Gabrielle Robinne

Gabrielle Robinne
Born(1886-07-01)1 July 1886
Died18 December 1980(1980-12-18) (aged 94)
OccupationActress
Years active1904–1973
Spouse
(m. 1912; died 1946)

Gabrielle Anna Charlotte Robinne (1 July 1886 – 18 December 1980) was a French stage and film actress whose career spanned over sixty years.

Career

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Born in Montluçon, Allier, France, Robinne was a pupil of Maurice de Féraudy at the Paris Conservatory. In 1904 she entered the company of Sarah Bernhardt and for a year she joined the Theatre Michel in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her career blossomed while performing at the Comédie-Française in 1907 and she became a sociétaire in 1924 and remained there until 1938. She made her film debut in the 1906 Segundo de Chomón-directed short Le troubadour. She is often regarded by critics to be the first French star of the silent film era.[1]

Gabrielle Robinne alternated her time between the stage and film. Between 1906 and 1973, Robinne would appear in nearly fifty films. Her last film appearance was a role in the 1973 Stanislav Stanojevic-directed drama Le journal d'un suicidé (English release title: Diary of a Suicide).

Personal life and death

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Gabrielle Robinne was married to actor René Alexandre from 1912 until his death in 1946. She never remarried. She died in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, France in 1980 at the age of 94.

Legacy

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In 2006, after several years of restoration, the local theatre in Robinne's home village of Montluçon was renamed the Théâtre Municipal Gabrielle Robinne and was opened to the public by actress Audrey Tautou. Renovated at a cost of 2.5 million, the theatre was named in Robinne's honor and was mainly financed by the State, the General Council and the Regional Council.[2] The theatre was founded in 1912 and opened 17 January 1914, with Robinne present on the day of the first opening.

For her work in the French arts, Gabrielle Robinne was made an Officer of the Legion of Honor.[3]

Selected filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1908 The Assassination of the Duke of Guise Marquise de Noirmoutier, maîtresse du duc
1913 Coeur de femme Gabrielle Normand
1913 Plus fort que la haine Gina Gioverni
1913 La leçon du gouffre Gabrielle de Lanssay
1913 Le roi du bagne Germaine Pradier
1914 La lutte pour la vie Claire Préval
1916 Blessure d'amour Marguerite
1916 Zyte
1917 La proie
1917 La chanson du feu
1917 Le dédale
1917 Le vol suprême Hervinde de Montclard
1917 La bonne hôtesse
1917 La vie d'une reine
1918 La route du devoir
1918 L'expiation
1919 Les larmes du pardon
1919 Le calvaire d'une reine
1922 Destinée
1927 Lucile
1938 Rasputin Tsarine-mère
1938 Adrienne Lecouvreur La Duclos
1939 Girls in Distress Le mère d'Yvette
1946 The Captain La supérieure
1947 Rendezvous in Paris Lady Mermor
1947 Hyménée Mme d'Aubarède
1963 Prostitution Honorine
1973 Le Journal d'un suicidé La vieille dame (final film role)

References

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  1. ^ Cyranos
  2. ^ "Bienvenue à Montluçon: Théâtre Municipal Gabrielle Robinne". Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  3. ^ "French Actress Postcards of the Belle Epoque". Archived from the original on 4 January 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
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