Although of Jewish descent, Bernhardt was baptized and brought up in a convent. She entered the Conservatoire to study the stage when she was 13. She made her stage debut in 1862 at the Comedie Francaise in a minor role in Racine's Iphigenie en Aulide. Her first successes came in 1867 with the Odeon company in roles such as Cordelia in a French translation of King Lear. By 1879, she had firmly established herself as the greatest actress of her day. Bernhardt was talented in other spheres as well. She was a skillful sculptor, artist and even wrote some stage plays. During the 1880's and 1890's, she toured most of Western Europe, Australia and the United States and was an outstanding success. In 1907, she published her autobiography, My Double Life which was very popular and showcased her talent as a writer. In the early 1900's she starred in a number of motion pictures and in 1914 was elected to the French Legion of Honour. In 1915, her leg was amputated due to an injury that had occurred in 1905, yet she continued her acting career. She had a son, the writer Maurice Bernhardt, by the Belgian nobleman Charles-Joseph-Eugene-Henri, Prince de Ligne. Today, she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her other literary works include L'Aveu (1888), Adrienne Lecouvreur (1907), Un Coeur d'Homme (1911), The Idol of Paris (1921) and The Art of the Theatre (1923). |
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