"Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich."
- Sarah Bernhardt 1844-1923

My family called me "Sarah Heartburn" from the moment I learned a facial expression can earn one a response from others! In 1991 I posed next to the Café Restaurant Le Sarah Bernhardt in Paris for a video shot. In 1996 I searched through the spooky, labyrinthian Pere Lachaise Cemeterie in Paris for her grave. Alan found it just at closing time as the guards blew their whistles for us to leave. On her tomb I found a posthumous gift someone left for her after these many years -- an ink drawing, anchored to her resting place with smooth pebbles, of an elegant woman ascending an infinite staircase...
Sarah's final curtain, grand exit, stage right...

Bernhardt, Sarah (1844-1923), French actor, who was the best-known stage figure of her time.
Bernhardt was born Rosine Bernhard in Paris on October 22/23, 1844, the daughter of a courtesan. She was educated in a convent and at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1862 she made her debut at the Comédie Française but attracted so little notice that she soon left the company. She appeared briefly and unsuccessfully in burlesque. From 1869 she played at the Théâtre de l'Odéon, winning her first success in Le passant (1869), a comedy by François Coppée.
Recalled to the Comédie Française in 1872, Bernhardt gained recognition for the leading role in Phèdre (1874) by the classical dramatist Jean Racine and for the queen in Ruy Blas (1872) and Doña Sol in Hernani (1877), two romantic dramas by Victor Hugo. She left the Comédie in 1880. By 1879 she had begun to travel with her own company, appearing regularly in London and New York City and touring North America in 1886-87 and 1888-89 and the world in 1891-93. In Paris she managed or owned various theaters, including the Théâtre des Nations, renamed the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt, in which she appeared. Among her most successful performances were those in the romantic tragedy La dame aux camélias by Alexandre Dumas fils; Adrienne Lecouvreur by Eugène Scribe; and Fédora, Théodora, La Tosca, and Cléopâtre, melodramas by Victorien Sardou. She was highly acclaimed for playing the title roles in a French version of Shakespeare's Hamlet (1899) and in L'Aiglon (1901), a play about Napoleon's son, written for her by Edmond Rostand. Famous for her slim beauty and bell-like voice, she was called the divine Sarah.
Bernhardt had a leg amputated at the age of 70, but she refused to abandon the stage. She played for troops at the front in World War I and continued to act until her death in Paris on March 26, 1923. She also wrote two plays, a work on acting (1923), and her memoirs (1907), and she showed talent in sculpture and painting. Bernhardt was made a member of the Legion of Honor in 1914.
"Bernhardt, Sarah," Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2000. © 1993-1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

           Sarah is a permanent Parisian in more ways than one...

Café Restaurant Le Sarah Bernhardt (Sté)
2 pl Châtelet 75004 Paris 01 42 72 00 71

Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt
2, place du Châtelet, 75004 Paris 42 74 22 77 Mo&RER=Châtelet

In this theatre, from 1899 to 1915, Sarah appeared in forty different roles, twenty-five of them roles she originated. The theatre was originally the Théâtre des Nations. During WWII occupation, the Nazis changed the name back when they learned Bernhardt was half-Jewish. It is now, again, Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt/de la Ville.

Mairie de Paris garden and park
Rue Pyrénées 75020 Paris 01 43 73 01 87
atelier square Sarah Bernhardt

Cimetière du Père Lachaise
A history of Divine Sarah's Eternal Resting Place. Amongst 100,000 sepulchres, Miss Sarah resides in division 44.

For a true sense of Cimetière du Père Lachaise's atmosphere
"When you visit Cimetière du Père Lachaise, Paris there should be rain. The stone should be slick with mist; the moss on the marble damp and alive. Rivulets should streak the faces, the tombs and angels' wings."

Here are links for fellow Sarahdoteurs:

My list of Sarah-related spots in Paris. Paris has a Tourist Bureau -- here's the Sarahdoteurist Bureau: -- Sarah landmark photos with links to my 2001 Paris diary;

-- Parisian Sarah landmark locations with links to my 2001 Paris diary regarding them (plus Madeline larndmarks and Sarah shopping info).

1888 Biography [with corrections and clarifications]
"She is still lithe and surpassingly graceful, soft, loving, fierce as a tiger, alluring as a siren, fitful, capricious, intense, everything that is gracious, ravishing, sad and terrible in human nature."

Bernhardt the sculptor
"Alors découragée et dégoûtée du thèâtre, je me pris de passion poul la sculpture" - S. Bernhardt, 'Ma Double Vie' , Paris, 1907 , p.40.

GirlTech's "Girls at Work" empowering view of The Divine Sarah
"Though Sarah was not beautiful in the traditional sense, she had a lot of style and people always took a liking to her."

Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt
The life and times of the Théâtre de la Ville, courtesy of The Paris Pages.

Taking the Long View
Panoramic Photographs of Sarah Bernhardt performances.

Grapevine Video
Suppliers of "Queen Elizabeth" the only Sarah Bernhardt film available commercially...AFAIK. When I watched this, Sarah was spinning in her grave...the death scene made me laugh out loud each and every time I replayed it. Different acting styles for different eras, I guess.

La Vie de Sarah Bernhardt
French language biography.

Connie Clark
An actress who has over ten years experience of performing as Sarah Bernhardt.

The Silents Majority
Silent Pictures Photo Gallery.

Silent Ladies
Photo galleries of silent film actresses

" English? Actors at the turn of the Twentieth Century"
One hand coloured photograph of Sarah in the role of Izéïl.

American Memory from the Library of Congress
A search here will turn up some more Sarah photographs.

I love the art of Alphonse Mucha, who rose to fame doing a poster of Sarah Bernhardt in "Gismonda." He also immortalized her as Phedre, Theodora, Lorenzaccio, and Princesse Lointaine.

Mucha Museum
Alphonse Mucha posters for Sarah Bernhardt performances.

True: An admirer of a certain young English performer was discussing her acting with Sarah Bernhardt, who was not at all convinced of the young woman's talent. "But surely," said the man, "you will at least admit that she has some wonderful moments."
"Maybe, but also some terrible half-hours," countered Sarah. -- Paw Prints

Untrue, but punny: Ferdinand Feghoot was an ardent admirer of the great Sarah Bernhardt. It was whispered in Paris that he would do anything for her. One cold winter day in the 1870s, they were strolling together along the Left Bank when suddenly, right before them, an elderly gentleman threw up his hands, cried out "Adieu! All is lost!" and cast himself into the river.
"Helas, it is Aristide Plonc, the good landlord!" screamed la Bernhardt. "Aristide, try to swim! Come in to the bank! Look, I will hold out my parasol to you!"
"I refuse!" cried the old man. "I am bankrupt! None of my tenants has paid me! I will not come in!" And he went under again. At that point, Feghoot took off his coat, plunged into the chill waters, and effected the rescue. After they had taken M. Plonc home, dried him, filled him with cognac, and paid his most pressing bills, Sarah embraced Feghoot warmly. "You are brave, mon ami," she purred in his ear. "Poor Aristide, why did he do it? He must have been out of his mind!"
"Oh no," replied Ferdinand Feghoot. "He just didn't have enough rents to come in out of the Seine."

-- Ferdinand Feghootisms

Another Divine Redhead to Whom I've been compared

Thanks fer noticin' me.