Sarah Bernhardt

A Vital, Beloved and Incomparable Mystery

It is one of the tragedies of the art of acting that when the last cur tain falls there is nothing to hold the expression of a great personality for future generations. Sarah Bern hardt is gone, and those who do not hold the impress of her dynamic genius on the tables of reminiscence can know her only as a cloudy legend, obscured by time and by the many puzzles presented by her career. The divine Sarah represented the highest achievement in emotional act ing. She was handicapped with an appearance which, while preserving its youth with phenomenal tenacity, was never strictly beautiful. Her art was not one of interpretation. In stead of losing herself in a charac ter -- Camille, for example -- she used it simply as a mold in which to pour her own glowing vitality. She was born 78 years ago. Her father was French, her mother of mixed Dutch and Jewish origin. Her first great triumph came at the age of 22, as Cordelia in King Lear, at the Theatre Francois. Later, feeling her intense individuality cramped by the rooted traditions of the Francais, she left it after repeated quarrels. Her greatest part was probably that of Zanzetti in Coppee's Le Paseant. She has appeared in over 200 roles, among them Hamlet and her other celebrated masculine part, l'Aiglon. Bernhardt was almost fanatically patriotic, and engaged extensively in war work both in the War of 1870 and the World War. It was during the latter that she was forced to have her leg amputated, an operation to which she submitted with spirits unimpaired. She died cheerfully, jesting with those about her, discussing the details of her burial. She had always been fascinated by the idea of death. Among the fantastic tales centering about her is one of a skull in her pos session inscribed with verses by Vic tor Hugo. Another is of a coffin lined with faded letters, rose-petals and other symbols of her reminiscence, in which she slept from time to time. Little beyond rumor is known of her love affairs. She herself used a horsewhip on a rival who published a malicious account of them. Her personality is wrapped in mystery and quaint anecdote. Through it all is felt the sharp im pact of a great and noble spirit, a supreme artist and a magnificent woman.