The great actress wrote the autobiographical book “My Double Life” (1907), but she hid a lot in it, did not finish, especially from the area of ​​​​personal life. This book only deepened the mystery around the phenomenon of Sarah Bernhardt.

What is known for sure? Sarah Bernhardt was born on October 22, 1844 in Paris. Her mother is Dutch Jewish Judith Hart, a musician who actually led the life of a beautiful kept woman. Sarah's father is the engineer Edouard Bernard, although some researchers believe that the father was a certain Morel, an officer in the French navy. However, Sarah Bernard, herself becoming a mother, carefully concealed from whom she gave birth to a son, Maurice.

Sarah received her upbringing in a monastery, but she never mastered obedience: she grew up hot-tempered, stubborn, a real demon. But when it came time to go beyond the fence, Sarah felt as if she had been thrown into the sea. And she can't swim...

The fate of the girl was determined by the next owner of her mother, the Count de Morny: he decided to send Sarah to the conservatory. So "Mop" (nickname of Sarah Bernhardt) appeared in public, became, in modern terms, a public person. Well, then the theater, which she had long dreamed of. The director of the Comédie Francaise expressed doubt: "She's too skinny to be an actress!" Nevertheless, Sarah Bernard was accepted, and at the age of 18 she made her debut in Racine's tragedy Iphigenia in Aulis. This happened on September 1, 1862.

“When the curtain slowly began to rise, I thought I would faint,” Bernard recalled. Regarding her first exit, the opinion of critics was as follows: “The young actress was how beautiful, just as inexpressive ...” Only the golden mass of fluffy hair conquered everyone.

The unsuccessful debut did not break Sarah, it was not for nothing that her motto was the words: "By all means." She had a steel character and extraordinary courage. She left the House of Molière and played in the theaters Gymnasium, Porte Saint-Martin, Odeon, to return to the Comédie Française as a prima donna in all the brilliance of acting. She wonderfully played young heroines in the classical repertoire - Phaedra, Andromache, Desdemona, Zaire, and then began to shine in the plays of modern playwrights. One of the best roles of Sarah Bernhardt is Marguerite Gauthier ("Lady of the Camellias" by Alexandre Dumas son).

Madam! You were charming in your grandeur, - said Victor Hugo. - You excited me, old fighter. I cried. I give you a tear that you vomited from my chest, and I bow before you.

The tear was not figurative, but diamond, and it crowned the bracelet chain. By the way, there were a lot of diamonds donated to Sarah Bernhardt. She loved jewelry and did not part with them during travels and tours. And for the protection of jewelry, she took a pistol with her on the road. “Man is such a strange creature that this tiny and absurdly useless thing seems to me a reliable defense,” the actress once explained her addiction to firearms.

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Interestingly, few actresses played as many male roles as Sarah Bernhardt - Werther, Zanetto, Lorenzaccio, Hamlet, Eaglet ... In the role of Hamlet, Sarah Bernard conquered Stanislavsky himself. And the 20-year-old Eaglet, the unfortunate son of Napoleon Bonaparte, the actress played when she was 56 years old! The premiere of the heroic drama by Edmond Rostand took place in March 1900 with a resounding success - 30 encores! ..

Stanislavsky considered Sarah Bernhardt an example of technical perfection: a beautiful voice, perfect diction, plasticity, artistic taste. The theater connoisseur, Prince Sergei Volkonsky, highly appreciated the stage skills of Sarah Bernhardt: “She perfectly mastered the polarity of emotions - from joy to grief, from happiness to horror, from affection to rage - the subtlest nuance of human feelings. And then - “the famous talker, the famous whisper, the famous growl, the famous“ golden voice ”- la voix d’or,” Volkonsky noted. - The last stage of skill - her explosions ... How she knew how to lower herself in order to jump up, to gather herself in order to rush; how she knew how to aim, to crawl up to burst. The same thing in her facial expressions: what a skill from a barely noticeable inception to the highest scope ... "

Newspaper articles describing Sarah Bernhardt's tour of America and Europe sometimes resembled reports from the theater of war. Attacks and sieges. Triumphs and defeats. Raptures and lamentations. The name of Sarah Bernard in the news of the world often replaced economic and government crises. First, Sarah Bernhardt, and only then conflicts, disasters and other incidents of the day. On trips, she was invariably accompanied by a retinue of reporters. Public and religious organizations treated her differently: who sang glory to her, and who betrayed her blasphemy. Many in America considered her visit "an invasion of the accursed snake, the offspring of the French Babylon, who arrived to pour poison into pure American mores."

In Russia, they were waiting with interest for the “new Napoleon in a skirt”, who had already conquered all of America and Europe and was moving straight to Moscow. Moskovskie Vedomosti wrote: “The greats of the world showered this fabulous princess with honors, which, probably, neither Michelangelo nor Beethoven dreamed of in a dream ...” Why be surprised? Sarah Bernhardt was essentially the world's first superstar.

Sarah Bernard visited Russia three times - in 1881, 1898 and 1908. The success was huge, although there were critics, including Turgenev. In a letter to Polonskaya in December 1881, he wrote: “I can’t say how angry I am with all the madness that is being committed about Sarah Bernhardt, this impudent and distorted poofist, this mediocrity, which only has that lovely voice. Surely no one in the press will tell her the truth? .. "

What to say about this? Turgenev's heart was completely filled with Pauline Viardot, and there was not even a tiny corner left for Sarah Bernhardt. However, the negative emotions of Ivan Sergeevich could not overshadow the glory of Bernard. Great - she is great, even if someone does not think so.

