The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-31
ROMANCE OF AN ACTRESS.
FRBNCHMEN TALKING Of 4 RroNUs
-. /" MENU TO La CLARION.

AASA ~ 80 - WV
t~ury-Liks Bernhnrdt In Traits and Tai
entE-RoyAlty Mt Her Feet In Her Youth
Poverty Mt Hor Door In Her Ola Ago.
At tho last Salon in Paris q plaster bust Of
Mile. Olairon. by the sculptor. Henri Gauuui6.
in collaboration with the architect, Guillaume.
attracted considerable attention. Now the
French journals announce that tho friends oe
tho drama In France propose TO have o marble
copy OF this bust erected IN the public square
of the town, Of Conds-sur-E scaut, the BIRTH
place Of La Clarion. A few days ago an eight
zenith century dramatic performance was given
at the Trocadero In aid Of the monument fund.
Clarion was the Bernhardt Of her time. She
was born in 1923. and was so puny as o baby
that Immediately after her birth she was. like
Voltaire. hurried TO the church TO be baptized.
But when the church was reached II was found
TO be closed. The parsonage. too, was empty.
The priest and his vicar wero at a masquerade
ball. for It was tho day Of the town carnival
and the priest was helping his Pensioners 10
celebrate it, Tho baby was carried at once to
the ballroom, where tho priest was disguised 40
q harlequin and the vicar "a q clown. They
judged the baby's condition to be sufficiently
critical to demand immediate attention. So
they storDed the music then and there, and.
taking the necessary materials from q side-
board. performed the rite. But they need NOT
have been In such haste, for the liie-thread Of
tho baby was not to be cut until scVonty-nino
years later. They called the baby Claire; heE
full name In given as Claire Hippolyte JosaphO
LeGris do LRtude.
.Clniron had q harsh mother who used TO
punish her by locking her up in an isolated
room. Opposite to this room lived Mile. DANCE
willie. who became one Of the greatest of SOU
brettes. Clarion used TO sec her taking sing
ing lessons and lessons In dancing; she used to
sS9e her receiving the praise and encourage
mont OF her family she was panied at the diff
ference between nor own lifo and that Of her
neighbor. and what she saw and felt fred her
Iwlthkan ambition to become an actress. The
FIRST visit that CIairon made to a theatre
had such an effect on her that during the whole
time OF tho playand tho rest OF the evening she
could not be made to speak. She says. in her
Memoirs that after returning from the the
nitro, the only thing she heard that night was
the command. q to bed. you big goosel'
She ran of to bed only to remain awake. going
over In her mind all that she had seen and
heard at the theatre. The next morning she
Rstonished her friends and relatives by re-
peatinR more than a hundred verses OF the
tragedy and about two-thirds Of the little play.
But this did not please her mother. She said
,she would rather her daughter knew how to
make a dress or a nightgown. Still tho child
persisted in following the course that she had
mapped out for herself. and blows and slaps
were powerless to turn her. Threats to starvO
her. and to break her bones II she did not work.
only anRered her to the point Of exclaiming:
XIII me. then. at once. for otherwise / shall
go upon the stagel"
At length she became the pupil and after
ward the rival of the celebrated Marie FRANCHISE
Dumesnil.. and her Interpretation OF. Corneille.
Racine end voltaire led Baehaumont to say:
piauded with the utmostentRqlsiasm; she Is the
mn. most cl h EshsS bv T PS|dl Of art; she Is helpomene
While ct the height o. her fame Clarion vas
, TRIcheiisu. J;.F: Marmontei, the MARQUIS ds
KY, hipseif came to Sec her. and Of him sho
3 said TO Nine. de Pompadouri
H owes his royalty to chance, / owe mine
For, her unruliness she was imprisoned in
i q. banquet room, giving sumptuous suppers.
The carriages Of her visitors were lined up out
eide the; prison door. as though In front Of the
s % Hsrpsrsonasl apRses5Eqnncs at the age Of ~ aS 9,
IS extremely pale; her head. is handsome. and
her eyes are large and full q fire; Her mouth
o o t # Saaa Is SeIf pla %ash Dssh SEE arises se Without afa at &c.
: tati99n; her form Is g w;thGn;, and Rd, she has q very
u would cali CHARMING"
o ha But 1f f!n1sSn ]r Tss Ret % R5o me r5fes as ot IN her eG aSesr!
toire have been pronounced excellent pieces
! 0I1ittsT ! gs S5Itifif ;6r r At%Sns s Sths { th hRsss che
5 ions sur 10 Defamation .Th6atrale." She, Z
! f s5sd iasS o Tit Y e s4xing Ses1 t RSe frat actors tS sG sEoaid
2 receive ali the instruction necessary in theiI
q art. and she Is said to have been among the
!. ths r Go sGs t oi the Rew GnsIts fne STAGE Re0o9 FSfSnc e
e drama has been adipdgedd to be- greatly inndebts,,
an element OF resemblance to truth. She Of
fected a revolution in costume. ridiGulinE the
Yet in spite 81 her genius and intelligenca
n tales 9f yitehcraft with which her ehildhood
g g sent isT her e 4lslt Rl@ o. hyfs dssShSedd,;;s thsi
e pany assembled at dinner in her house heard !
I fbs dRf a. s sn%s ery s SysF Ses sy9fp?i&Gfi o% at w tsf ffs sPss
s sss s s{t ssassf her w %In Il vs. R E2sss iSs9s s : Ri; sss
Hash. but the window remained WHOLE; Pc Pc;
same hour night after night the same thing g;
: the shot occurred at the usual hour. and ghl
TINE I'm q y fhsTSs SIC s Sas r PR2a past past t the house 11 WSeS5
g the rejected sutton died three shots were aret
l. whipped Up the horses. The shots, after sseey,
y We're IfoalioTedi,f in thheir, turn BY, an enchanti8l
10 voice, singing, 2 b%esutitul, and to%EehinE ei y
at see Mile. Clarion, She was a relative Of thu
- rejected one, and she. told the great actress
90 that, having been with him In his last mo,
at ments, she heard him exclaim when informed
st OF Clairon's refusal to visit him:,
- II shall follow her whom i am dead. as l haW
IN followed her in my lifetimeW
to At last the great Clarion fell into diSfHyo,
% Dressed In wornout clothes. she lived during
y. her last days in a single room which s shs va
er was buried IN tho Cemetery OF Pere, Ia C5Atse
" For q. long time her tomb was, neglected. bu
q lately. the Coincide FRANCHISE has had 1t 70
q paired.
a. Such is the story of La Clarion, whip e caieS
As the foremost tragic actress OF the eighteenth
- century. A French journalist said Of heri
~ She started from Eothing, and TO n1shitnhl l
~ circle that passes over the peaks OF glory"
IN