come see the most old woman in the world!". Sarah Bernhardt not only rehearsed her funeral in advance, in every detail, but also informed the press about all the preparations. When great actress was dying (she was 78 years old), her last order was to choose the six most beautiful young actors who would carry her coffin. When asked when she was going to stop lighting her life with the flame of love, Bernard replied: “When I stop breathing.” She set off on her last journey, spectacularly and elegantly, on March 26, 1923. Tens of thousands of admirers of Sarah Bernhardt's talent followed her famous pink coffin across the city - from Boulevard Malesherbes to the Père Lachaise cemetery.
The French said that they have three attractions in their country - the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower and Sarah Bernhardt.

The brilliant actress Sarah Bernhardt did not correspond to the canons of beauty of the second half of the 19th century - the era of the bourgeoisie, when ruddy, plump ladies were in fashion. Gossips they called the actress “skinny”, “bony”, “polished skeleton”. Fans were not bothered by the opinions of connoisseurs; with her acting and skillful shocking, Sarah Bernhardt made her appearance the standard of romanticism, and she had many imitators. The actress embodied on stage and in life the romance of death, which was popular in 19th-century literature.

The actress, supporting the rumors, took pictures in the coffin for postcards. "Legend inevitably triumphs over history"- wrote Sarah Bernhardt. They said that Sarah Bernhardt sleeps in a coffin, learns roles in it and indulges in love games. Lovers who are frightened by this addiction are thrown out of the door by Sarah Bernhardt forever.

Her stage image of “Lady with Camellias” by Marguerite Gautier, a fragile young lady dying of consumption, captivated the audience. Young romantic mademoiselles, trying to give themselves a similar languid appearance, powdered themselves white and starved themselves. A special romantic fantasy was to die in the arms of a lover. Die beautifully, like Sarah Bernhardt on stage.

Journalist Alret Milhaud wrote: “If the chronicler lacked topics, he took on Sarah Bernhardt and could always extract two hundred funny lines. It was impossible to open a newspaper without finding articles about Sarah's coffin or Sarah's thinness. This phenomenal thinness, which they managed to exaggerate even further, was a constant topic of jokes. For example, when Sarah Bernhardt enters the bath, the water level drops.”

The story with the coffin began in the actress’s childhood; she became seriously ill with tuberculosis. Doctors spoke about the girl's imminent death. Sarah, resigned to her fate, persuaded her mother to buy her a beautiful coffin.

Sarah Bernhardt survived, and the coffin became her kind of talisman, which she took with her on tour. Sarah Bernhardt began sleeping in a coffin as a child. Writer Françoise Sagan explains that the girl had to sleep in a coffin because the room was cramped, where the mother’s relatives and friends, who occupied the bed, were constantly visiting.

Walking around Paris near the Latin Quarter, I suddenly saw the house where Sarah Bernhardt was born

Françoise Sagan writes on behalf of Sarah Bernhardt about sleeping in a coffin:
“At the age of sixteen I slept in it because it was my coffin, in the whole house it was the only object that belonged only to me, it was my refuge and my hiding place. I didn’t feel at home in that room where my sisters and anyone else walked in like they were entering a train station; I did not feel at home in my own bed, which I sometimes had to give up to some visiting friend of my mother; I didn’t feel at home anywhere in the apartment, which we inevitably had to leave someday to move to a slightly larger or slightly smaller one, depending on our financial capabilities. And one fine day I felt at home in this very coffin, made to my size, comfortable, holding my shoulders and hips like they hold a restive horse, that is, softly but firmly.

In a word, this coffin in my early youth served as a shelter, which in a strange way, for completely opposite reasons, it will retain later.”

Sarah Bernhardt as Lady of the Camellias

When the mature Sarah Bernhardt began her acting career and moved away from her family, she took in her sister Regina, who became seriously ill. The apartment that Sarah rented was cramped. The actress gave up the bed to her sick sister, and she slept in a coffin.

“The apartment on Rimskaya Street was very small, and my bedroom was just tiny. A large bed made of bamboo wood occupied her almost entirely. My coffin stood by the window, in which I often settled down, learning roles. And so, having taken my sister to myself, I considered it quite natural to sleep every night on this narrow bed with a white satin lining, which would one day become my last refuge, and I laid my sister on my bamboo bed under a lace canopy.”(Francoise Sagan "Indestructible Laughter").

Regina died of tuberculosis at the age of 18.

The gloomy image of Sarah Bernhardt attracted the attention of the press, the actress decided to take advantage of the situation to attract attention to her person. She furnished her living room in a Gothic style with skeletons and skulls.