But the stage is one thing, and life outside of it is already something else. Sergei Volkonsky believed that Sarah Bernhardt, outside the theater, was “an ugly person, she is all artificial ... Red tuft in front, red tuft in the back, unnaturally red lips, powdered face, all made up like a mask; amazing flexibility of the camp, dressed like no one else - she was all “in her own way”, she herself was Sarah, and everything on her, around her gave off Sarah. She created not only roles - she created herself, her image, her silhouette, her type ... "

She was the first superstar, hence the advertising of her name: perfume, soap, gloves, powder - "Sarah Bernard". She had two husbands: one - a prince from an ancient French family, the second - an actor from Greece, an unusually handsome man. But the main passion of Sarah Bernhardt was the theater. She lived by them, she was inspired by them. She did not want to be a thing, a toy in the hands of the powerful of this world - she was engaged in painting, sculpture, composed funny novels and funny plays. She ventured into the sky in the Giffard balloon, where, at an altitude of 2300 meters, the daredevils “dined heartily on goose liver, fresh bread and oranges. The champagne cork saluted the sky with a muffled noise...

Sarah Bernhardt has often been compared to Joan of Arc. Considered a witch. It was she who prompted Emile Zola to stand up for the poor Captain Dreyfus. Chaos reigned in her apartment: carpets, rugs, ottomans, trinkets and other items were scattered everywhere. Dogs, monkeys and even snakes spun under their feet. There were skeletons in the actress's bedroom, and she herself liked to teach some roles, reclining in a coffin upholstered in white crepe. Outrageous? Undoubtedly. She loved scandals and demonstrated her special charms to the world. She wrote about herself like this: “I love it very much when people visit me, but I hate visiting. I love receiving letters, reading them, commenting; but I don't like answering them. I hate places of human walks and adore deserted roads, secluded corners. I love giving advice and I really don't like it when they give it to me."

Jules Renard noted: “Sarah has a rule: never think about tomorrow. Tomorrow - come what may, even death. She enjoys every moment... She swallows life. What an unpleasant gluttony! .. "

The word "gluttony" is clearly felt envy of the successes of Sarah Bernhardt. Yes, she lived a full life, excitedly, and even after her leg was amputated in 1914. Despondency was never her lot. Sarah Bernard died on March 26, 1923, at the age of 79. Almost all of Paris came to the funeral of the "queen of the theater." Tens of thousands of admirers of her talent followed the rosewood coffin through the whole city - from Malserbe Boulevard to the Pere Lachaise cemetery. The last path of Sarah Bernhardt was literally strewn with camellias - her favorite flowers.

“Sarah Bernhardt, an actress of almost legendary fame and fame, has died. There was a lot of exaggeration in judgments about Sarah Bernhardt - in one direction and the other, - Alexander Kugel, one of the best Russian critics, wrote in an obituary. - Of the thousand theatrical dreams, more or less intoxicating, that I dreamed, the dream of Sarah Bernhardt -

one of the most original and complex-entertaining.

When she went on stage, the whole audience sat with bated breath. When she started a new romance, the whole city discussed it. If society even for a short time allowed itself to lose interest in the great Sarah Bernhardt, she immediately corrected the situation. Any means were used, from highly artistic and inimitable on stage to unexpected and scandalous in life. It seemed that this indomitable woman played every minute of her life, played a shocking play in a fashionable modern style, not allowing the public to remain indifferent to what was happening. And she succeeded, she was idolized and adored, criticized and blamed, set as an example and envied.

Gorgeous Sarah, both in life and on stage, subtly felt the audience, but at the same time she never followed the prudent opinion of the majority. Often, too often, with a graceful movement, she destroyed the usual framework, passionately rushed into the maelstrom of the experiment and emerged victorious from the most incredible troubles. The audience applauded. Writer Paul Moran, her contemporary, writes about it this way: In the 1900s in Paris life was a theater and that theater was one Sarah Bernhardt».

The Taming of the Shrew

On October 22, a daughter was born to a Parisian kept woman, Judith Hart. The girl was named Henrietta Rosina and handed over to the nurse: the mother had sufficient funds, but did not have the time and desire to raise her illegitimate baby. Moreover, it soon became clear that the girl had a very difficult character, and it was almost impossible to keep her behavior within the boundaries of what was permitted. By the age of ten, the imp Henrietta was sent to study at the school at the Grandshan monastery. And, despite the fact that this institution was famous for its gentle treatment of the pupils, the girl was kicked out several times for the disgrace she had caused. And they immediately took her back - so convincingly she repented of her deed and promised never, never to behave badly again. Obviously, the nuns were her first audience, on which she tried her inimitable tragic-emotional style of acting. Later, flirting with society, she even said that at a young age she was going to be tonsured. But it was not created for the monastery walls and for ordinary and exemplary life. Nature created her to play on the stage. Perhaps it was this talent that the "family friend" Duke de Morny saw in her and strongly recommended that she be sent to the drama class of the Paris Conservatory. Which is what was done. Later, evil tongues chatted that young Henrietta owed her academic success to the wealth of her patron, and not at all to her abilities. The young actress did not care about such statements, as well as everything that interfered with the achievement of her goal. Her life motto was "No matter what," and this was very suitable for her indomitable character. She got her first role in the famous Parisian theater "Comedy Francaise", which was also respectfully called the "House of Molière". Posters modestly announced the debut of a certain Sarah Bernhardt in Racine's play Iphigenia in Aulis. The reaction of critics was also very modest - the play of the young actress did not impress them. However, the theater decided to conclude a contract with her. But the time to shine in the Comedie Francaise has not yet come for Sarah Bernhardt - at a theater evening dedicated to Moliere, the actress's younger sister stepped on the train of an elderly prima of the theater, and ... a scandal ensued. Sarah refused to apologize for the slap she gave to her prima in defense of her little sister. I had to leave the theater...

