Sarah Bernhardt

The Divine Sarah was born as Rosine Bernardt in France on October 22, 1844. Her early life is somewhat distorted since no one knows the real story. Alexandre Dumas described Sarah Bernhard as a notorious liar. Her stage career begin in 1862 while she was learning at the Comedie Francaise. She eventually left France, traveled to Belgium to become the paramour to Henri, Prince de Ligne. She had a son but Sarah and the Prince were unable to marry. Sarah became a courtesan and made a great deal of money from 1862 to 1865. She slept in a coffin instead of a bed to learn how to be tragic.
Sarah returned to the theater and began performing in 1866 at the Theatre de L'Odeon. During the Franco-Prussian war, Sarah converted the theater into a hospital where she took care of soldiers. Soon however, Sarah moved on to the stages of Europe and in the 198s was in demand in Europe and New York. She ran the Theater de la Renaissance as producer, director, and star from 1983 to 1899.
In 1899 Bernhardt renamed the Theatre des Nations the Theatre Sarah-Bernhardt and starred in La Tosca. She then played in Phedre and continued on with Alexandre Dumas' La Dame aux Camelias.
Sarah studied with painter Mathiew Meusnier and also excelled in sculpting. She is formed an ornamental bronze inkwell which she claimed was her with batwings.

She married Greek actor Aristides Damala in 1882 but the marriage was a failure. Bernhardt is reputed to have had an affair with King Edward VII while he was the Price of Wales.
In 1905 Bernhardt injured her right knee while performing in La Tosca. Her leg never mended correctly and by 1915 she was diagnosed with gangrene. Her right leg was removed and she continued her career using a wooden prosthetic limb. Sarah successfully acted in Daniel, La Glorie and Regine Arman in 1922. Her performances were so spectacular that no one knew she was missing a limb. Sarah Bernhardt died from kidney failure in 1923. It is believed that she was 78 years old.