Nicknamed the "Golden Voice" by Victor Hugo, Sarah Bernhardt, who died on March 26, 1923, brought French theatre to the four corners of the world, created fashion trends and merchandising, made headlines, becoming a true living myth.

On the occasion of the centenary of her death, a program of commemorations called "Sarah in all her states" begins Wednesday.

"She is the first global star," Pierre-André Hélène, a historian and first private collector France of her personal belongings, told AFP.

"If we want to get to his ankle, we must now add Madonna, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Michael Jackson together. And it was without any media, or internet, "says this consultant for the program "Secrets d'Histoire", which publishes in May a book on the actress.

"Scenes of hysteria"

The face of France abroad since her first American tour (1880), she was often welcomed by the Marseillaise wherever she went.

In New York, men throw their coats on the ground to be trampled by the actress, who spends three hours signing their shirt cuffs. Also in America, a cowboy travels more than 400 km to see her on stage in Dallas.

In Australia, "there were scenes of hysteria from tens of thousands of women who wanted to see her, to touch her," says Mr. Hélène.

Undated portrait of French actress Sarah Bernhardt, taken by Nadar © / AFP / Archives

Why such a craze? First of all, there was her talent as a tragedian. "There are five kinds of actresses: the bad, the fair, the good, the great, and then there's Sarah Bernhardt," said writer Mark Twain.

"It was the world myth of theatre," says Hélène. "It didn't matter if the public didn't understand what she was saying in London or the United States... She had a delirious presence and this vocal technique, a melody very close to the lyrical."

There were also his famous death scenes. "People came to see her die," the historian said. "His eyes were revulsing until only white was visible. People were glued... Some were convinced that she felt bad."

In her entourage, this authoritarian woman used to say "if you do not do what I want, I stop dying".

In Paris, where she was the star of the Comédie-Française before slamming the door, it was said that we came to see two things: the Eiffel Tower and Sarah Bernhardt.

But above all, it owes its fame to an unprecedented self-promotion machine.

Portrait dated 1870s of French actress Sarah Bernhardt after a painting by Parrot © / AFP / Archives

"Her impresario Edward Jarrett, who organized pharaonic trips for her, had a grandiose sense of communication and understood that her foolish behavior would take her to the top," according to the historian.

She is photographed in a coffin, has a real menagerie and countless lovers, poses incessantly for the camera...

"She's going to create her own myth," Helen said.

Myth of the Parisienne

Sarah Bernhardt quickly understood her power in what was then called advertising. "She is the first woman to decline her image in derivatives, from rice powder to absinthe".

On the fashion side, people came to the theater as much to applaud her talent as to admire her fabulous outfits, from which we would be inspired, especially her serpentine dresses with belts wide enough to support a hernia she had and which influenced the female silhouette of the late nineteenth century.

The grave of French actress Sarah Bernhardt at Père Lachaise cemetery on May 5, 2004 in Paris © JOEL SAGET / AFP/Archives

Edith de Belleville, guide-lecturer in Paris, recalls that Sarah Bernhardt also "contributed to the myth of the Parisienne", in the middle of the Belle Epoque.

Her singularity made her famous: "she was skinny at the time of round shapes, redhead -the +color of the devil +-, single mother," says the guide.

"But what she was most proud of was to have brought French culture to the top of the world. She deserves the Pantheon!" says Mr. Hélène.

© 2023 AFP