Rachel (actress)
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Rachel (18 February 1821 - 4 January 1858) was a Franco-Jewish actress who was considered the greatest of her time.
Born Élisa Félix in Mumpf, Aargau, Switzerland, the daughter of Alsatian peddlers, she earned money as a child singing in the streets. She came to Paris about 1830, and took elocution and singing lessons. She made her stage debut in La Vendéenne in 1837, and first appeared at the Comédie Française in Pierre Corneille's Horace in 1838. Her fame spread throughout Europe following a sensational success in London in 1841, and became particularly associated with the works of Racine and Corneille, touring in Brussels, Berlin, and St. Petersburg. She created the title role in Eugène Scribe's Adrienne Lecouvreur. Her acting style was characterized by clear diction and economy of gesture, and represented a major departure from the exaggerated style of the day. She was best known for her portrayal of the title rôle in Phèdre.
She became the mistress of Napoleon I's son, Alexandre Joseph Colonna, Count Walewski, and by him was the mother of Alexandre Colonna-Walewski in 1844. She died of tuberculosis at Le Cannet, Alpes-Maritimes, France. She is interred in a mausoleum at Père Lachaise Cemetery.
The character Vashti in Charlotte Brontë's novel Villette was patterned after Rachel, whom Brontë had seen in London.
External link
- Bartleby's entry on Rachel (http://www.bartleby.com/65/ra/Rachel2.html)