A contemporary wrote about his impression: “A large, luxurious and gloomy room: the walls, ceiling, doors and windows are covered with thick black satin - Chinese satin of glossy black, on which are embroidered in matte black the bats and chimeras. A large canopy with the same black drapery hides a coffin upholstered in white satin, made of fragrant wood valuable breed. Large ebony bed with columns, long black curtains; on her wide bedspread is a Chinese dragon, embroidered in red, with golden claws and wings.

In the corner there is a large full-length mirror in a black velvet frame and a vampire sitting on this frame, a real vampire, spreading his furry wings.

In the midst of all this gloomy richness, three characters stand out against the thick blackness of the satin, three characters stand in front of the mirror and look at each other, holding hands.
One of them is a skeleton - a beautiful skeleton young man, who died of love, is a skeleton named Lazarus, whose white bones are polished like ivory, a masterpiece of anatomical processing that can stand and “take poses.”

In the middle is a young woman in long dress white satin with a train, a delightfully beautiful young woman with large sad eyes, sheer grace, sophistication, a strange creature of incomparable charm - Sarah Bernhardt.

The third character of the group is a young man in an oriental, embroidered gold suit, like on an Istanbul holiday: Pierre, or Loti, or Ali-Nissim, as you please.

All three of us said a lot of stupid things in this courtesan’s bedroom, the only one in the whole world.”

The topic of death has interested Sarah Bernhardt since childhood. She attended anatomical lectures in the morgue and public executions. In performances, she was especially concerned with the play of death of her characters.

Relatives feared for the health of the actress, who said, “I’m leaving myself.” At the moment of the game, she experienced the life of her character.

Journalist Henri de Wendel wrote about the actress’s performance: “On stage her personality undergoes a split, she plays as if she were dreaming in reality, and her fatigue is not commensurate with the dizzying extravagance of thought. At first, when she leaves the stage, the thrill she experienced is still felt in reality, just as the impression of a dream rolls in vague waves in the first minutes of our awakening.<…>She merges with her characters and penetrates their atmosphere with amazing power.”

Lady with camellias, introduction

The actress's first fame came from her role as Marguerite Gaultier in the play "The Lady of the Camellias," written by Alexandre Dumas the son of a writer. The actress compared herself with her heroine. Both were sick with tuberculosis, and Sarah Bernhardt had a similar love drama in her life. In "The Lady of the Camellias" the classic plot of the 19th century is that of a "dowry" who becomes a kept woman. Marguerite Gautier renounces her love for a noble young gentleman at the request of his father; she does not want to tarnish her reputation and ruin the future of her beloved. In the finale, the heroine dies of consumption.
Sarah Bernhardt also had to part with her lover, the Dutch prince Henri de Lin, whose relatives were against his relationship with the “actress.”

Death of Marguerite Gautier performed by Sarah Bernhardt

On stage, the actress lived the life of a heroine. The viewer was especially impressed by the scene of Margarita’s death.

“In addition, her knowledge of gesture and posture was honed by her work as a sculptor and painter. She was always aware of the expressiveness of her hands: the death of Marguerite Gautier was played with the help of a handkerchief, which her hand dropped to the floor when life left the heroine. In scenes of agony, Sarah delighted and shocked the audience, her expressiveness made it possible to consistently observe all the states of the character’s soul before making his torment tangible. Since childhood, she knew how to roll her eyes so that the pupils were not visible, and she readily resorted to this remedy.”- from the biography of the actress, Picon S.-O.

Sarah Bernhardt as Lady of the Camellias

Russian critic A. Kugel wrote about the play “Lady with Camellias”: “He is memorable for the tender femininity and grace of the first acts, for the grace and style of her explanations with Duval’s father, for this, some absolutely exceptional expressiveness of her crying hands and sobbing back, and least of all in the scenes of inner experience and great sorrow.”

Russian poetess Marina Tsvetaeva dedicated her poems to Sarah Bernhardt.

"Lady with Camellias"
All your way is a shining hall of evil,
Margarita, judge boldly.
What is your fault? The body has sinned!
You saved my innocent soul.

One, another, no one cares,
You nodded to everyone with a shaky smile.
With this sad half-smile
You have mourned yourself for a long time.

Who will understand? Whose hand will help?
One thing captivates everyone without exception!
Open arms are always waiting,
Always waiting: “I’m thirsty! Be mine!

Day and night of confessions of lying poison...
Day and night, and tomorrow again, and again!
Spoke more eloquently than words
Your dark look, the look of a martyr.

The damned ring is getting closer,
Fate takes revenge on the demi-secular goddess...
A gentle boy suddenly with a childish smile
I looked into your sad face...

O love! She saves the world!
In it alone lies salvation and protection.
Everything is in love. Sleep in peace, Margarita...
Everything is in love... Loved - saved!

Poster "Lady with Camellias", fig. Alphonse Mucha.