From scandal to triumph

Having slammed the door in the "House of Molière" and not feeling a bit of regret about it, Sarah Bernhardt entered the theater "Zhemenaz". Here the actress worked a lot, “searched for herself”, but she could not boast of any particular success. And one fine day, she decided to quit everything without saying a word to anyone, and left for Spain - "to get some air and change the situation." She left a note to the director of the theater that ended with the words: “Forgive the poor crazy woman!” It seems that leaving the theater with a scandal was a habit for the actress. No, this did not bother her at all, especially since she soon had to go through a romantically sad story on a personal front. Seeing the young beauty Sarah, the Belgian Prince Henri de Ligne fell in love at first sight. Despite the protest of his august family, he offered his hand and heart to his Cinderella, promised to recognize their newborn son Maurice and was even ready to give up the crown. True, with one condition: Sarah leaves the stage forever and devotes herself to her family ... And although she loved her handsome prince, she preferred the theater and personal freedom. The relatives of the marriageable prince and princess breathed a sigh of relief.

In 1867, she entered the Odeon Theater, and it was on its stage that the actress finally came to success. It is noteworthy that the first noticeable approval of criticism was her role in the genre of "travesty" - she played the young man Zanetto in F. Conpe's play "The Passerby" (1867). Later, she very willingly took on male roles on stage: she shone in The Marriage of Figaro by Beaumarchais, playing the handsome Cherubino, perfectly played the role of Napoleon's son in Rostand's tragedy The Eaglet (1900). Moreover, a rather solid age for the actress - fifty-six - did not prevent her from playing a twenty-year-old boy. At the same time, Sarah Bernard played the most coveted role of Prince Hamlet for actors of all time. But still, the first real triumph was brought to her by the female role - the queen in Ruy Balze (1872) by Victor Hugo. The audience and the author himself were delighted - Hugo went on stage and, bending his knee, kissed the actress's hand. Critics vied with each other to praise the "poetic grace" of Sarah Bernhardt and the "greatness dejected by genuine grief." Theater "Odeon" was preparing for further sold-out. But then the Comédie Francaise lured the rising star to him, offering fabulous fees. Sarah left the Odeon, paying the theater a huge penalty as a consolation.

A play about endless love

The love stories of Sarah Bernhardt were no less famous than her roles. She was once asked when she was going to stop lighting her life with the flame of love. Bernard replied: “When I stop breathing!” Almost all the august persons of Europe were suspected of having connections with her, especially since many of them gave a reason for this. So, the English prince Edward, the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph, the king of Spain Alfonso and the Danish king Christian IX generously endowed the actress with location and jewelry. Yes, Sarah Bernhardt was famous for her lovers. Among which, by the way, were not only powerful and great, but also her stage partners. Sometimes it even seemed that it was simply necessary for her to fall in love with her partner, and sometimes such a relationship lasted exactly as long as the play was played. Sometimes this contributed to the dizzying success of the duo, as, for example, was the case with actor Jean-Mounet Sully. And just once, Sarah Bernhardt was seduced by the bonds of legal marriage. Her chosen one was the Greek diplomat Aristide Damala, whom she met on tour in Russia in 1881. The chosen one, of course, was a handsome man, eleven years younger than her, but nothing good came of this union. Upon discovering that her husband was an incorrigible skirt hunter, gambler and drug addict, the gorgeous Sarah immediately left him - apparently without much regret. Men adored her for her beauty, originality and eccentricity, and in her long life she was not alone for a single day. Even when she left them, they sometimes referred to their time with her as "the best days of their lives." For a long relationship, Sarah Bernhardt lacked constancy - she often saw boredom and stagnation behind him, and therefore tried to arrange as many shocks in her life as possible.

Life in the style of "outrageous"

Today, few people can be surprised by the scandalous halo of the life of stars. But in the time of Sarah Bernhardt, this was very atypical even for celebrities. And it seemed that, once having tasted the charm of outrageous behavior, she no longer wanted to behave differently. She did not recognize the canons either on stage or in life, she adored originality in everything. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), instead of leaving Paris, she turned the theater into a hospital and brilliantly coped with the role of a nurse. In one of the harsh winters, she spent a round sum on bread ... for the Parisian sparrows. Her house was full of exotics, but the most famous piece of furniture was a mahogany coffin. Sometimes she slept in it, sometimes she taught roles, sometimes she made love, sometimes she took him on tour with her. Demonstrating enviable courage, she once rose in a balloon to 2600 meters - at that time it was a significant risk to life. Tired of the academic "Comédie Francaise", she decided to open her own theater and be the sovereign hostess in it. And although the era of emancipation was already approaching, society considered her act another madness. Sarah Bernhardt was fine with that. In 1893, she acquired the Renaissance Theater, and 5 years later, the Chatelet Theater, which became the Sarah Bernard Theater. She directed and played in it for almost a quarter of a century, until her death. It seemed that the actress was not at all afraid of failures and failures, and, perhaps, it was for this courage that fate did not get tired of giving her gifts. The great contemporary playwrights - Rostand, Hugo, Dumas son - wrote their plays specially for her, and she ensured their triumph. Oscar Wilde, during her English tour, threw white lilies at her feet, and Stanislavsky praised her impeccable acting technique. Sarah Bernard never hid her age and did not pay attention to the grumbling of individual critics that it was time for her to retire. It seemed that the word "peace" did not exist in her life. In addition to directing and playing in the theater, she managed to paint and sculpture, find new reasons for gossip and scandals, and even act in silent films. True, they say that the first experience in the cinematograph terrified the actress and she even fainted, but later she nevertheless starred in several tapes and allowed them to be left for history.

End of the legend

Sarah Bernard loved to play tragedy, and perhaps her dream was to die on stage. She could not imagine herself without the theater, and even when doctors amputated her leg in 1915, she continued to appear in performances - she was carried out on a special stretcher. Here, the words once said by the actress were very suitable for the occasion: “ Great is the artist who makes the audience forget about the details».

