Gabrielle Réjane

Who was Gabrielle Réjane?

Gabrielle Réjane was the stage name of Gabrielle-Charlotte Reju, a French actress.

Born in Paris, the daughter of an actor, she became a pupil of Régnier at the Conservatoire, and took the second prize for comedy in 1874. Her debut was made the next year, during which she played attractively a number of light—especially soubrette—parts. Her first great success was in Henri Meilhac's Ma camarade, and she soon became known as an emotional actress of rare gifts, notably in Décor, Germinie Lacerteux, Ma cousine, Amoureuse and Lysistrata.

In 1892 she married M. Paul Porel, the director of the Théâtre du Vaudeville, but the marriage was dissolved in 1905, following which she toured Quebec. In 1893 she appeared in Paris, and soon thereafter in London and New York, in her most famous role as Catherine in Sardou's Madame Sans-Gêne. Her performances in the play made her as well known in England and the United States as in Paris, and in later years she appeared in characteristic parts in both countries, being particularly successful in Zaza and La Passerelle. She opened the Théâtre Réjane in Paris in 1906.

Along with her great rival, Sarah Bernhardt, she served as the model for the character of the actress Berma in Marcel Proust's novel In Search of Lost Time. The essence of French vivacity and animated expression appeared to be concentrated in Madame Réjane's acting, and made her unrivalled in the parts which she had made her own.