The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-03-26
Divine SARAH
PLAYS LAST ROLE
MADAME BERNHARDT, WORLDS
GREATEST ACTRESS, DIES
AT AGE OF ~

hardt died at 1853 p. m. today, ex-
piring in the arms of her son, Maur-
ice. who entered the room at that
moment. This morning before she
went to sleep under an opiate, she
exclaimed to the family and friends
at the bedside, How very slow my
death agony il"
Madam Sarah Bernhardt, who at
70 years of age seemed still a girl,
was known to every land as "the
worlds greatest actress" What
dissent there might have been in this
estimate, and however far her de-
tractors ventured in their attempts to
minimize her right to that distinc-
tion, the numberless admirers of the
Divine Sarah" remained convinced
that never before had the stage pro-
duced an actress capable of soaring
to such heights in the realm of en-
otional drama.
The work of Nine. Bernhardt was
best where a theme afforded the
greatest opportunity for a display of
her powerful emotions. At the height
of her career this form of acting,
based principally on love, hate and
jealously, held the predominant place
now dedicated to character delinea-
tions, and Bernhardt never was sur
passed. her critics say, in this en-
otional school. Hundreds of parts
she either rewrote or created to suit
herself, seldom being content to act
them as interpreted by others.
Three generations have praised and
even worshiped the art of Bernhardt
and hundreds upon thousands of peo-
pie around the world have thronged
to see and marvel at her acting
10 hn
language, which she invariably en-
ployed upon the stage. Once, in Rio
de Janeiro, she was called before the
curtain more than 200 times by a
wildly enthusiastic audience, and
many times, in other parts of the
world, she was obliged to answer
scores of curtain calls at a single
performance.
The date of her birth, the record
of which was destroyed in the
flames of thevCommune in Paris, was
commonly accepted as October 22,
1S45 Her mother was Dutch and
Jewish, and her natural father a
French official.
The great actress was a grand
mother when she last appeared in
America, and had suffered amputa
tion of her right leg. Upon her ar
rival in New York, October, 1916, it
was evident to the group of friends
and admirers who gathered to wei
come her that she walked with ex
treme difficulty.
While playing in New England she
contracted a severe cold which
prompted her TO take trip south
for her health. A few weeks later
she underwent an operation for in
fection of the kidney, and although
more than 20 years of age, she en-
joyed complete recovery and re
manned in America for several
months.
The injury to her knee which COM
PEELED the amputation of her leg in |
1915 was attributed to many differ |
ent causes. For years before the |
amputation the plays in which she |
appeared were altered to hide the |
fact that she was able to walk only |
with great difficulty. The operation
was performed in Paris, and upon I
her recovery she reappeared on the
stage to receive the greatest ovation
of her career. Her manager an
nounced that henceforth she would |
interpret only motionless roles.
During the World war Bernhardt
made several trips to the French
front and gave number of perform
ances for the soldiers. This, she de-
event. Of her Life.
The memories of Bernhardt sedu-
lously avoid any mention of her mari
tai experience, and only in the mid
die of the bulky volume does she
mention casually the existence of
son. One of her critics declared that
"she never seemed to find the man
who could master her"
"There was in her." he continued,
"the making of a super-woman, and
although she met Victor Hugo and
the greatest intellectual pOtentates
of her time, the super-man, who
alone could hold her, never entered
her life"
Death had a weird fascination for
Bernhardt, and for years she con-
templated it with what appeared to
be an uncanny humor. The wish
she most often expressed was that
she might die in the midst of her
triumphs. "I shall play until death"
she said, land the death I hope for
Is the death Sir Henry Irving died"
Her English contemporary died on
tour, being stricken with apoplexy
after a performance in 1905.
Toward the end Of 1922, it was : :
thought this desire might shorten !
her life considerably, for while she
vas dangerously i'll in her Paris :
home, she pitted her iron will against
he physicians and prepared to re-
,ume her part in new play by
sacha Guitry that she was playing
n when stricken. She felt the end +
vas near, her sick-room attendants n
'aid and wanted to be acting
eading role when death rang down t.
he curtain. Il
Oscar Johnson, prominent banker "
f Spokane, former Moscow merchant
nd Troy banker and merchant, is