Sarah Bernhardt(1844-1923)
- Actress
- Writer
- Additional Crew
This celebrated star of the French stage had a sporadic love-hate
affair with early cinema. After her film debut in
Le duel d'Hamlet (1900) she
declared she detested the medium; yet she consented to appear in
another film, La Tosca (1909). Upon
seeing the results, she reportedly recoiled in horror, demanding that
the negative be destroyed. Her next film appearance, in the Film d'Art
production of
La dame aux camélias (1912),
was a critical and popular success, helping give cinema artistic
dignity. The following year she made
La reine Élisabeth (1912)
in Britain. The receipts from this film's distribution in the US
provided Adolph Zukor with the funds to
found Paramount. Bernhardt, at 69, was offered a fortune to make films
with other companies, but stayed with Film d'Art, appearing in
Adrienne Lecouvreur (1913).
She appeared in two more pictures after losing a leg in 1915,
Jeanne Doré (1915) and
Mères françaises (1917), both
produced as WWI morale boosters. In 1923, when she was 79, her hotel
room was turned into a studio so that she could appear in the film
La voyante (1924). But her failing
health halted production and she died before the film was completed.
She was portrayed on the screen by
Glenda Jackson in
The Incredible Sarah (1976).
