Rudolf Bernhard,[1] a Swiss actor and comedian, founded at the former "Grand Café Esplanade" (built by J. Pfister Picault in 1925) the Rudolf-Bernhard-Theater which premierred on 19/20 December 1941.

The ensemble comprised among others Ernst Bölsterli, Walburga Gmür, Bernard's wife Lisa Lienbach, Peter W. Staub and Willi Stettner; as guests appeared Heinrich Gretler, Emil Hegetschweiler, Alfred Rasser, Schaggi Streuli and Fredy Scheim.

For the season 2000/01 the board elected a new director, but finally he also failed to establish the new labelled "Komödie am Bellevue" as a comedy house for upscale boulevard productions, due to financial difficulties by the end of July 2002.

The presidential department (Präsidialdepartement) of the city of Zürich and the Opernhaus parent company elected two new managing directors and an artistic advisory panel for the 2003/04 season as a new beginning.

[2] Among other stage actors, Trudi Roth who was popular as Martha Aebersold in the Swiss comedy serial Fascht e Familie,[10] starred in about a dozen plays, musicals and farces on Bernhard-Theater between 1965 and 2001.

[13] Since August 2004, when the former management also failed, the premises are hired out for various occasions,[2] but the past years the label Bernhard-Theater Zürich again has been increased used for theater guest performances.

[14] For that reason, Hanna Scheuring, a Swiss actress known for her roles as cast of Fascht e Familie and Lüthi und Blanc, was appointed as the new director of the operations of the Bernhard Theater in October 2014,[15] and she revitalized the so-called Bernhard-Apéro events.