Margarita Moreno spoke about the magical effect of Sarah Bernhardt’s performance on the public: “ Very often, while playing, she mixed phrases into the text of her role that had nothing to do with the action. As far as I know, the public, being in the grip of the irresistible magnetism that emanated from her, never noticed this. In one of the tirades of the first act of Phaedra, she once spoke for quite a long time about establishing electric lighting, and no one in the audience flinched. She carried her listeners into an unreal world, where she herself found herself with all ease and where the most bizarre events surprised no more than if they happened in a dream.”

Poster "Lady with Camellias"

The coffin of Sarah Bernhardt has become a favorite topic of discussion in the Parisian world, Françoise Sagan writes about this on behalf of the actress (the novel “Indestructible Laughter”):

“From the age of sixteen, for reasons that I will explain to you later, there was a open coffin, a lovely white satin coffin, a charming object, beautifully finished and clean, the satin of which I changed every two years as soon as it turned yellow. I had to constantly change the upholstery after twenty-four months, and it ruined me every time; I have no idea why furniture upholsterers charge a fortune for this procedure. Imagine, a coffin, despite the simplicity and severity of its lines, costs twice as much as a whole sofa.
I will talk about the reasons that placed this coffin in my bedroom later, but the consequences of such placement turned out to be amazing.

This coffin, which appeared in my bedroom, was naturally noticed by one person close to me, whose modesty was not up to par, then by friends, then by the curious, to whom someone told about my quirk, and ultimately by all of Paris, according to at least that “all of Paris” who showed interest in me found out that I was sleeping in a coffin, in any case believed it, although, of course, I still preferred to sleep in my bed.

So, from the age of sixteen I slept in a coffin, took refuge in it for very different reasons, which changed over time, for I kept this coffin all my life.”

“The coffin was real, it was really impossible to share it with anyone else. Otherwise, I would have had to become not only an acrobat, but also a completely thin one, and even if I was one, it was still not enough to dream in my grave about something other than sleep and rest. So, there were days or evenings when all my thoughts were really directed towards this, which, of course, was not shared by the man accompanying me, although I did not want to offend him, this unfortunate man, whose ardor faded at the sight of me, such , one might say, humble, with my hair loose, thrown back and lips compressed, I resolutely fit into this box.

Strangely enough, the men who left me in this position, cursing their bad luck, did not at all think of questioning my sincerity or the authenticity of such an unexpected mystical impulse. Having seen me step over the edge of the coffin and, stretched out on the somewhat faded satin, with my eyes closed and the stamp of completely unnatural, or, in any case, sudden, piety on my face, folding my hands on my chest, not once did any of them demand that I stop such a humiliating comedy.

This coffin became famous enough or amusingly vicious enough to be treated with a certain respect, mixed with vague fear and hostility, which made the gossip of journalists and gossips very comical. “Sarah and her coffin,” they said, “your coffin,” “your coffin,” “my coffin,” “my coffin” here, “my coffin” there... By God, listen to them, it turned out that each Parisian or member of the cohort representing the so-called “all of Paris” had his own coffin, which they either dragged around with them all day, or, like me, left at home, and that their own coffin was more worthy than mine. I'm sure the press paid more attention to my coffin than to any of my roles. But in the end, why not?

They said that Sarah Bernhardt was later buried in this coffin. According to another version, the coffin fell apart and had to be burned.

“The unfortunate man faithfully followed me all his life - or rather, my whole life, but, alas, did not live to see the moment when he could repay all the funds I invested in him. He died before me, no matter how funny it may seem when applied to the coffin. The cause of his death was travel, moving from one house to another, accidental kicks and, possibly, the feeling of the weight of my body. He finally passed, poor fellow, shortly before I passed myself, but this fact did not arouse my interest. First of all, I never really believed in symbols, and in any case you have to be young to show interest in it.

I ordered it to be burned in my garden. This coffin could not be given to anyone; it is a necessary, priceless thing, and it is impossible to give it as a gift. Sometimes life can be so funny" - (Françoise Sagan's novel "Indestructible Laughter").

“She makes her heroines into women as extraordinary as herself... When playing, she pursues not naturalness, but unusualness. Her goal is to amaze, surprise, dazzle... You look at Adrienne Lecouvreur, and you see in her not Adrienne Lecouvreur, but the smartest, most spectacular Sarah Bernhardt... In her entire game, it is not her talent that shines through, but her gigantic, powerful work... In this work and the whole solution to the mysterious artist"- wrote Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.

Russian mmemperor Alexander III, when Sarah Bernhardt bowed to him according to etiquette, said: “No, madam, it is I who must bow to you.”
Minister Witte spoke very respectfully about this wise emperor (see my post)

In 1912, Sarah Bernhardt starred in the film “Lady of the Camellias.” They say she fainted after watching it. If on stage the actress managed to hide her age with the help of makeup and lighting, then in the cinema close-up she did not look like a young lady.

