Norwich bulletin., 1922-10-11
FAMOUS ACTRESSES
BEBNHARDr.

It was at the Convent de Grandchamps, | Versailles, that Sarah Bernhardt, then 12, | attracted such attention "a presentation staged for the Archbishop of Paris that her immediate preparation for the real stage was assured. That was in 1851
 Bernhardt was born at Paris Oct. 22, 1S44. Her father was a merchant of Amsterdam. and her mother. Julie Bern hardt, was a Berlin Jewess. From this fact has gFoVvn the error that Bernhardt was herself a Jewess. Placed in the Versailles convent in girlhood. she be- came devout Catholic.
 If one cares for the full name of this striking genius, whose single name will never die in 'histrionic letters. it is Rosina Sarah Bernhardt. Her progress was so rapid following the brilliant child effort at the convent that at IS she appeared at the Comedie Franchise in the role of Iphigenie. There was rayer a doubt about her success from the very begin hing of her remarkable career-a fact that stands out in marked contrast with the stories of nearly all of the great actresses of the world.
 marvellous voice, grace and that com polling personality that makes her the real center of the stage, even while an- other is speaking, and holds the audience to the listener rather than the speaker, catapulted her to public favor. She ap- peared at the Gymnasie, Porte St. Martin and Odeon for a time and then returned | to the Comedie Francaise in 1872. She l was made ''sociataire' in 1875 and five l years later when she left for her first visit to England and America she was fined $20, for leaving the country. 1 When she returned to Paris in 1881 she i became director of the Theatre Ambigu, and the following year found her mar. ried to M. Dumola. She bought the Porte | St. Martin next year and many of her most noted productions appeared there | America saw her again in 1886, and then at Paris, the Porte St. Martin, Renais- sance and Theatre des Nations, renamed the Sarah Bernhardt, held her.
 So great is the popular interest in this strange woman that exact details only take unnecessary space. Her greatesi role is in The Lady of the Camilias, commonly called Camille" Hamlet ''Frou-Frou," "IiAiglon." her own play
 ''L'Aveu," and long list are currentl, known as her vehicles.
 During her many visits to the Unite,
 States she captured and held public at tention. People who knew no Frencl caught her meaning from the effective pantomirne and expressed feeling tha
 translated to the heart what the mint l H1SnC not unueFSIdnQ. On one or he, tours, in 1906, the Shuberts who man
 aged her, were at war with Klaw & Er : langer. and the latter declined to ope ) their houses to her.
 She appeared many times in hug
 tent. A writer, sculptor and a painter
 she seems to have run the limit of artis
 tic accomplishments. At an age tha
 would have been prohibitive to most pei
 sons, she underwent an operation in whic
 one of her limbs was amputated Eve l this af1iction could not keep the gran old woman from the boards Holding t
 a chair. she acclaimed her lines with tn
 same old zeal that compelled and hel 3 interest.
 v Of very recent years she has appeare
 in short plays, designed to meet her az
 and infrmity, and youth has not yet die
 in the heart of a woman whose body fast fading. She has completed her prer arations for death with the same enthus asm that marked hec initial work for If
 A tiny, rocky islet has been bought in tf
 Bay of Biscay, only a few acres. Sl has purchased her casket. and gives O 6ers that she shall be buried where u
 sea may ever roll about her tomb. Meal
 time, she still acts. Her art remains.
 She will be ever known as the wond
 woman of two centuries and all cont { nents.