Perhaps everyone understood that her star would soon set, but no one thought about it when she delivered her monologues from the stage. Shortly before her death, she appointed six of the most beautiful actors of the theater to carry her coffin at the funeral, which this time she was going to use for its intended purpose. She died on March 26, 1923. After herself, she left a huge number of memoirs of her contemporaries, conflicting reviews of famous critics, a book of her own memoirs. The latter, however, does not answer the questions of the curious at all, covering the life of the actress with a veil of tantalizing secrets. Sarah Bernard believed that "legend always prevails over history", and tried to follow this. And she succeeded again, becoming the most legendary actress of her time. How much talent was in this, and how much scandal, now no one will say for sure. And is it possible to reproach a woman for the desire to be loved, unique and divine?

Sarah Bernard

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 strong-willed effort that you simply wonder: what was more in this posture - natural inclination or acquired ambition, innate strength or educated habit to crush everything around. And although the actress herself in her memoirs slyly, pretending to be a “poor sheep”, writes off incredible rumors about herself at the expense of 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 liberty of morals, barely covered by invented virtue, arouses even greater curiosity of the layman, just as the “pink” innocence of a courtesan attracts more than sheer vulgarity. Probably, Sarah Bernhardt can be recognized as the first "star" of the scene, who "made" a name for herself on the scandal.

It is difficult to say what proportion of originality came directly from her nature, but the actress realized very early how advantageously this very dissimilarity could be applied to anyone. As a child, Sarah suffered bouts of wild anger, which she deftly explained as a state of health. But it was the violent seizures, arranged by the girl from time to time, that allowed Sarah to get her way from adults who are 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 verbatim.

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

In the end, after some unsuccessful attempts to attach his daughter to a decent educational institution, the father allegedly (according to Sarah herself) came up with the idea of ​​​​giving the girl to a boarding school at the Grand Shan monastery. So, in the biography of the great actress, the first paradoxical page appeared, which Sarah would later use with pleasure - as if she passionately wanted to become a nun, but the case did not allow it. The institution where our heroine ended up was distinguished by humane methods and care for her pupils. The sisters of the monastery replaced a non-existent family for little Sarah. The rebellious, sickly girl was sincerely loved and spoiled by the abbess, mother Sophia. However, even this kind woman could hardly restrain Sarino's unbridled rage, which from time to time made itself felt. She left the Grand Shan Bernard with a scandal, because of her fantastic stubbornness and defiant desire for publicity.

Sarah grabbed the soldier's shako, who threw his headdress over the fence of the monastery, and climbed onto the high sports ground, teasing the joker. Having achieved the delight of the “companions”, 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 cracked with a roar. As a result, the girl was cut off from the earth. Considerable troubles disrupted the measured life of the monastery. After this adventure, Sarah fell ill, and besides, all the inappropriateness of the presence of "a kind of beast" among the good-looking nuns became clearly visible, and the girl was sent home.

Her further fate was determined at the family council. Since a rich inheritance was not expected for Sarah, and, according to her mother, it was something shameful to marry a wealthy leather merchant, 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 the conservatory, since the high-ranking friend of the family had plenty of connections. What helped the count so correctly determine the future of Sarah, no one knows for sure today, but, probably, fanatical narcissism and rare inner freedom of the girl 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 awards - the second for a tragic role and the first for a comic one. An unusually beautiful voice, plasticity of a cat, expressive appearance - all these features made her look at the young actress, and soon Sarah received an offer to play one-time performances at the most prestigious French theater, the Comédie Francaise. However, going to an appointment with the director to discuss her first contract, Sarah took her younger sister with her, who by that time was five years old. A girl as "well-bred" as Sarah, in the headmaster's office, began to climb chairs, jump over a stool, scatter papers from a wastebasket. When the respected monsieur made a remark to the artist's sister, the little naughty, 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 talking!

Sarah almost had a stroke. She was dragging her stupid sister along the corridor, who howled heart-rendingly, and in the cab she began that terrible fit of anger, which almost led to the murder of an ingenuous child. But despite the failure of the first negotiations, a year later, in 1862, Sarah Bernhardt made her successful debut in the Comédie Française as Iphigenia in Racine's tragedy Iphigenia in Aulis. One of the critics, Francis Sarse, later even became famous for being the first to notice the young talent, predicting a bright future for him.

But in the famous theater, Sarah did not stay long. In the scandal that happened this time, her little sister was again to blame. Well, just the "evil angel" of poor Sarah! Bernard herself said that on Molière's birthday (and the Comédie Francaise is called the home of this great playwright), according to tradition, all the theater artists approached the bust of their patron with a greeting. At the ceremony, Sarah's supposedly little sister stepped on the train of the prima stage, the so-called "socièter", Natalie. The old, angry, quarrelsome woman sharply pushed the culprit away, and the girl, as if in blood, smashed her face against a column. With a cry: "Evil creature!" - Bernard attacked a colleague. The fight took place with a clear preponderance of forces in favor of youth. Sarah was soon forced to leave the famous scene in disgrace. Agree, aren't there too many scandals due to the fault of the poor little sister ...

It seemed that after such an embarrassment, the actress would not recover soon, but the very next day after breaking the contract, Sarah visited the Gimnaz Theater and was accepted into the troupe.

A difficult period began in her life - everyday life similar to one another, rehearsals, readings of plays, mediocre performances. For Sarah's active nature, such silence and smoothness 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 desperation, decided to go into business and for this she found a suitable candy store. Only irresistible boredom, which blew over her from the shelves filled with roasted almonds, sweets and sweet cakes, kept Bernard from a reckless step.

But she would not have become a great artist if she had not been prone to unexpected, adventurous actions. After another nasty performance, Sarah secretly disappeared from Paris at the height of the season. She was searched with the police almost all over 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 the way to fame for Bernard. Sarah believed that she felt the first happy ecstasy of the stage on the stage of the Odeon, and the first delight of the audience from her performance pierced the Odeon hall. At
Sarah had many fans, especially among students, she became popular, young people fell in love with her for her courage and looseness, for the fact that the actress declared the ideals of the new France. Sarah Bernard becomes an actress in the emerging romantic direction in the theater. Her showiness and ardor capture the viewer, she is the divine symbol of the romantic beauty of Rostand, Hugo, Dumas son. One Russian critic compared the performance of a French actress to lovely figurines that one would like to put on one's fireplace with pleasure.