Film "Lady with Camellias", 1912. Sarah Bernhardt was 68 years old. Horrified, she wanted to withdraw the film from showing, but it was too late.

The actress refused to act in a new movie, and on stage at the age of 70 she played 13-year-old Juliet.

“In the summer of 1909, Marina saw Sarah Bernhardt on stage in Paris. After one of the performances of “The Eaglet” or “Ladies with Camellias,” Marina waited for her and gave her photographs of her to sign as a souvenir. This was her new idol. The actress signed two of her portraits, “Souvenir de Sarah Bemardt” (In memory of Sarah Bernhardt (French)), and on the third, in which she was not looking good, where her blond hair seemed gray under a fur cap, she wrote sweepingly across her face : “Ce n'est pas moi!!!” (three exclamation points), It's not me!!! (French)"- Anastasia Tsvetaeva wrote in her memoirs.

Sarah Bernhardt lived to be 78 years old. Despite the superstitious warnings of her contemporaries, she slept in a coffin and convincingly played death on stage. Before her death, the actress wrote the script for her funeral ceremony and personally approved the actors who were to carry her coffin. The road to the cemetery was strewn with camellias.

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Sarah Bernhardt remained in besieged Paris and set up a hospital in the Odeon theater, devoting herself entirely to the wounded and abandoning even her artistic room.

After the end of the war, Bernard returned to the stage. A real triumph was her performance on January 26, 1872 as the Queen in Victor Hugo's Ruy Blase.

After her triumph on the stage of the Odeon, Bernard returned to the Comédie Française. Here the actress shone in the tragedies of Racine and Voltaire, and with great success played Doña Sol in the drama “Hernani” by Victor Hugo, which premiered on November 21, 1877.

In 1879, the Comedy Francaise toured London. Sarah Bernhardt became the favorite of the English public. After "Phaedra" she received an ovation that had no analogues in the history of English theater.

After a triumphant season in London, in 1880 Bernard broke her contract with the Comédie Française, made six tours of America, and toured in England and Denmark. The actress's touring repertoire included the plays "Lady of the Camellias" by Alexandre Dumas the Son, "Frou-Frou" by Henri Meilac and Ludovic Halévy, "Adrienne Lecouvreur" by Eugene Scribe and others. In 1891, Bernard made a triumphant tour of Australia. During her tours, she visited Russia three times (the last time in 1908).

The actress's talent, skill and great fame forced playwrights to write plays especially for her. Victorien Sardou wrote the plays Fedora (1882), Tosca (1887), and The Witch (1903) for Bernard. Since the 1890s, a significant place in the actress’s repertoire has been occupied by roles in neo-romantic dramas by Edmond Rostand, also written especially for her: “Princess of Dreams!” (1895), "Eaglet" (1900), "Samaritan Woman" (1897).

Sarah Bernhardt willingly performed in male roles (Zanetto in “The Passerby” by François Coppet, Lorenzaccio in “Lorenzaccio” by Alfred Musset, the Duke of Reichstadt in “The Eaglet” by Rostand, etc.). Among them was the role of Hamlet (1899). This role, which Sarah Bernhardt played when she was 53 years old, allowed the actress to demonstrate the high perfection of her technique and the eternal youth of her art.

Sarah Bernhardt repeatedly tried to create her own theater. In 1893, she acquired the Renaissance Theater, and in 1898, the Nation Theater (now the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre), which opened with Sardou's play Floria Tosca.

During the First World War, the actress performed at the front. In 1914 she was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor.

In 1905, during a tour in Rio de Janeiro, the actress injured her right leg; in 1915, the leg had to be amputated. Nevertheless, Bernard did not leave the stage. The last time she appeared on stage was in 1922.

Sarah Bernhardt became one of the first theater actresses who decided to act in films. This happened in 1900: a phonorama was demonstrated in Paris, providing synchronous projection of image and sound, and Sarah Bernhardt was filmed in the scene of “Hamlet’s Duel”.

In 1912, she starred in the films "The Lady of the Camellias" and "Queen Elizabeth". The worldwide success of "Queen Elizabeth" created a name for the film's director, Louis Mercanton. Subsequently, the actress starred in several more of his films.

Bernard was engaged in sculpture and literary creativity. In her later years, she began to write plays, published “Memoirs of a Single Chair” and a novelized autobiography “My double life", which reflected her mastery of words and subtle humor.

There were many legends and incredible myths about the actress’s personal life. It was alleged that Bernard seduced almost all the heads of European states.

