Alexandre Dumas fils live with his father. There he met Marie Duplessis, a young courtesan who would be the inspiration for the character Marguerite Gauthier in his romantic novel "La Dame aux camélias" ("The Lady of the Camellias"). Adapted into a play, it was titled "Camille" in English and became the basis for Verdi's 1853 opera, "La traviata", Duplessis undergoing yet another name change, this time to Violetta Valéry. Although he admitted that he had done the adaptation because he needed the money, he had great success with the play, which started his career as a dramatist. He was not only more renowned
Sarah Bernhardt a limited run. It starred Janet McTeer as Bernhardt and it was directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel . Recordings of performances by Bernhardt: Other external links: Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard, 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including "La Dame Aux Camelias" by Alexandre Dumas, "fils", "Ruy Blas" by Victor Hugo, "Fédora" and "La Tosca" by Victorien Sardou, and "L'Aiglon" by Edmond Rostand. She also played male roles, including Shakespeare's Hamlet.