Sarah, who loved luxury and pleasure, herself became the subject that was included in the mandatory list of luxurious social entertainment. Even during her lifetime, the artist made herself an object of worship. 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. Vie with each other demonstrated their love for celebrities and the powers that be. Sarah had a magical effect on men and women, and all the high society adored her. The pamphlet The Loves of Sarah Bernhardt boldly suggested that she 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 rest of the leaders, if she did not occupy their beds, then 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 ancestral castle.

Perhaps, objectively, Sarah Bernhardt was not the most talented actress of her time, but she became the brightest personality on the stage of that era. The performance of the role of Marguerite Gauthier in "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, the desire to be involved in the “deity”, was guessed.

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

One of the first among celebrities, Bernard realized that charity and a small amount of sympathy for the disadvantaged would give her name an extra flair. During the war of 1870, the artist remains in besieged Paris and even arranges (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 irresistible narcissism.

In the hospital, despite the martial law, admirers “bursted” to the artist. Bernard was happy to sign autographs. One day she gave her photo to an ardent nineteen-year-old boy, whose name was Ferdinand Foch. In 1915, Marshal Ferdinand Foch accompanied Sarah Bernhardt on a trip to the fronts of the First World War.

“Forgetting” about the contract with the Odeon, the artist, seduced by astronomical fees, returns to the Comedie Francaise, where she successfully works until 1880. There was probably not a single day that the newspapers did not write about another sensation associated with Sarah Bernhardt. Either the actress will acquire a panther “for personal use”, then she “flies” in a balloon, then, finally, she receives an interviewer, reclining in a coffin. There was a lot of gossip about the last oddity of the "star". One of the spiteful critics even claimed that Sarah prefers to make love on this funeral bed than drives men crazy.
The culprit herself, with childish spontaneity, explained the existence of the coffin in her room by the tightness in square meters. Say, my sister was dying, and there was nowhere to put the coffin - so they "stuffed" it into Sarina's room. Well, it’s clear that you won’t sleep in the same bed with the patient, so the poor artist had to lay herself in a coffin. Sometimes she and the role immediately learned. In general, Sarah did not want to shock anyone, the journalists who simply tried to make money on her name made such a prosaic fact downright sinister.

Having finally quarreled with the management of the House of Molière, in 1893 Bernard acquired the Renaissance Theater, and in 1898 - the theater on Chatelet Square, which was called the Theater of Sarah Bernhardt.

The artist did not leave this beloved brainchild until her death. Even when her leg was amputated in 1914, Sarah continued to play with the prosthesis. This sight, apparently, was not for the faint of heart. Bernard, who always boasted of her “skeletal” thinness, flaunted a fragile figure and successfully used fainting to defuse the situation, grew fat, flabby in old age, 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 in her was left of her former charm. She considered herself above sympathetic whispers, above generally accepted norms, above, finally, nature itself. Sarah continued to play.
Marina Tsvetaeva, who aspired 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, she moved on a prosthesis. “I played in the era of whalebone corsets, which emphasized all the roundness of the female figure, a twenty-year-old youth in a tight-fitting white uniform and officer's breeches; no matter how majestic it was ... the spectacle of unbending old age, but 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 the spectators were still blind…” Tsvetaeva called it “egocentric courage”.

And yet she achieved her goal - exorbitant ambition, unprecedented energy melted into genuine recognition. Sarah entered the history of the theater, the history of culture as the greatest actress of the 19th century.

October 22, 1844, the legendary French actress Sarah Bernhardt was born. For half a century, her name did not leave the pages of newspapers and magazines around the world. Her life was very eventful. Here are some little-known facts from the biography of the actress

How did the career of an actress begin?

At one of the social events that her mother Judith van Hart gave, fifteen-year-old Sarah, wringing her hands, threw herself at her feet, begging to be let go to the monastery. This scene was attended by patron Judith Duke de Morny, half-brother of Emperor Napoleon III.

Yes, this girl is not going to the monastery, but straight to the stage! exclaimed de Morny.

That same evening, together with Alexandre Dumas, the father, they took Sarah to the Comédie Française, where they gave the Britannica. Racine shook her to tears. Under the patronage of de Morny and Alexandre Dumas, Father Sarah was admitted to the National Academy of Music and Recitation. After two years of study at the academy, Sarah received an engagement at the Comedy Française. Although at first her candidacy caused doubts among the director of the troupe.

She's over the top,” he said. - Too thin waist, too thick hair, overly expressive eyes!

In 1862, Bernard made her successful debut in the Comédie Française as Iphigenia in Racine's tragedy Iphigenia in Aulis.

Sarah Bernhardt and diamonds.

Sarah Bernard had a lot of diamonds. She loved jewelry and did not part with them even during travels and tours. And so that nothing happened to the stones, she took a pistol with her on the road.

Man is such a strange creature that this tiny and ridiculously useless thing seems to me a reliable defense, Bernard explained her addiction to firearms.

Men in the life of Sarah Bernhardt.

Sarah's mother wanted to make a courtesan out of the girl, but Sarah refused this role. The actress knew her first intimacy at the age of 18 with the Count de Keratry, but she experienced true love with Prince Henri de Ligne. From this connection, Sarah had a son. Her admirers included Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, Oscar Wilde. The great actress magically attracted both men and women. The Sarah Bernhardt books boldly suggest that the actress seduced every head of state in Europe. There is evidence that she really had a close relationship with the Prince of Wales, the nephew of Napoleon I. Sarah Bernard was showered with magnificent gifts by the Emperor of Austria, the King of Spain, the King of Italy. The partners with whom she played in the theater were often her lovers, but many later became true friends.