At the dawn of her career, she met the Belgian Prince Henri de Ligne, with whom she gave birth to a son, Maurice, in 1864. In 1882, Sarah Bernhardt married the Greek diplomat Aristidis (Jacques) Damal. Their marriage was extremely unsuccessful and they divorced a few months later. At the age of 66, the actress met American actor Lou Tellegen, who was 35 years younger than her. This love affair lasted four years.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

Sarah Bernhardt

It is difficult to find in the annals of women's biographies a more scandalous, more eccentric personality than Sarah Bernhardt. She brought her “acting” to its full logical conclusion, not only on stage, but also in life, she performed this incredibly difficult role from beginning to end with such purity and impeccability, with such an effort of will that you simply wonder: what was more in this posture - a natural inclination or acquired ambition, innate strength or a trained habit of crushing everything around. And although the actress herself in her memoirs slyly, pretending to be a “poor lamb,” writes off incredible rumors about herself to the “yellow” press and malicious journalists bribed by enemies, no one more than Sarah tried to deliberately surround her own existence
an impenetrable cloud of rumors. And the freedom of morals, barely covered by an invented virtue, arouses even greater curiosity of the average person, just as the “pink” innocence of a courtesan attracts more than obvious vulgarity. Probably, Sarah Bernhardt can be recognized as the first “star” of the stage who “made” her name through a scandal.

It is difficult to say how much of her originality came directly from her nature, but the actress very early understood how advantageously this very difference from anyone else could be used. Even as a child, Sarah suffered from bouts of wild anger, which she cleverly explained by her health condition. But it was precisely the violent fits that the girl had from time to time that allowed Sarah to get her way with adults who were always busy with business. Perhaps, if Sarah had caring, moral parents, the world would have lost the pleasure of seeing a great artist and delving into gossip about her, but, fortunately, society’s ideas about integrity are never embodied literally.

Sarina’s parents did not fit well into the usual paternal ideals. Her mother, the Dutch Jew Judith Hart, is usually listed in biographies of the great artist as a music teacher, but in reality she was a beautiful, high-ranking, elite kept woman, who, by the nature of her work, was required to primarily cherish her own person. The illegitimate daughter Sarah was born sickly, predisposed to tuberculosis, and although the mother had some feelings for the child, they did not extend beyond the tenderness of Penochka (this was the only name to which five-year-old Sarah responded). Researchers generally have doubts about the father’s identity. It is usually customary to call engineer Edouard Bernard the father of the artist, but to this day there is no exact evidence of this.

In the end, after some unsuccessful attempts to place his daughter in a decent educational institution, the father allegedly (according to Sarah herself) decided to send the girl to a boarding school at the Grand Chan monastery. Thus, the first paradoxical page appeared in the biography of the great actress, which Sarah would later use with pleasure - as if she passionately wanted to become a nun, but chance did not allow it. The institution where our heroine ended up was distinguished by its humane methods and care for its students. The sisters of the monastery replaced little Sarah with a non-existent family. The rebellious, sickly girl was sincerely loved and pampered by the abbess, Mother Sophia. However, this kind woman had difficulty restraining Sarino’s unbridled rage, which made itself felt from time to time. Bernard left Grand Chan with a scandal, due to her fantastic stubbornness and defiant desire for publicity.

Sarah grabbed the shako of a soldier who had thrown his headdress over the monastery fence, and climbed onto the high sports ground, teasing the joker. Having achieved the delight of her “comrades,” Sarah realized that the game had gone far only when she tried to drag the ladder she had climbed onto the platform, but the heavy wooden structure fell and split with a roar. As a result, the girl found herself cut off from the ground. Considerable troubles disrupted the measured life of the monastery. After this adventure, Sarah fell ill, and in addition, the inappropriateness of being “such a beast” among the beautiful nuns became clearly visible, and the girl was sent home.

Her further fate was determined by family council. Since a rich inheritance was not expected for Sarah, and marrying a wealthy leather merchant, in the opinion of her mother, was something shameful, and since Sarah was not destined to become a nun, Judith’s then lover - Comte de Morny, half-brother of Napoleon III - decided that the girl should be sent to a conservatory; fortunately, a high-ranking family friend had plenty of connections. Today no one knows for sure what helped the count so correctly determine Sarah’s future, but the girl’s fanatical narcissism and rare inner freedom probably played an important role.

Having successfully passed the entrance exams, Sarah immediately attracted the attention of teachers. At the annual competition of the conservatory, the girl received two prizes - the second for a tragic role and the first for a comic role. An unusually beautiful voice, the plasticity of a cat, an expressive appearance - all these features made one take a closer look at the young actress, and soon Sarah received an offer to play one-off performances at the most prestigious French theater, the Comédie Française. However, going to an appointment with the director to discuss her first contract, Sarah took with her her younger sister, who by that time was five years old. A girl, as “well-bred” as Sarah, in the director’s office began to climb on chairs, jump over stools, and throw papers out of the trash can. When the respected monsieur made a remark to the artist’s sister, the little prankster, without thinking much, blurted out: “And about you, sir, if you pester me, I will tell everyone that you are a master of making empty promises. This is my aunt speaking!

