At the Renaissance: Sarah Bernhardt in Phèdre

Known as “the Divine Sarah,” Sarah Bernhardt was probably the most famous actress in the world in the late 19th century. Her stage and film acting career spanned six decades and multiple continents. She also produced and directed plays, and from 1893 to 1899 she helmed the Paris Renaissance Theater, where she starred in a production of Jean Racine’s Phèdre, as pictured here. Her personal life was hardly less dramatic. One of her trademarks was sleeping (and reportedly, receiving suitors) in a satin-lined, rosewood coffin. She cannily had herself photographed in this contraption more than once, claiming it helped prepare her for her tragic roles.