THIS AND THAT ABOUT SARAH BERNHARDT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2242, 18 February 1897, Page 49

THIS AND THAT ABOUT SARAH BERNHARDT.

By One Who Knows the Great j ACTBESS. j Sarah Bernhardt at home is by no means the same woman as Sarah Bernhardt abroad. There was a time when she was looked upon by the outside world as a tiresome creature, given over to so-called " cervous attacks " from the moment she laft the stage after , one performance until the curtain went up i for the beginning of the next. In other ! words, she was pretty generally described as , a vixen. The real Sarah is, nevertheless, very good- \ natnred, very lively, an interesting talker, and lavish to a fault. The late Mr Abbey, who had many business dealings with her and directed several of her longest toura j through the United States, once told me that of all the actresses he had ever known she j was the most generous-hearted. It is not ; only that ehe had— to use his words — " a hundred penßionnaires upon her charity list, but that she was absolutely generous in her ' criticisms cf other artists. If there was a kind word to say she said it. If there waß nothirg that could, be said in praise she held [ her peace." i Off the stage, like all really pretty women, j Sarah is infinitely better looking than when Bean with all her warpaint. Her complexion ia still fresh and clear, her eyes are of a j bright blup, and her smile, displaying the ; whitest of white teoth, wonderfully happy and ingenuous. When one remembers that the great actress ia hovering midway between the years of 50 and 60, her appearance of youth ie extraordinary indeed. | Even upon the stage, according to her own account, she relies bub little on " make-up." "The English," the has said, "are easily ahead of others in this particular line. Thsy give it much study and rely strongly on it for effect. The serious artists of the French stage consider ib bub little, because parhap3 most of our plays are largely in the costume of the present era." Sarah admits that in the. days of her very . early youth she was extravagant in the use I of rouge and blacc de perle, and, as she j qaaintly puts it — " The make-up became more and more, the expression less and less." The only cosmetics employed by la Barnhardt are poudre de riz, dry rouge, and a little black or blue chalk applied with pencils. Liquid preparations bhe tabooes altogether; although like mosb actresses, before beginning to lay in the white and red she rubs her face over very liberally with cold cream— cold cream, be it said, prepared under her own eye at home of spermaceti, olive oi), and rosewater. French artists, she will tell you, pay as much attention to the j ears, nostrils, and lips as the complexion ] itself. It has very often been declared that Sarah wears a wig. This is not the case. Her«hair, it is true, is white, and therefore has to be ' dyed blonde or chestnut, whichever colour j she fancies ; but it is all her very own, and, : like Madame Patti, she invariably dresses ib ' herself. Sarah numbera many friends among our English actors and actresses. Strange to say, she has more compliments to pay to the ladies than to the gentlemen of the profes- ', sion. About Ellen Terry she is positively . enthusiastic. Of the American actresses she ; most appreciates Miss Julia Tabor. Then she owns to a warm admiration for Mrs Patrick Campbell. Tru£, she has never seen her act, but has met her often in society. Whon these two charming ladies do meet they chatter by the hour together on plays and ; players in particular and artistic matters in general, and find a wonderful similarity of ideas. i Sarah is certain by the look of her that | Mrs Campbell is a very gifted actress. The last time they matin London Sarah presented her English friend with a ring containing a , crytaliised drop of water from the Deluge.

1 All those artists who belonged to her troupe and whose services on certain nights were not I needed by Madame Bornhardt she sent to the ! Lyceum to witness the performance of " Magda." One and all, lam told, were delighted with Mrs Campbell's work, and returned to tell great things of it to theiv chief. I hope I am hurting tha feelings of no one when I divulge that the living artist whom Madame Bernhardt admires above all others in Calve. Her acting as Margherita in " Mefistofele " she found superb, unsurpassable, and is never tired of recalling its hundred and one beauties. II Suoh a glorious appealing voice, such hittrionis abilities linked in one person, seem almost too much of a gift," she will declare. At home Madame Bernhardt dresse3 simply enough. A long black satin skirt, trimmed, perhaps, with a little jet passementerie, and a shorb velvet coat — these are what she most affects. Of jewellery aha has enough and to spare. That is a very quaint chain she wears — just a long gold- linked thread upon which are hung at intervals all her favourite bibelots ; here an agate heart, the gift of a dear friend ; there a crucifix, a key, a Chinese idol, a little toy of her grandchild's, a bit of jade, coral tuiquoise — I know nob what else. A youthful actress and member of her company acts as secretary, interpreter, and consoler to Madame Bernbardt. Madame Susanne D , a clever and charming girl, is singularly accomplished as a musician. Together she and Madame Bernhardt will pass the whole morning at the piano, mightily enjoying themselves, if one may judge by tb« meuy peals of laughter and chatter which interrupt their performance. La B?rnhardt's accompaniment to her friend's singing is just a little erratic, but a spirited accompaniment for all that. I may add that the voix (for of Sarah is a few tones lower off the utsge, and every whit as pleasant to the ear wben she aska you to help yourself to a tartine as wben she is cooing " Les deux pigeons "in " Adrienne Lecouvreur." And there is a sincerity, a simplicity, and bon~ homie which cannot fail to please you, if you take her in the right way. — Caasell's Saturday Journal.