Sarah almost had a stroke. She dragged her stupid sister along the corridor, who howled heart-rendingly, and in the fiacre she began that terrible attack of anger, which almost led to the murder of the simple-minded child. But despite the failure of the first negotiations, a year later, in 1862, Sarah Bernhardt successfully debuted at the Comédie Française in the role of Iphigenie in Racine’s tragedy “Iphigenie in Aulis.” One of the critics, Francis Sarce, later even became famous for being the first to notice the young talent, predicting a brilliant future for him.

But Sarah did not stay long in the famous theater. Her little sister was again to blame for the scandal that happened this time. Well, just an “evil angel” of poor Sarah! Bernard herself said that on Moliere’s birthday (and the Comédie Française is called the home of this great playwright), according to tradition, all the theater artists approached the bust of their patron with greetings. At the ceremony, Sarah’s little sister allegedly stepped on the train of the stage prima, the so-called “sauceter,” Natalie. The old, angry, grumpy woman sharply pushed the culprit away, and the girl allegedly smashed her face into a bloody column on a column. With a cry: “Evil creature!” - Bernard attacked her colleague. The fight took place with a clear preponderance of forces in favor of youth. Sarah was soon forced to leave the famous stage in disgrace. Agree, aren’t there too many scandals due to the fault of the poor little sister...

It seemed that the actress would not recover from such an embarrassment soon, but the very next day after the contract was broken, Sarah visited the Gymnaz theater and was accepted into the troupe.

A difficult period has come in her life - everyday life similar to one another, rehearsals, readings of plays, mediocre performances. For Sarah's active nature, such peace and quiet became unbearable torture. No one wanted to recognize her as a brilliant actress, no one admired her, and in such an environment she could wither like a flower without water. Frightened by the gloomy prospects, Sarah, in a moment of despair, decided to go into business and for this she found a suitable confectionery store. Only the irresistible boredom that wafted over her from the counters filled with roasted almonds, sweets and sweet cakes kept Bernard from taking a rash step.

But she would not have become a great artist if she had not been prone to unexpected, adventurous actions. After another terrible performance, Sarah secretly disappeared from Paris at the height of the season. They searched for her with the police almost throughout France. And she went to Spain, ate tangerines there and enjoyed her vacation. Having provoked another scandal, our heroine parted with the hated theater with a light heart and immediately received a new invitation to the Odeon.

It was this imperial theater that opened Bernard's path to fame. Sarah believed that she felt the first happy rapture of the stage on the stage of the Odeon, and the first delight of the audience from her performance pierced the hall of the Odeon. U
Sarah gained many fans, especially among students, she became popular, young people fell in love with her for her courage and relaxedness, for the fact that the actress declared the ideals of the new France. Sarah Bernhardt becomes an actress of the emerging romantic movement in the theater. Her showiness and ardor captivate the viewer; she is a divine symbol of the romantic beauty of Rostand, Hugo, and Dumas son. One Russian critic compared the French actress’s performance to lovely figurines that one would love to put on one’s fireplace.

Sarah, who loved luxury and pleasure, herself became the item that was included in the mandatory list of luxurious social entertainment. During her lifetime, the artist made herself an object of cult. The delighted Victor Hugo knelt before Sarah Bernhardt right on stage after the premiere of one of his tragedies. But not only exalted artists prostrated themselves before the actress. The powers that be vying with each other demonstrated their love for the celebrity. Sarah had magical influence on men and women, and the whole high society adored her. The brochure “The Loves of Sarah Bernhardt” boldly suggested that she had seduced all the heads of state of Europe, including the Pope. Of course, this is mere hyperbole, but there is evidence that she did have a “special relationship” with the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) and with Prince Napoleon, the nephew of Napoleon I, whom George Sand introduced her to. As for the other leaders, if she did not occupy their beds, she won their hearts. She was showered with gifts by Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, King Alfonso of Spain and King Umberto of Italy. King Christian IX of Denmark put his yacht at her disposal, and Duke Frederick allowed her to use his family castle.

Probably, objectively, Sarah Bernhardt was not the most talented actress of her time, but she became the most prominent stage personality of that era. The performance of the role of Marguerite Gautier in “The Lady of the Camellias” by Alexandre Dumas son led the audience into hysterical ecstasy. It is unlikely that any of the enthusiastic admirers thought about true art; rather, in the fanatical worship of the “star” the usual instinct of the crowd was discerned, the desire to be involved in the “deity”.

Sarah tried to stand out in everything. And the only thing that really distinguished Bernard from everyone else was her unusually powerful energy. She knew how to do a hundred things at once. Nobody knew when she slept. Rostand recalled the actress this way: “Running onto the dark stage; revives with his appearance a whole crowd of people yawning and languishing here in the twilight; walks, moves, lights up everyone and everything she touches; sits down in front of the prompter's booth; begins to stage the play, indicates gestures, intonations; jumps up as if stung, demands to be repeated, growls with rage, sits down, drinks tea again; starts rehearsing herself..."

