38 Facts About Jacques Damala

Aristides Damalas, known in France by the stage name Jacques Damala, was a Greek military officer-turned-actor, and husband of Sarah Bernhardt in his last years.

Jacques Damala's handsomeness was as notable as his insolence and Don Juan quality.

Jacques Damala became acquainted with representatives of high society, as well as the theatre world, since he had the dream of excelling as an actor one day.

Jacques Damala returned to Greece in 1878 and recruited in the army.

Jacques Damala later trained in the Page Corps in Russia but eventually quit his studies there and returned to Paris.

Jacques Damala quickly acquired a reputation as "the handsomest man in Europe", as well as the nickname "Diplomat Apollo" by his friends and attribution as the most dangerous man in Paris among husbands who feared their wives would fall victim to his charms and be seduced by the young diplomat.

Jacques Damala was considered the epitome of handsomeness, and many women of high society in Paris were infatuated with him.

Jacques Damala quickly earned the reputation of being a merciless heartbreaker and womaniser of the high circles.

Jacques Damala had begun playing small parts as an amateur actor with the stage name of "Daria", and used to frequent the green rooms of theatres, along with fellow actors who shared a similar passion for morphine.

Jacques Damala frequented these places out of his desire to socialise with people from the theatre world and thus promoting his ambitions of becoming a great actor.

Jacques Damala developed the habit of openly criticising and mocking Bernhardt in front of her friends.

However, in most cases, Bernhardt was so overwhelmed by her infatuation for him that she tolerated his insults and even begged him for forgiveness, behaviour which reaffirmed that Jacques Damala had the upper hand in the relationship.

Caricatures of Bernhardt and Jacques Damala virtually flooded newspapers for months.

Jacques Damala was missing for a few days, much to Bernhardt's anxiety, and during this time was seen in the company of a young Norwegian girl.

At their last night there, Jacques Damala fled again and was heard from two days later in Brussels, where he was accompanied by a Belgian woman.

Jacques Damala's contemporaries were puzzled by her decision to discard professional actors so as to perform next to a rank amateur.

Bernhardt seems to have been blinded by emotion: Jacques Damala has been described as exceptionally untalented, lacking any acting qualifications, technique, or timing, and possessing an unintelligible Greek accent.

Sardou had written the play specifically for her, but had refused to allow Jacques Damala to act in it.

On one occasion, while on stage with Bernhardt, a drug-induced Jacques Damala tore down her dress and exposed her bare buttocks to the audience.

On 12 December 1882, Bernhardt lashed out against Jacques Damala, refusing to cover his expenses on women and drugs anymore, to which Jacques Damala responded equally explosively with his own accusations.

The next morning Jacques Damala left, without notice, for North Africa.

Jacques Damala starred in few memorable productions in the following years.

Jacques Damala participated in the stage adaptation of another Ohnet novel La Comtesse Sarah, in 1887.

In March 1889, Bernhardt returned to Paris after a year-long European tour and received a message from Jacques Damala informing her that he was dying in Marseille and begged her to forgive him and take him back.

Jacques Damala took him in her house and after he recuperated, she cast him as her leading man in La Dame aux Camelias.

Jacques Damala promised to stop taking morphine and embarked on a European tour with Bernhardt.

Jacques Damala continued using the drug and occasionally ridiculed himself, his clarity severely reduced from the morphine.

Jacques Damala reprised his role as Armand but after a six-week run he collapsed and was carried in the hospital.

In early 1889, Jacques Damala had fathered a child with one of his mistresses, a theatre extra, who used to inject him with morphine during intermissions.

Bernhardt and Teresa Jacques Damala met each other again years later.

Jacques Damala was found dead in Paris on 18 August 1889, in a hotel room, from an overdose of morphine and cocaine.

Jacques Damala kept "Damala" as her legal name until she died, though her decision caused her some troubles during World War I when an officer in a consular office at Bordeaux refused to grant her a visa to her passport, due to the fact the latter was Greek.

Jacques Damala's eyes, staring out of his white, waxen face, seemed hardly the eyes of the living.

Later in 1897, Stoker acknowledged that Jacques Damala was one of his models for Count Dracula.

Jacques Damala has been portrayed by three actors in film and television biopics of Sarah Bernhardt.

Jacques Damala was portrayed by John Castle in the film The Incredible Sarah in 1976, by Canadian actor Jean LeClerc in the TV movie Sarah and by Gonzalo Vega in the Mexican TV series La Divina Sarah.

Harris recounts an incident in Trieste when Bernhardt publicly lashed out against her husband for his infidelities, to which Jacques Damala responded "Madame, you will never again have the opportunity of calling me names".

Jacques Damala is cited as telling Harris of Bernhardt: "A great talent, but a small nature and a foul tongue".