Sarah Bernhardt, a phenomenal actress, the first superstar in history, who for several decades covered the countries and continents of the whole world, was born in Paris on October 22, 1844. Sarah's mother, a Jewish woman, Judith (according to other sources, Judit), grew up in the family of Moritz Baruch Bernardt and Sarah Hirsch. As for the father of the great actress, it is not possible to reliably trace his name and origin.
Sarah Bernhardt, whose biography contains pages of various kinds, grew up under the supervision of governesses, as her mother had no profession and was forced to exist at the expense of wealthy admirers of female beauty. The life of a beautiful kept woman is usually associated with long trips. The woman does not belong to herself, as she is obliged to fulfill the terms of the unspoken contract. Thus, little Sarah remained in the care of the untidy nannies and grew up in an atmosphere of relative prosperity, but without maternal love.
Anxious childhood
Once a misfortune happened to a girl. The next nanny did not keep track, Sarah came too close to the burning fireplace, and her dress flared up. The neighbors ran to the cries of the child, and everything worked out, although the girl was scared to death. Judith, learning about the incident, decided not to leave her daughter anymore. Since then, Sarah has lived with her mother. Fortunately, at that time, Judith had a regular admirer, Earl De Morne, who was a sincere person. He sincerely loved the courtesan and therefore began to take part in the fate of her daughter.
"Comedy Francaise"
When Sarah was 9 years old, she was sent to the Grandschamp private privileged school. De Morne made sure that the girl was educated and did not need anything. The life of the future actress began to take on quite definite outlines. She completed her studies and decided to achieve her cherished dream - to become an artist. And again she was helped in this by a family friend, Count De Morne, who took the eighteen-year-old Sarah Bernhardt to the director of the Comedy Frances Theater. He was somewhat puzzled: "Too thin for the stage," he said. Nevertheless, Sarah Bernhardt, whose biography then opened a new page, was accepted into the troupe, and this became a huge happiness for the girl.
Theatrical debut
Theatrical debut of Sarah Bernhardt took place on September 1, 1862 in the play "Iphigenia in Aulis" by playwright Jean Baptiste Racine. Before going on stage, the actress was worried. As the curtain began to rise slowly, Sarah nearly fainted. The girl was literally shaking with excitement, and it is not surprising that critics unanimously praised the actress for her beautiful appearance and put her “deuce” for acting. “From now on, the theatrical audience of Paris can come to admire Sarah Bernard’s lush golden hair, but nothing more,” the newspapers wrote.
Popularity
However, negative reviews are also reviews. In addition, theater critics did not take into account the iron character of the novice actress. After some time, Sarah left the “Comedy Francaise” and began to play the first roles in other theaters. These were Odeon, Gimnaz, Port Saint-Martin. Each performance, in which the actress participated, became a masterpiece of stage art. The audience threw a shaft at Sarah Bernhardt, and the director of the “Comedy Frances” bit his elbows. However, having played almost all the classic roles, Zaire, Desdemona, Fedra, Andromache and many others, Bernard returned to the Moliere House as a prima donna, where she was received with open arms.
Sarah Bernhardt and Diamonds
The actress once again shocked the theatrical audience, playing Margaret Gauthier in the play "Lady with Camellias" by Alexander Dumas the son. The writer Victor Hugo, shocked by the sincerity of Sarah Bernhardt, gave her diamonds in the form of tears on a gold chain. “These are the tears of my soul,” he said. The actress for a long time kept the necklace as the most expensive gift, as an invaluable recognition of her talent. Sarah Bernhardt loved jewelry as the true woman loved her; she worshiped diamonds. Admirers of the actress knew this and unscrupulously took advantage of Sarah's weakness, giving her gifts of fabulous prices.
Bernard never left her jewelry at home when she needed to go on tour. All diamonds were packed in a durable case and everywhere followed their mistress. At the same time, Sarah Bernhardt did not feel peace of mind, she was afraid of attack and robbery. And in order to resist the robbers, this weak woman always carried with her a small ladies' revolver. A little later, in the twentieth century, Sarah Bernhardt appeared a follower. It was the world famous and beloved by all Consuela Velazquez, the author of the song "Basame Mucho", over which time has no power. Consuela carried around the world with jewelry and money, and there were a lot of them.