In 1882, Sarah Bernard married for the first and only time in her life to Aristidis Jacques Damal, a Greek diplomat. He was 11 years younger than Sarah. Their marriage was extremely unsuccessful, and after a few months they divorced. At the age of 66, the actress met the American Lou Tellegen, who was more than 30 years younger than her. This love affair lasted four years.

Male roles and cinema.

Sarah Bernard played many male roles. A resounding success brought her the role of Napoleon's son in Rostand's play The Eaglet. In March 1900, when Sarah Bernard played the role of a twenty-year-old youth, she herself was already 56 years old. The audience liked her game so much that she called the actress for an encore 30 times. Sarah Bernhardt's list of male roles includes the Prince of Denmark in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Zanetto in Francois Coppé's play Passerby, Lorenzaccio in Musset's play of the same name. In addition, she became one of the pioneers of cinema. On account of Sarah Bernhardt participation in several films. The actress managed to embody the image of Marguerite Gauthier not only on the theater stage, but also on the movie screen. But after watching the film "Lady of the Camellias" Sarah Bernhardt decided not to get involved with cinema anymore. Close-up ruthlessly showed the true age of the actress. 70-year-old Sarah could play young Juliet on stage. But in the movies it's impossible.

War.

In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War began. Sarah Bernard sent her relatives away from Paris, taking care of their safety, but she herself remained in the besieged capital. At the Odeon Theater, Sarah Bernard equipped a hospital for the wounded. Using her connections, she got everything necessary for the hospital: food, linen, clothes, medicines, firewood for heating. They did not hesitate to help the wounded. Somewhat later, in 1904, at the height of the Russo-Japanese War, Sarah Bernhardt gave charity concerts together with the famous Italian tenor Enrico Caruso. The money earned was sent to the wounded Russian soldiers. By the way, Sarah Bernhardt has always had mutual love with the Russian public. Three times she came on tour to our country: in 1881, 1898 and 1908.

Outrageous love.

The famous actress has always been distinguished by eccentric behavior. What is worth only one mahogany coffin, which accompanied her on all trips. Even in childhood, when the doctors made the girl a terrible diagnosis: consumption, she begged her mother to buy her a coffin so that she would not be put in some ugly one. In the coffin, Sarah Bernhardt rested, read, memorized new roles. In it, she posed for photographers. There were even rumors in Paris that Sarah Bernard indulged in love pleasures in her coffin.

Sarah Bernard loved to shock the audience, and not only on stage. Even her home she designed very extraordinary. She “decorated” the apartment with stuffed birds holding skulls in their beaks. As for pets, in addition to traditional cats and dogs, the actress got a monkey, a cheetah, a white Irish wolfhound and chameleons lived in her garden.

Fears.

Sarah Bernhardt, despite her fearlessness, had one phobia - a panic fear of heights. But in 1878, during the Paris Exhibition, Sarah Bernhardt tried to overcome it by rising in a balloon to a height of two thousand meters. High in the air, a champagne dinner was held in pleasant company. In any case, for Bernard, this entertainment was a real test. Even Sarah Bernard managed to curb her nervousness: at the beginning of her acting career, she was afraid to go on stage, it even came to fainting.

Death.

The great actress even reacted unusually to her own death. When she was dying at the age of 78, she ordered that six of the most beautiful young actors be chosen to carry her coffin. On her last journey - spectacularly and elegantly - she set off on March 26, 1923. Tens of thousands of admirers of Sarah Bernard's talent followed the coffin through the whole city - from Malserbe Boulevard to the Pere Lachaise cemetery. The road was strewn with camellias, her favorite flowers.

BERNARD SARA

(born in 1844 - died in 1923)

Great French theater actress, creator and director of the Sarah Bernard Theater (1898–1922), sculptor, painter, author of two novels, four plays and memoirs My Double Life (1898). She was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor (1914).

She was called the Great Bernard, the Magnificent Sarah, Mademoiselle the Rebel. This was an amazing woman. Extraordinarily beautiful, graceful, graceful, with naturally lush, golden, curly mane of hair and sea-green eyes. A unique chic emanated from her, and each act was perceived as another eccentric trick. Impressive, passionate, sensual, impulsive. Behind her trail trailed scandals that turned into legends. She knew how to conquer the audience and men, to be friends with women as naturally as breathing. An extraordinary thirst for life, irrepressible curiosity, combined with other bright qualities of character, turned into the rarest human alloy, into a "miracle of miracles", into a brilliant actress named Sarah Bernhardt. But let's think about the words of V. Hugo: "This is more than an actress, this is a woman ..." A great woman.

Sarah was born on October 23, 1844. Her mother, Julie van Hard (Judith von Hard), who had Jewish and Dutch blood in her veins, was very pretty. Having moved to Paris, she made a rapid career as a highly paid kept woman and was accepted in high society. At 16, Julie gave birth to the first of three illegitimate daughters. Who was the father of Sarah is not exactly known, but most biographers name the naval officer Morel Bernard. Weak from birth, the girl was brought up by a wet nurse until she was five years old. She called her Penochka and loved her like her own child. Then her "comfortable children's prison" became the boarding house of Ms. Fressard and the privileged Catholic monastery of Grand Champ, where the Jewish girl was christened.

Mother rarely visited Sarah. But she always appeared, like a Madonna, when her daughter, sick with tuberculosis, subject to fevers and fevers, especially after uncontrolled bouts of "wild anger", was between life and death. Sarah loved her mother very much, from whom came the unique aroma of another life, closed from the girl. To keep her close to her longer, she jumped out of the window at the age of five, broke her arm and severely injured her knee, but achieved her goal. For two years, mother and her patrons took care of the baby.

