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

Early life

Kalff was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, the daughter of Antonius Kalff and Ellegonda Duranda Rutgers van der Loeff. Her father was a bank director and merchant. She spent some of her childhood in

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, where her father was working.

Career

Kalff moved to Paris and was an actress at the

Théâtre Antoine-Simone Berriau Théâtre Antoine-Simone Berriau () is a theater located at 14 boulevard de Strasbourg in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. The 800-seat Italian Style theater was built in the year 1866. It functioned under a variety of names through the years, ...

and the

Théâtre de l'Œuvre The Théâtre de l'Œuvre () is a Paris theatre on the Right Bank, located at 3, Cité Monthiers, entrance 55, rue de Clichy, in the 9° arrondissement. It is commonly conflated and confused with the late-nineteenth-century theater company named ...

there. She was seen regularly on the Paris stage from 1904 to 1929, and was noted especially for interpreting the works of

Paul Claudel Paul Claudel (; 6 August 1868 – 23 February 1955) was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism. Early lif ...

for the stage. She was also Claudel's confidante. Her gowns were also admired, and featured in theatre magazines. Kalff also appeared in two silent films directed by

Émile Couzinet Émile Cousinet, (12 November 1896 – 24 October 1964) was a French film producer and film director. Biography The son of a carpenter, Couzinet became a traveling projectionist and then director of the Royan Casino. In the 1920s, he deci ...

, ''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. Dutch artist

Kees van Dongen Cornelis Theodorus Maria "Kees" van Dongen (26 January 1877 – 28 May 1968) was a Dutch-French painter who was one of the leading Fauves. Van Dongen's early work was influenced by the Hague School and symbolism and it evolved gradually into a ...

painted Kalff's portrait in 1905, with the title "Le peignoir rose". The painting sold at Christie's in 2014 for €169,500.

Personal life

Kalff married French playwright Henri-René Lenormand. Lenormand died in 1951; Kalff died in 1959. She left a collection of papers to the

Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal The Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal (, ''Library of the Arsenal'', founded 1757) in Paris has been part of the Bibliothèque nationale de France since 1934. History The collections of the library originated with the private library of Marc Antoine ...

References

External links

*
Ton poème sera écrit par Marie Kalff
1909; in the collection of the Beinecke Library
"Marie Kalff"
''Eigen Haard'' (1908): 260-264. An article in Dutch with multiple photographs of Kalff. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalff, Marie 1874 births 1959 deaths Actresses from Amsterdam Dutch stage actresses Dutch silent film actresses 20th-century Dutch actresses Dutch people of the Dutch East Indies Dutch expatriates in France