The Cordova daily times., 1923-03-27
CURTAIN FALLS ON CAREER OF
 DIVINE SARAH
(Continued from Page D

as on the stage, it was set down by herself in a lengthy volume published many years ago, and, as one of her critics has said, through the pages of the book peers the face Of woman, a little tired, weary of her own reputation, and blessed with more than her share of the vanities of the seX.'
 The date of her birth, the record of which was destroyed in the flames of the Commune in Paris, was con- monly accepted as October 22, 1S45. Her mother was Dutch and Jewish, and her natural father French of- ficial. As a child Bernhardt spent much of her time with relatives in Paris, and at the age of l2 was sent to the Grand Champ Convent, Yer sailles, where she made her debut in a little miracle play given by the children. At the age of IA Bern hardt was sent to a conservatory. AL the end of the first year she won second prize for tragedy. sub- scription among the players at the Comedie Franchise enabled her to spend another year at the conserva- tory. and upon the completion of this she carried off second prize for comedy Her first public appearance was at the Comedie Francaise in August, 1862. She took minor part without any marked success. Five years later she emerged from laborious obscurity with her first definite success as Cordelia ill French translation of King Lear,' at the Odeon, then as Queen in Vic- tor Hugo's "Ruy Blas,' and above all as Zanzett in Francois Coppee's "Le Passant," which she played ill 1869. Then came the Franco-Prus- sian war. Bernhardt increased her popularity by becoming a war nurse. In 1871 she was made life member of the Comedie Franchise. She in vaded England, receiving a tremen- dous ovation, then toured Denmark and Russia Next she came to America, where her success was in stantaneous. She toured the United States and Canada eight times in some 35 years, and appeared several times in the larger cities of South America.
 The great actress was a grand mother when she last appeared in America, and had suffered amputa- tion of her right leg. The injury to her knee which compelled the amputation was attributed to many different causes. For years 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 ill Paris, and upon her recovery she reappeared on the stage to receive the greatest ovation of her career. During the World War Bernhardt made several trips to the French front and gave a number of per formances for the soldiers. This, she declared, was the "incomparable event" of her life.
 The memoirs of Bernhardt sedu- lously avoid any mention Of her marital experience, and only in the middle of the bulky volume does she mention casually the existence of son. One of her critics de- clared that "she never seemed to find the man who could master her. There was in her." he continued, "the making of a superWoman, and although she met Victor Hugo and the greatest intellectual potentates of her time, the superman, who alone could hold her, never entered her life"
 Many stories have been told of the fabulous sums accruing to the fa- nous actress, especially in America, but authenticated figures show that the gross receipts of each tour were in the neighborhood of $5O0,00O, of which she usually received fifty per cent. A large part of her earnings was re-invested in theatrical enter prises, and at one time she owned or controlled half a dozen playhouses in Paris.
 Of the more than 200 parts Bern hardt essayed during her long stage career, perhaps the boldest experi- ment of all was the title role in a French production of Hamlet, which met with such unmistakable success that she was prompted to appear again as a man in "L'Aiglon." Her repertory, in addition to the plays mentioned, included "Joan of Arc" "Fedora," "Adrienne Lecouvreur,"