1. Berthe Cerny had a brilliant career, interpreting both classical and contemporary roles.
22 Facts About Berthe Cerny
1. 2.
Berthe Cerny had several affairs, including with the politicians Aristide Briand and Paul Reynaud, and had two sons by other lovers.
3.
Berthe Cerny joined the Comedie-Francaise in 1906 and became a societaire in 1909.
4.
Berthe Cerny graduated in 1885 with a first prize in acting.
5.
Berthe Cerny played under the stage name Berthe Cerny at the Theatre de l'Odeon, then the Theatre du Vaudeville, then other venues, and for twenty years pursued a brilliant career on the boulevards.
6.
Berthe Cerny played notable roles in plays by Paul Hervieu, Marcel Prevost and Georges de Porto-Riche.
7.
Berthe Cerny, who had just had a great success in Brussels, had taken over Sophie Arnould's role with infinite charm and grace.
8.
In 1897 Berthe Cerny formed a relationship with Raoul William Johnston, a polytechnician and mining engineer, administrator of the Mines d'Albi.
9.
Berthe Cerny had a child by him, Francois Johnston.
10.
Berthe Cerny was given a beautiful house in Saint-Cloud by her lover.
11.
Berthe Cerny began a relationship with the politician Aristide Briand in 1907.
12.
Berthe Cerny had natural assurance and was financially secure due to her "bon ami" Johnston.
13.
Berthe Cerny had taken a liking to visiting salons, where he met writers, artists and women of high society.
14.
The rupture finally came in April 1916, when Berthe Cerny wrote to Briand telling him not to visit her again, and to let her gently forget him.
15.
Later Berthe Cerny formed a relationship with the politician Paul Reynaud.
16.
In 1906 Berthe Cerny joined the Comedie-Francaise at the request of Maurice Donnay, for whom she created Paraitre.
17.
Just before and after World War I Berthe Cerny performed in two plays by Pierre de Marivaux in which Louis Jouvet said she relived the spirit of Italian theatre.
18.
Berthe Cerny played the Comtesse in Marivaux's Le Legs before the war, giving a perfect interpretation of the role.
19.
Berthe Cerny played Araminte in Marivaux's Les Fausses Confidences in April 1918.
20.
Berthe Cerny appeared in the 1922 documentary film Moliere, sa vie, son oeuvre directed by Jacques de Feraudy.
21.
Berthe Cerny retired in 1930 and was at once named an honorary member of the Comedie-Francaise.
22.
Berthe Cerny died on 27 March 1940 in Paris, and was buried in the Cimetiere d'Auteuil.