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

Career

Born in Montluçon, Allier,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, Robinne was a pupil of

Maurice de Féraudy Maurice de Féraudy (born in Joinville-le-Pont on December 3, 1859 - died in Paris May 12, 1932) was a French songwriter, stage and film director, and actor at the Comédie-Française. He was the father of actor Jacques de Féraudy Jacques de F� ...

at the

Paris Conservatory The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

. In 1904 she entered the company of Sarah Bernhardt and for a year she joined the Theatre Michel in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Her career blossomed while performing at the

Comédie-Française The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...

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. 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

Gabrielle Robinne was married to actor

René Alexandre René Alexandre (22 December 1885 – 19 August 1946) was a French actor. René Alexandre was born in Reims and died in Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine in 1946. He was married to actress Gabrielle Robinne from 1912 until his death. Filmograph ...

from 1912 until his death in 1946. She never remarried. She died in

Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthiest tow ...

, Hauts-de-Seine, France in 1980 at the age of 94.

Legacy

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

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

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. 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 The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

Selected filmography

References

External links

* 1886 births 1980 deaths French stage actresses French film actresses French silent film actresses People from Montluçon Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Sociétaires of the Comédie-Française 20th-century French actresses Conservatoire de Paris alumni {{France-actor-stub