Sarah Bernhardt
She is today still considered one of the greatest performers to ever grace the stage. And her life off the stage was equally dramatic. She kept the world entertained as both an actress and an eccentric, and earned her place in history as one of the most iconic women of the modern age.
This episode explores the life story of the actress, artist, author, and eccentric Sarah Bernhardt. Sarah Bernhardt had one of the most successful acting careers in all of history. She performed all over the world, she pioneered a new method of acting, and she was unafraid to play a number of male roles, including Hamlet.
What is lesser known about Sarah Bernhardt is that she was also an accomplished sculptor, who exhibited her work at the Paris Salon. And while Sarah was an artist herself, many other artists clambered to capture her portrait across the mediums. In her youth, Sarah was photographed by the famed French photographer Félix Nadar, and was later painted by acclaimed portraitists Georges Clairin and Alfred Stevens. She was also the subject of a series of posters made by artist Alphonse Mucha.
This episode is produced by Kula Production Company.
REFERENCES
Bernhardt, Sarah, and Robert Bethune. My Double Life. the Autobiography of Sarah Bernhardt. Freshwater Seas, 2017.
Gottlieb, Robert. Sarah: The Life of Sarah Bernhardt. Yale University Press, 2013.
Reef, Catherine. Sarah Bernhardt: The Divine and Dazzling Life of the World’s First Superstar. Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020.
IMAGES
Paris Conservatoire, taken in 1907.
The Comédie-Française in the late 18th century.
The Duc de Morny.
The Théâtre du Gymnase, where Sarah performed in her early days.
Portrait of Sarah by Félix Nadar, circa 1864.
Portrait of Sarah by Félix Nadar, circa 1864.
Portrait of Sarah by Félix Nadar, circa 1864.
Belgian Prince de Ligne.
Sarah with her son Maurice in 1905.
Théâtre de l'Odéon today.
Félix Duquesnel, the director of the Odéon.
Victor Hugo in 1875.
Sarah Bernhardt in 'Ruy Blas' by Georges Clairin, 1879.
Sarah Bernhardt as Phedre, 1874.
Sarah with her hat made from bats.
Sarah Bernhardt with one of her pet dogs.
Sarah in her coffin, taken in 1907.
Sarah in front of the hot air balloon she rode in.
Sarah in the hot air balloon she rode in.
Jean Mounet-Sully.
Georges Clairin, Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt, 1876.
Sarah Bernhardt in her at artist studio in Montmartre.
Sarah Bernhardt, After the Storm, 1876.
Sarah Bernhardt, Self Portrait as Chimera, 1880.
Émile Perrin, director of Comédie Française.
Aristides Damalas, Sarah’s husband.
Louise Abbéma, Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt, 1883.
Sarah Bernhardt, Louise Abbema, 1878.
Théâtre de la Renaissance.
Le théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt à Paris.
Sarah Bernhardt as Hamlet in 1899.
Sarah’s fort in Belle-Ile.
Sarah after her leg amputation.
Le Sarah Bernhardt Cafe in Paris.