At the age of 14, the impressionable Sarah convinced herself that she should become a nun. Madame Bernard believed that her daughters were destined for the fate of beautiful courtesans (Sarah later agreed that this "work is very profitable", but she herself never lived at the expense of her lovers). And one of the mother's patrons, the Duke de Morny, having carefully looked at the amazing temperament of the young Bernard, advised her to study theatrical art at the Conservatory. Sarah, who first crossed the threshold of the theater at almost 15 years old and did not know anything about the profession, nevertheless was enrolled in an acting school. She studied hard, and teachers predicted success for her.

Everyone was sure that Bernard would receive the first awards in the tragic and comedy genres at the final exams. But she, as throughout her creative life, was let down by the fear of going on stage. She often played in such an excited state that after the end of the performance she fainted. Despite the failure, in 1862 Sarah was enrolled in the best theater in Paris - the Comedie Francaise, thanks to the patronage of A. Dumas and the Duke de Morny. In the debut role of Iphigenia in the play of the same name by Racine, she was "inexpressive". Critics noted the pleasant appearance of the young actress and the impeccability of diction. Her unique voice, about which Dumas said that it sounds like a "crystal clear stream, murmuring and jumping on golden pebbles", had yet to captivate the audience.

Bernard did not last a year in this theater. For the insult to her younger sister Regina, she slapped a fat prima donna. She refused to apologize and had to leave. Then Bernard played for a short time in the theater "Gimnaz". Gradually, she began to open up as a dramatic actress. She got fans. Among the first known lovers of Sarah was a handsome lieutenant, the Comte de Katri, and her first love was the offspring of a noble Belgian family, Duke Henri de Ligne. The family of the young prince rebelled against their feelings, and Sarah was forced to give up her happiness. A few months after her sad return to Paris, she gave birth to a son, Maurice (1884), and became a loving and devoted mother. Later, Prince Henri de Ligne invited Maurice to recognize him and give his high-born name, but the son of the famous actress Bernard refused this honor.

Sarah plunged headlong into work at the Odeon Theater, which, although less famous than the Comedie Francaise, became her home for the actress. She was liked by the public for her originality and became the idol of students, successfully playing in the performances "Kin" by A. Dumas (1868) and "Passerby" by F. K?nne (1869). In the latter, she created a sensation by playing the role of the young minstrel Zanetto. The actress's intoxicating path to fame was interrupted by the war with Germany. The spirit of patriotism that flared up in her did not allow her to leave the city besieged by enemies. Having sent the whole family away from the hostilities, Sarah equipped a hospital in the Odeon and, along with other women, became an ordinary caring nurse.

France lost the war, but the courageous Bernard triumphed over herself, saving other people's lives in the cold and hungry autumn and winter of 1870-1871. And in January of the following year, Sarah stood at the top of the theatrical Olympus. She became the "Chosen of the Public", the famous author V. Hugo knelt before her and thanked her for the truly royal game (the role of the queen) in his play "Ruy Blas". Years later, Bernard wrote in her memoirs that now you can argue about her, but you can’t neglect her.

After this triumph, the actress with all her eccentricities was gladly accepted by the Comédie Francaise. Sarah broke up with the Odeon, as she received "real pennies" there, and preferred freedom and independence in everything, including in material terms. Gifts from lovers are a natural thing, but she did not sell her feelings. Sarah surrounded herself with talented men. How close Gustave Doré, Edmond Rostand, Victor Hugo, Emile Zola were with her is unknown. Contemporaries named them among the thousand of her lovers. And in one of the books, Sarah was credited with a “special relationship” with all the heads of European states, including the Pope. Passionate in love, the actress was that explosive mixture of eroticism and freedom of spirit that aroused men. But declaring herself that she “was one of the greatest mistresses of her age,” in her memoirs “My Double Life” (1898), she passed over all love affairs in silence, probably so as not to offend anyone. Contemporaries stated that Bernard slept with all theatrical partners. About Sarah and Pierre Berton wrote that their passion "could light up the streets." And a long relationship with the great actor Jean Mounet-Sully almost ended like Shakespeare's tragedy Othello. The director, who lowered the curtain a few minutes before the dramatic denouement, prevented the lover, rejected and offended by the resignation, from “carrying out the sentence”.

But Bernard loved the thrill. She climbed to a height of 2600 m in a balloon basket, bringing the director of the theater to white heat, descended into underground caves, slid down Niagara Falls on ice on her own coat. This passionate woman treated all her extravagant and serious ideas with the same fervor as she did with the theater and men. When Sarah decided to try her hand at sculpture, she stayed up all night in her studio. Even Rodin himself did not deny her talent, although he called the works "somewhat archaic." The sculptural group "After the Storm" received an award at the exhibition (1878) and was sold to the "king from Nice" for 10 thousand francs.

Fascinated by painting, instead of treating anemia in Menton, Bernard went to Brittany, climbed the mountains and did not leave the easel on the seashore for hours. And it seemed that after another eccentricity, this fragile and sickly woman gained strength. Doctors predicted her death in childhood. Upon learning of this, the impressionable girl persuaded her mother to buy her a coffin so as not to lie "in some freak." She did not part with him even on tour. I learned roles in it, slept, took pictures and even made love, if this did not embarrass my partner. And all this abundance of ideas and adventures Bernard managed to combine with rehearsals and triumphal performances in the theater.

Each new performance revealed to the viewer the facets of the actress's talent, unique in their expressiveness (Phaedra by Racine, Zaire by Voltaire, Foreign Woman by Dumas son). At the premiere of his play "Ernani" V. Hugo wept, fascinated by Sarah in the role of Doña Sol. To his letter of gratitude to the actress, he attached a diamond tear on a bracelet chain.

