Born in Paris, France, as an illegitimate child, her Dutch Jewish mother placed her in a convent and had her baptized, but Bernhardt was always proud of her Jewish origin.

In 1862 she began her career in the Comedie Francaise in Paris but attracted little attention. Four years later she joined the Odeon Theater where she achieved her first triumphs, including a command performance before Napoleon III. Bernhardt was again with the Comedie Francaise from 1872 to 1880, by which time she was an international star, touring Europe, the Americas, and Australia. She founded her own theater company, the Theatre Sarah Bernhardt, which she directed until her death.

In 1915 Bernhardt had to have a leg amputated but she continued acting, often in plays especially written for her, in which she could remain seated.

Bibliography:

Sarah BERNHARDT: Ma double vie: memoires de Sarah Bernhardt. Vols. 1-2. 1923

Elaine ASTON: Sarah Bernhardt. Pp. IX, 173 [8] plates. Oxford: Berg, 1989

William A. EMBODEN: Sarah Bernhardt. Introduction by Sir John Gielgud. Pp. 176. New York: Macmillan, 1975

Pierre BERTON: The Real Sarah Bernhardt, whom her audiences never knew, told to her friend Mme. Pierre Berton. London, 1924

Lysiane BERNHARDT: Sarah Bernhardt, my grandmother. 1949

Félix NADAR: Sarah Bernhardt vue par les Nadar. [photographies réunies et présentées par Pierre Spivakoff]. 1982

Links:

The Sarah Bernhardt Pages

Sarah Bernhardt (Text in French)

Sarah Bernhardt in Women’s History

Grave of Sarah Bernhardt