Gabrielle Réjane

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Image of Gabrielle Réjane by Nadar

Gabrielle Réjane was the stage name of Gabrielle-Charlotte Reju, (June 5, 1856 – June 14, 1920), 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 (1883), 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 Vaudeville Theatre, but the marriage was dissolved in 1905 following which she toured Quebec. In 1894 she appeared in London. The following year, she performed in her most famous role as Catherine in Sardou's Madame Sans-Gêne, in New York City. Her performances in Madame Sans-Gêne (1893) 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 'la Berma' in Marcel Proust's novel In Remembrance of Things Past (A la Recherche du Temps Perdu).

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.

She was awarded a knight of the Legion of Honor three months before her death. Réjane died in Paris on June 14, 1920, and was buried there in the Cimetière de Passy.