Marie Kalff

Marie Kalff
A white woman with short dark wavy hair in a circle frame.
Marie Kalff, from a 1912 publication
Born
Johanna Maria Kalff

(1874-07-29)July 29, 1874
DiedOctober 19, 1959(1959-10-19) (aged 85)
Other namesMarie Lenormand (after marriage)
OccupationActress
SpouseHenri-René Lenormand
RelativesRené Lenormand (father-in-law)

Marie Kalff (born Johanna Maria Kalff; 29 July 1874 – 19 October 1959), was a Dutch-born actress, based in Paris.

Early life

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Kalff was born in Amsterdam, the daughter of Antonius Kalff and Ellegonda Duranda Rutgers van der Loeff.[1] Her father was a bank director and merchant. She spent some of her childhood in Java, where her father was working.

Career

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Kalff moved to Paris and was an actress at the Théâtre Antoine-Simone Berriau and the Théâtre de l'Œuvre there. She was seen regularly on the Paris stage from 1904 to 1929,[2] and was noted especially for interpreting the works of Paul Claudel for the stage.[3][4][5] She was also Claudel's confidante.[6] Her gowns were also admired, and featured in theatre magazines.[7][8]

Kalff also appeared in two silent films directed by Émile Couzinet, La poupée japonaise (1911, short) and L'auberge sanglante (1913), and in one sound picture, Le Bout de la route (1949). In 1950 she traveled to California with her husband, while he was giving a series of lectures on French drama.[9]

Dutch artist Kees van Dongen painted Kalff's portrait in 1905, with the title "Le peignoir rose". The painting sold at Christie's in 2014 for €169,500.[10]

Personal life

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Kalff married French playwright Henri-René Lenormand. Lenormand died in 1951;[11] Kalff died in 1959. She left a collection of papers to the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal.[12][13]

References

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  1. ^ "Registration Johanna Maria Kalff on July 29, 1874". Open Archives. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
  2. ^ "Marie Kalff". Les Archives du Spectacle (in French). Retrieved 2021-04-03.
  3. ^ Koffeman, Maaike. "Claudel and Holland". Société Paul Claudel. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
  4. ^ Vagianos, Sylvia Caides (1979). Paul Claudel and La Nouvelle Revue Française (1909-1918). Librairie Droz. p. 78. ISBN 978-2-600-03573-6.
  5. ^ Fleury, Raphaèle (2011). "La question de la dimension scénique dans la nouvelle édition Pléiade du théâtre de Paul Claudel". Bulletin de la Société Paul Claudel (203): 20–24. ISSN 0037-9506. JSTOR 45087840.
  6. ^ Claudel, Paul (1972). Claudel on the theatre. Internet Archive. Coral Gables, Fla. : University of Miami Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-87024-158-1 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ "Mlle Marie Kalff". Le Théâtre. May 1908.
  8. ^ "Semi-Annual Review of Fashions". The Theatre Magazine. 14: xviii. 1911.
  9. ^ "Dramatist to Give 4 Mills Lectures". Oakland Tribune. 1950-07-17. p. 20. Retrieved 2021-04-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Kees van Dongen (Delfshaven 1877-1968 Monte Carlo)". Christie's. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
  11. ^ "Lenormand Dead; French Dramatist; Author of 'Simoun' and 'Rates,' Which Received Wide Acclaim, Wrote for Grand Guignol". The New York Times. 1951-02-18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
  12. ^ [Fonds Henri-René Lenormand, auteur dramatique] : 1882-1951. Paris. 1882.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ^ "Chronique". Bulletin des bibliothéques de France (in French). 1961-01-01. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
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