Bernard was one of the first among celebrities to understand that charity and a small amount of sympathy for the disadvantaged would add additional flair to her name. During the war of 1870, the artist remained in besieged Paris and even set up (fortunately, her name also works flawlessly on officials) in the Odeon theater a hospital for the wounded. In this act of Sarah there was both a desire to help and an irresistible narcissism.

In the hospital, admirers flocked to the artist, despite the martial law. Bernard happily signed autographs. One day she gave her photograph to an ardent nineteen-year-old boy named Ferdinand Foch. In 1915, Sarah Bernhardt was accompanied by Marshal Ferdinand Foch on a trip to the fronts of the First World War.

“Forgetting” about the contract with Odeon, the artist, seduced by astronomical fees, returned to the Comedy Francaise, where she successfully worked until 1880. There was probably not a single day when the newspapers did not write about another sensation associated with Sarah Bernhardt. Either the actress buys a panther “for personal use,” then she “flies” in a hot air balloon, then, finally, she receives the interviewer while reclining in a coffin. There was a lot of gossip about the “star’s” latest oddity. One of the spiteful critics even claimed that Sarah prefers to make love on this funeral bed, which drives men crazy.
The culprit herself, with childish spontaneity, explained the existence of the coffin in her room due to the limited square footage. They say that my little sister was dying, and there was nowhere to put the coffin - so they “stuffed” it into Sarina’s room. Well, you obviously can’t sleep in the same bed with a sick woman, so the poor artist had to make a bed for herself in a coffin. Sometimes she learned the roles right away. In general, Sarah did not want to shock anyone; the journalists, who were simply trying to make money on her name, made such a prosaic fact downright ominous.

Having finally fallen out with the management of the House of Molière, in 1893 Bernard acquired the Renaissance Theater, and in 1898 the theater on Place du Châtelet, which was called the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre.

The artist did not leave this beloved creation until her death. Even when her leg was amputated in 1914, Sarah continued to play with the prosthesis. This spectacle, apparently, was not for the faint of heart. Bernard, who always boasted of her “skeletal” thinness, flaunted her fragile figure and successfully used fainting to defuse the situation, in her old age became fat and flabby, and her health was by no means weak. She resolutely despised pragmatic opinions that it was time for her to leave the stage, that nothing remained of her former charm. She considered herself above sympathetic whispers, above generally accepted norms, above, finally, above nature itself. Sarah continued to play.
Marina Tsvetaeva, who rushed to Paris in her early youth to see the legendary Sarah with her own eyes, was shocked. Bernard played the role of a twenty-year-old youth in Rostand's The Eaglet. The actress turned 65 and walked on a prosthesis. “She played in the era of whalebone corsets, which emphasized all the roundness female figure, a twenty-year-old youth in a tight-fitting white uniform and officer's leggings; no matter how majestic it was... the spectacle of unbending old age, it smacked of the grotesque and also turned out to be a kind of tomb erected by Sarah and Rostand, and Rostanov’s “Eaglet”; as well as a monument to blind acting heroism. If only the audience were also blind...” Tsvetaeva called this “egocentric courage.”

And yet she achieved her goal - exorbitant ambition and unprecedented energy melted into genuine recognition. Sarah went down in theater history and cultural history as the greatest actress of the 19th century.

The entire life of the brilliant Sarah Bernhardt can be called a series of roles played. AND we're talking about not only about the theatrical stage. Sarah loved to play the roles of temptresses, rebels, brawler. The public idolized her, accepting the actress in any guise. Read on in the review about the four main roles in the life of the great prima of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Role 1: daughter of a courtesan

Sarah Bernhardt with her mother Judith Bernard.

At birth, the future theater star was named Rosin by her mother, like a cute dog that always gets underfoot. But that’s pretty much how it was. Judith Hart did not want to have children. Her daughter was born from random connection a courtesan with one of her many lovers.

The charming cutie from Rosin-Sara did not work out. She caused a lot of trouble for her nannies. The girl was constantly ill, which is why she was often capricious, expressively expressing her feelings. When the doctors said that Sarah might soon die, the girl begged her mother to buy her a coffin, because she was afraid that she would be buried in some ugly box. Then the coffin will become a kind of talisman for the actress, which she will carry with her everywhere, learning roles in it and posing for photographers.

Sarah Bernhardt. Marie Desire Bourgoin, 1869.

When the girl grew up, her mother, wanting to get rid of her, sent her to a boarding school at the Grand-Champs monastery. The nuns loved the eccentric and disobedient Sarah, but they could not withstand her antics for long, fearing that the girl’s behavior would have a detrimental effect on the rest of the pupils.