Male roles
The revolver in Sarah Bernhardt's travel bag indirectly spoke of her manly, solid character. These signs of gender, in a good sense, were reflected in the work of the actress. She played many male roles, including Hamlet, Eaglet, Werther, Lorenzaccio, Zanetto.
I must say that Hamlet performed by Bernard conquered Stanislavsky himself, who at that time was still a very young man, but already knew a lot about theatrical art. Konstantin Sergeyevich, too, would surely give the actress diamonds if he had them.
Later, Stanislavsky repeatedly noted Sarah Bernhardt as a standard of excellence, her naturally delivered voice, impeccable diction, internal culture and, most importantly, a deep understanding of the character.
Indeed, the actress owned a wide palette of human feelings, there was no such manifestation of a female soul (and sometimes a male soul) that could not be embodied in the image of her character Bernard. Organic transitions from grief to joy, from tenderness to rage - this is the true skill of the artist. Actress Sarah Bernhardt played so that Stanislavsky could only say his famous - "I believe ..."
The "talk" of this woman, her "whisper", the ability to "lower oneself to rush," to "crawl to burst" - it was not just the talent of the great actress, this is a grand gift of God. Sarah Bernhardt, whose photo did not leave the pages of newspapers and magazines, could not take a step, she was besieged by fans from all sides. Newspaper articles on touring European countries, and later on America, were similar to messages from the front during the war, the same style, the same terms - "Theater under siege", "This is a victory, critics are put to shame", "Napoleon I didn’t know such a triumph. " Often materials about the famous theater diva crowded out government communications and important economic reports. Sarah Bernhardt, actress and a popular favorite, she was always surrounded by reporters, in the dense ring of a writing fraternity, and she could not get used to it in any way.
Fans
A lot of time the superstar took away advertising contracts. Perfume and soap, gloves and powder - the name of Sarah Bernhardard was on all expensive perfumes. But characteristically, she was never an idol. She was idolized, revered, loved and exalted in every way, but there was no idolatry. People felt the open soul of the actress, her friendliness and answered her the same. Unlike her mother, Sarah distanced herself from wealthy men who wanted to get close to her.
Sarah Bernhardt, whose brief biography contains several pages devoted to her home life, led a kind of double existence. Having returned from the theater and crossed the threshold of her apartment, the actress left great art outside and plunged into her personal space.
home furnishings
The actress created her own little world at home. She painted, sculpted, wrote short stories and funny plays. The house of Sarah Bernhardt was full of all living creatures, dogs and cats were tangled under their feet, snakes crawled everywhere. Once she acquired a real coffin, studded with snow-white silk, and began to almost live in it. Lying in a coffin, taught roles and drank coffee. And, as the actress said, she felt great in him. Such tricks could be called shocking, but the fact is that Sarah Bernhardt did not try to impress for the sake of impression. In the coffin, she was indeed comfortable, and she considered immoral to stepping on the tail of cats lying everywhere, and tried to circumvent them.
Actress about herself
The actress once realized her tendency to extreme, having ascended into the sky on a balloon in the company of close friends. The wind pretty patted the air travelers, many began to pray for forgiveness, and Sarah Bernhardt drank champagne and leaned over the waist. “I love it when guests come to me,” said the actress, “but I don’t like going to visit myself. I love receiving letters, but no effort will force me to write an answer. I really like giving advice, but I hate it when they advise me something” . She never thought about what will happen tomorrow, and forgot about what happened yesterday. If tomorrow is destined to die - so what? Just think ...
Juliet
Time did not spare the famous actress, but in her old age she still looked like the girl Sarah. Critics of our time admired the genius of Bernard, there was a joke in the running: "Sarah Bernhardt is Juliet Capulet. If the 70-year-old actress plays the 13-year-old heroine of Shakespeare, the whole theater world will believe and will cry." And this is not a joke, this could very well have happened and happened.
Sarah Bernhardt, quotes from sayings, roles and interviews of which have been living for many decades, is unforgettable. The grave of the actress at the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris is always strewn with flowers. Parisians and admirers of the great actress, who come from all over the world, approach the memorial in complete silence in order to pay off their memory debt.