On tour with the Comedie Francaise, Bernard conquered London, But now she was already cramped within the same theater. After an unsuccessful production of "The Adventuress" by Dumas son, which she called "her first and last failure", Sarah, having paid a hundred thousandth penalty, left the theater and created her own troupe (1880). Having made a rapid tour of England, Belgium and Denmark, which was called "28 Days of Sarah Bernhardt", the actress signed a lucrative American contract. With nine performances, Bernard traveled to 50 cities in the United States and Canada, giving 156 performances and receiving huge fees. Now her name meant success, and playwrights created plays under Bernard: Dumas son - "The Lady of the Camellias"; V. Sardu - "Fedora", "Tosca", "The Witch", "Cleopatra", Rostand - "Princess Dream", "Eaglet", "Samaritan Woman". The actress was subject to any role. At 32, she played the 70-year-old blind Roman woman Postumia in Parodi's Rome Conquered, and at 56 she entered the stage as a twenty-year-old prince, the son of Napoleon, in The Eaglet. Sarah managed to capture the eternally male roles - Lorenzaccio in the play of the same name by Musset and captivated the audience with an exquisite non-traditional decision of the role of Hamlet.

Her irrepressible thirst for action was astounding. Sarah tried several times to create her own theater, and in 1898, the Theater of Sarah Bernard opened its doors on the Place de la Chatre in Paris. With her troupe, in which her sister Zhanna played, the actress traveled half the world, toured Australia, South America, Europe, was nine times in the USA and three times in Russia. Only Germany did not see her - Sarah could not forgive the Germans for the siege of Paris. During her first visit to Russia, Bernard met Aristidis (Jacques) Damala, adviser to the Greek mission, in St. Petersburg. He was nine years younger than Sarah, very handsome and easily conquered women's hearts. Bernard was so enamored with him that she even married him (1882). However, their marriage was short-lived. The husband dragged after young actresses, played cards for high stakes, and then became addicted to drugs. But even being divorced from him, Sarah took care of him, dying from morphine and cocaine (1889). Bernard herself attracted men for a long time. At 66, she met Lou Tellegen in the United States, who called their four-year love affair "the best years" of his life. But he was 35 years younger than Sarah.

The desire to feel and live opened up new horizons for Bernard. Sarah was seriously engaged in literary creativity. After the successful novel "Among the Clouds", she wrote two manual novels for young artists ("The Little Idol" and "The Red Double") and four plays ("Andriena Lecouvreur", "Confession", "A Man's Heart", "Theater on the Field of Honor "). And the memoirs of Sarah Bernhardt are not boring memories, they are a sea of ​​feelings and thoughts. She was so different, remaining herself. Sarah's actions shocked many, but no one was surprised either by her disinterested generosity to fellow artists in need, or by joint charity concerts with E. Caruso in favor of Russian wounded during the war with Japan. Bernard spoke to the soldiers on the fronts of the First World War (1915), and on the trip she was accompanied by the famous French General F. Foch, whom she left 35 years ago in her hospital. Sarah really needed such a faithful friend, because shortly before the trip, her leg was amputated well above the knee. But overcoming difficulties, as well as creating them, was her favorite thing, because it was not for nothing that she chose the words: “By all means” as her life motto.

Bernard riveted attention to her person not only with outstanding creative achievements, but also with eccentric behavior and whims shocking the public. In one of the cold winters, she spent two thousand francs on bread to feed the hungry sparrows of Paris. And her mansion in the center of Paris was somewhat reminiscent of a menagerie. It was inhabited by four dogs, a boa constrictor, a monkey and a huge cockatoo. Sarah also dreamed of having two lion cubs, but they were successfully replaced by a “very funny cheetah” and a snow-white wolfhound, which she acquired with the money she received from the sale of her paintings and sculptures at an exhibition in England.

Bernard received fabulous fees, but she also lived with her usual chic. She was also helped to spend the money earned by hard work by her beloved son, the exquisite handsome Maurice, who squandered fabulous sums in gambling houses. To pay off his debts, Sarah was forced to work until the last days of her life. She was one of the first great theatrical actresses to appear on the silver screen in 1900. The first attempts - the scene "Duel of Hamlet" and the film adaptation of Sardu's play "Tosca" - were so unsuccessful that Sarah made sure that the picture was not released. But, squeezed by creditors in a vise, she was forced to agree to play the main roles in the films "Lady of the Camellias", "Queen Elizabeth", "Andrienne Lecouvrere", "French Mothers", "Jeanne Dore" and "His Best Deed". The opinion of critics was ambiguous - from delight to complete rejection. Her style of play, make-up, speech were designed for a theatrical audience and were perceived on the screen rather strangely. But most of the films have been worldwide successes, and Queen Elizabeth has had a significant impact on the style of Hollywood.

Since 1915, Bernard played on stage only while sitting. And if someone could be ironic, seeing how they carry her to the stage in an elegant stretcher, then with the beginning of the play, any ridicule disappeared. To captivate the viewer, Sarah had enough expressive gestures of carefully made-up hands. And her voice, pouring into the hall, fascinated the audience, forcing them to measure their breath with the pace of her speech. On stage, motionless Bernard remained a theatrical goddess. This courageous woman deservedly wore the highest award of France - the Order of the Legion of Honor.

Bernard lived her life with youthful enthusiasm and rapture. A severe attack of uremia interrupted the rehearsals of the film "The Seer", but did not break her spirit. In the last hours of her life, Sarah selected six young actors who were to accompany the eternally young, passionate and boundlessly talented woman on her last journey. And the infamous mahogany coffin waited in the wings. March 26, 1923 Sarah Bernard died, stepping from life into legend. It has become the national pride of France, a symbol of the country, like the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the Marseillaise. She “was not afraid to climb the pedestal, which is based on gossip, fables, slander, flattery and fawning, lies and truth,” said her friend, actress Madeleine Broan, “because staying at the top, obsessed with a thirst for Glory, Bernard strengthened him with talent, work and kindness."