Upon her daughter's return home, Judith decided to marry her off. Sarah immediately threw a tantrum, declaring that it was better to go to a monastery. The mother's lover, the Duke de Morny, who observed this scene, burst out laughing and offered to send the girl to study acting.

Role 2: actress

Sarah Bernhardt after her debut in the theater (1863).

Sarah Bernhardt dreamed of shining on the stage of the Comedie Française theater. Being a graduate of the Paris Conservatoire and having good recommendations, she was invited to play one-time roles in the theater. At the agreed time, Sarah came to the director to discuss the details of the work. Her younger sister, Regina, came into the office with her. Sarah took care of her, remembering how she herself was deprived of maternal love. One day, a 6-year-old girl began jumping around the room, making noise and throwing paper around. In an attempt to pacify the child, the theater director received an unexpected answer: “And about you, sir, if you pester me, I will tell everyone that you are a master of making empty promises. This is my aunt speaking!

Sarah Bernhardt as Grismonda. Hood. Clarine Georg Jules Victor.

Sarah had to forget about Comedy Francaise for a whole year. After a while, she finally appeared on the stage of the theater. Her first performance did not create a sensation. At that time, plump actresses were in fashion, and Sarah Bernhardt did not fit these standards at all. The public immediately dubbed her a “well-polished skeleton.” And only the critic Francis Sarce wrote that a great future awaits this actress.

At Comedy Française, Sarah lasted only until the end of her contract. The younger sister “contributed” to this again. Regina, as always, got underfoot and stepped on the train of the theater's elderly prima. She pushed the child away, and the girl broke her face. In response to this, Sarah Bernhardt attacked the actress with her fists. After that, she was no longer offered to stay.

Sarah Bernhardt - famous actress late XIX - early XX centuries.

The next 4 years were difficult in the life of the actress. She changed theaters, countries, men. Not wanting to become a courtesan, the actress got a job at the second most popular Parisian theater, the Odeon. It was there that Sarah Bernhardt became a real star. They bowed before her famous writers, sculptors, artists. Wealthy officials showered Sarah with jewelry.

After 10 years, the actress returned to the Comedy Française. Now she played only leading dramatic roles. The audience was delighted. In addition, Sarah Bernhardt did everything to get people talking about her. Newspapers constantly published news about the latest escapade of the outrageous star, be it the purchase of a panther, a trip in a hot air balloon, or an interview in a coffin.

Sarah Bernhardt is a French actress.

From fame and universal adoration, Sarah Bernhardt's behavior became more and more unpredictable. The public continued to storm the theater, wanting to see their favorite actress, but the management could no longer tolerate her antics. In the end, Sarah decides to leave the Comédie Française and opens her own theater.

Role 3: mistress


Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt. Clarine Georg Jules Victor, 1871.

Sarah Bernhardt literally drove men crazy with her acting. They wrote that the actress managed to seduce almost all the monarchs of Europe and even the Pope. Sarah herself loved to tell reporters about her next “victory.”

Sarah Bernhardt truly fell in love with the Belgian prince Henri de Ligne. The feeling was mutual. The prince was even ready to give up his royal privileges just to marry Sarah. He set her only one condition: his beloved must leave the stage. The actress was already ready to take this step, but suddenly realized that the prince was giving up much more and in the future he might be disappointed in her. Sarah made a difficult decision and sent the prince away from her. A few months after breaking up with the prince, she gave birth to a son, Maurice. It was he who became the main love of her life.

Sarah Bernhardt is a French actress.

Sarah Bernhardt had affairs all the time, but she did not fall in love, but rather stroked her vanity, reveling in her power over men. The star herself recalled the time when she lived with her courtesan mother: “My mother’s house was always full of men, and the more I saw of them, the less I liked them.”
Role 4: aging prima


Sarah Bernhardt as Pierrot.

When Sarah Bernhardt turned 60, her leg was amputated. As a child, Sarah jumped out of a window, begging her mother to take her away from her nanny. Then the girl injured her knee. The second time the actress fell from the set without a safety net. After that, she endured excruciating pain and eventually begged doctors to amputate her leg. But this did not stop the actress from continuing to perform.

At the age of 65, Sarah Bernhardt played a 20-year-old boy in the play “The Eaglet.” She was already a plump woman with a terrible prosthesis, but the audience continued to applaud her. “I will continue to live the way I lived. Until I stop breathing,” that’s what the aging actress said. Even at 78 years old, she managed to play 13-year-old Juliet.


Sarah Bernhardt in a coffin.

Anticipating her death, Sarah Bernhardt ordered the selection of six of the most beautiful young actors in France to carry her coffin. When Sarah Bernhardt was sent on her final journey, the entire road was strewn with camellias, which the actress loved so much.