Fun Facts About Sarah Bernhardt
- Sarah Bernhardt kept a satin-lined coffin in her bedroom and sometimes slept in it or lay in it to study her roles. Contrary to popular stories, she never took it on her travels.[1]
- After her leg was amputated in 1915, Bernhardt refused an artificial leg, crutches or a wheelchair. She was carried in a Louis XV-style chair she designed, and kept performing.[1]
- Bernhardt's poster commission launched Alphonse Mucha: she hired the then-unknown artist for Gismonda, loved the result, and gave him a contract for six more posters.[1]
- Bernhardt's 1912 film Queen Elizabeth earned Adolph Zukor enough to found the company that later became Paramount Pictures.[1]
- Oscar Wilde wrote his play Salomé in French especially for Bernhardt. Mark Twain said there are bad, fair, good and great actresses, "and then there is Sarah Bernhardt."[1][3][4][5][6]
- In 1900 Bernhardt filmed Hamlet's duel scene with herself as Hamlet, recorded on a phonograph so the film had sound. She is the earliest-born person with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[1]
- Sarah Bernhardt was alive at the same time as John Quincy Adams — their lives overlapped for 4 years (1844–1848).[1][2][7][8]
- Sarah Bernhardt shares a birthday with Pelé: both were born on October 23.[1][2][9][10]
Sarah Bernhardt was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas fils, Ruy Blas by Victor Hugo, Fédora and La Tosca by Victorien Sardou, and L'Aiglon by Edmond Rostand. She played female and male roles, including Shakespeare's Hamlet. Rostand called her "the queen of the pose and the princess of the gesture", and Hugo praised her "golden voice". She made several theatrical tours worldwide and was one of the early prominent actresses to make sound recordings and act in motion pictures. She was also an accomplished visual artist, as a painter and particularly as a sculptor.[1]
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Questions About Sarah Bernhardt
When was Sarah Bernhardt born?
Sarah Bernhardt was born on October 23, 1844, and died on March 26, 1923.
How old was Sarah Bernhardt at death?
Sarah Bernhardt was born on October 23, 1844, and died on March 26, 1923, at age 78.
What was Sarah Bernhardt known for?
Sarah Bernhardt was known for: French stage actress of worldwide fame. Sarah Bernhardt was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas fils, Ruy Blas by Victor Hugo, Fédora and La Tosca by Victorien Sardou, and L'Aiglon by Edmond Rostand. She played female and male roles, including Shakespeare's Hamlet. Rostand called her "the queen of the pose and the princess of the gesture", and Hugo praised her "golden voice". She made several theatrical tours worldwide and was one of the early prominent actresses to make sound recordings and act in motion pictures. She was also an accomplished visual artist, as a painter and particularly as a sculptor.
Who was alive at the same time as Sarah Bernhardt?
Sarah Bernhardt's closest contemporary was John D. Rockefeller. Their lives overlapped for 79 years.
Sources
- Sarah Bernhardt — Wikipedia. Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sarah Bernhardt (Q4605) — Wikidata
- Oscar Wilde — Wikipedia
- Oscar Wilde (Q30875) — Wikidata
- Mark Twain — Wikipedia
- Mark Twain (Q7245) — Wikidata
- John Quincy Adams — Wikipedia
- John Quincy Adams (Q11816) — Wikidata
- Pelé — Wikipedia
- Pelé (Q12897) — Wikidata
- Portrait: SarahBernhardt1880.jpg — Wikimedia Commons. Napoleon Sarony, Public domain