‘I am in terrible pain every hour of the day,’ she answered. This quality was persistently foregrounded in the multiple representations of her proliferating in art, caricature, and photography. [18], Morny used his influence with the composer Daniel Auber, the head of the Paris Conservatory, to arrange for Bernhardt to audition. After the 100th performance of Ruy Blas, Hugo gave a dinner for Bernhardt and her friends, toasting "His adorable Queen and her Golden Voice. [90], When Damala left, she took on a new leading man and lover, the poet and playwright Jean Richepin, who accompanied her on a quick tour of European cities to help pay off her debts. She had neglected to purchase insurance. In 2005, the Los Angeles Times wrote: "[She] performed on stages all over the world, including four ‘farewell’ tours of America, made eight films and endorsed face cream, cars and Bronx real estate. I have thought about it, and I do not want to tell you today", then walked offstage. The actors Edouard Angelo and Philippe Garnier were her leading men. Regina and Madame Nathalie began shouting at one another, and Bernhardt stepped forward and slapped Madame Nathalie on the cheek. Bernhardt had already been scheduled for a new role with the theater, and had begun rehearsals. [153] The film was a success in the United States, and in France, the young French artist and later screenwriter Jean Cocteau wrote, "What actress can play a lover better than she does in this film? Diego Maradona, Argentine soccer legend, dies at 60. Critics dismissed him as handsome, but without noticeable talent. Bernhardt was forced to sell her chalet in Saint-Addresse and her mansion on rue Fortuny, and part of her collection of animals. The most famous soprano of the time, Adelina Patti, performed for free. "[89] However, the abrupt end of her marriage shortly after the premiere put her back into financial distress. "[177] Ivan Turgenev wrote: "All she has is a marvelous voice. [166] She set up a studio at 11 boulevard de Clichy in Montmartre, where she frequently entertained her guests dressed in her sculptor's outfit, including white satin blouse and white silk trousers. When she rehearsed the play without enthusiasm, and frequently forgot her lines, she was criticized by the playwright. When she exited the theater, a crowd had gathered at the stage door and tossed flowers at her. She was the illegitimate daughter of Judith Bernard (also known as Julie and in France as Youle), a Dutch Jewish courtesan with a wealthy or upper-class clientele. [108] She used the new technology of lithography to produce vivid color posters, and in 1894, she hired Czech artist Alphonse Mucha to design the first of a series of posters for her play Gismonda. Bernhardt replied that she was finished with the theater and was going to move to Brittany and start a farm. Bernhardt later wrote that her father's family paid for her education, insisted she be baptized as a Cathol… [134], Despite the injury to her leg, she continued to go on tour every summer, when her own theater in Paris was closed. She built bungalows for her son Maurice and her grandchildren, and bungalows with studios for her close friends, the painters Georges Clairin and Louise Abbéma. She loved the truth, but more than truth she loved beauty. Once I recall going over with her the details of an American tour. Bernhardt arranged for serious cases to be transferred to another military hospital, and she rented an apartment on rue de Provence to house the remaining 20 patients. [28] At a ceremony honoring the birthday of Molière on 15 January 1863, Bernhardt invited her younger sister, Regina, to accompany her. "[204] His affairs with married women had already led to one suicide and two divorces, and the French government had asked him to leave Paris, transferring him to the Greek Embassy in St. Petersburg. Perhaps one of the finest tributes to Mme. She would have so many that they would fill all the homes she lived in. [31] She decided abruptly to quit the theater to travel, and like her mother, to take on lovers. It opened on 12 December 1882, with her husband Damala as the male lead, and received good reviews. [34] Other accounts say that they met in Paris, where the Prince came often to attend the theater. She purchased a ruined 17th-century fortress, located at the end of the island and approached by a drawbridge, and turned it into her vacation retreat. The proffession of an actress held a controversial opinion within society. Her impresario, Edouard Jarrett, immediately proposed she make another world tour, this time to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Panama, Cuba, and Mexico, then on to Texas, New York, England, Ireland, and Scotland.