Berthe Cerny

Berthe Cerny (born Françoise Berthe-Hélène-Lucie de Choudens; 31 January 1868 – 27 March 1940) was a French actress, known as an elegant blonde beauty.

In January she appeared at the Théâtre du Gymnase Marie Bell in Je dîne chez ma mère by Adrien Decourcelle.

"[4] In April she appeared again at the Théâtre du Gymnase Marie Bell as Maman Clémentine in the Homme à l'oreille cassée by Pierre Decourcelle and Antony Mars, after the novel by Edmond About.

[5] She appeared at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in November as Etiennette in the romantic comedy Leurs Gigolettes by Henri Meilhac and Albert de Saint-Albin.

[6] The critic said, "Berthe Cerny is fine and perverse; she shows us, moreover, with laudable disinterest, two exquisitely molded legs in pretty stockings of black silk.

"[7] In 1895 Alexandre Dumas, fils repeated the stale idea that actresses must be immoral, saying the "feverish work, the quest for feigned emotions, the thirst for applause, the joys of triumph ... raise their bodies to a temperature they must maintain in real life."

Berthe Cerny was among those who contradicted him in the pages of Le Temps, saying that a well-behaved but talented actress could easily portray vice.

[14] She dominated the classical repertoire in roles such as Célimène in Molière's The Misanthrope, Suzanne in Pierre Beaumarchais's The Marriage of Figaro and Alcmene in Moliere's Amphitryon.

[3] Just before and after World War I (1914–18) Berthe Cerny performed in two plays by Pierre de Marivaux in which Louis Jouvet said she relived the spirit of Italian theatre.

Georges Grand, Berthe Cerny and Marcel Dessonnes in "L'autre" by Paul and Victor Margueritte, December 1907
Berthe Cerny in 1900 by Jules Cayron