This vintage theater postcard features two actresses appearing in the play, “Resurrection”, by Henry Bataille. The play was adapted from a novel written by Leo Tolstoy. The novel was originally published in 1899. The play was performed at the “Theatre National de L’odeon. The actresses are Mll Sylvie (1883-1970) and Mme Bertha Bady (1872-1921). Here are brief biographical skethches of the actresses. Sylvie was born in Paris, France. Her original name was Louise Pauline Mainguene. Her father was a sailor and her mother was a teacher. She started her professional career in 1903. She appeared in a number of French silent films. She was both a stage and a screen actress. She graduated from the Paris Conservatoire. Her filmography, listed by IMDb, credits her as acting in 54 films between 1912 and 1968. Berthe Bady was born in Belgium but her nationality was French. Berthe Bady attended the Brussels Conservatory and was active on the stage between 1893 and 1913. She was a beautiful actress. Berthe was a companion to both Lugne-Poe and Felix-Henri Bataille. Lugne-Poe was a French actor, theatrical director, and scenic designer. He and Bady were involved in symbolist movement of the arts. Bataille was a French dramatist and poet. A brief explanation of symbolism seems to be merited. In theatre, symbolism is a way to bring a greater meaning to something than is apparent at face value. The use of color, characters, movement, props and costumes are all methods of presenting symbolism. In 1897 Bady was the subject of a portrait by Toulouse Lautrec and her death was the subject of a poem by a leading French poet, Louis Aragon. In addition, playwright Fernand Crommelynck dedicated a play to her. Wikipedia credits her with sixteen “notable” play appearances between 1893 and 1913. She appeared in Ibsen’s “The Master Builder” on an international tour. The tour took her to London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Milan, and additional cities. In 1918 she appeared in her one and only film, “Ecce Homo”. The photo of Berthe and Sylvie was taken by Emile Allevy, a Paris photographer. The postcard was published by A.J.C. (Arthur John Carter) of Eastbourne, England. This postcard was likely published around 1902 since that is when Bady played in the play at the Theatre National de L’odeon. This vintage postcard is in good condition (see scans).
Buy this Vintage Real Photo Postcard (includes shipping within the US) #3081
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This vintage real photo postcard features American stage and film actress, Mayo Methot (1904-1951). Until encountering this postcard, I had never heard of Miss Methot. However, a Hollywood historian would easily recognize her name. The exact reason for her name recognition will become apparent in just a bit. Methot’s acting career spanned between 1909 and 1940. She was married three times and divorced three times. Her third husband was actor Humphrey Bogart. Their seven year marriage, beginning in 1938, is one of the reasons she is known by Hollywood aficionados. Their marriage was turbulent. The press reported many of their violent fights. The press called them the “Battling Bogarts”. Methot struggled with alcoholism and was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic after she attempted suicide in 1943. Methot appeared in over 30 films, as well as many Broadway productions. The IBDb credits her with 11 appearances in Broadway shows. She was raised in Portland, Oregon, where she began her theater career at the age of 5. She was a prolific child actress and continued to perform in Portland through the 1910’s and 1920’s. In 1922 she moved to New York to pursue a career in Broadway theater. After starring in more than ten Broadway shows, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1930. She emigrated to the west coast to begin a film career. She was signed by Warner Brothers and appeared in a variety of supporting roles. She often portrayed hard edged women. The IMDb credits Methot with 28 film appearances between 1930 and 1940. After divorcing Bogart, Methot’s film career stalled and she returned to Portland. Her drinking and depression worsened and she died there from complications from alcoholism. This card was published by Societe Industrielle de Photograpie (SIP) of Rueil, France. It is part of the 77 series (no.5). Methot’s photograph was taken by celebrity photographer Jacob Schloss (1856-1938) in his Manhattan studio. Schloss received his education at the Cooper Union in New York City. He graduated in 1872 as an etcher. He joined Benjamin J. Falk’s photography studio and worked there in the mid 1870’s. He left Falk’s employ to open his own studio (54 West 23rd Street) where like Falk, he specialized in theatrical photography. He tended to favor photographing actresses in costume in front of generic studio furnishings. He produced many cabinet card photographs but also was active in the production of magazine images. By the 1890’s he was particularly known for his photographs of beautiful women, much like photographer Jose Maria Mora. Schloss also was an activist for photographers rights. He was very involved in the movement to copyright images. He sued those who used his photographs without crediting or paying him. He was very involved in national photographer associations and was an active photographer until the 1910’s. This postcard formerly resided in a postcard album. SOLD
This vintage real photo postcard features actress Marjory Day (1887-1940). She was born in New Zealand. She was an actress and was known for “The Woman Who Was Nothing” (1917), “The Life of Lord Byron” (1922), and “The Fighting Marine” (1926). Miss Day was married and divorced from producer/actor George Desmond (1881-1969). The National Portrait Gallery has 15 portraits of Miss Day in their collection. This postcard captures Day exhibiting socially inappropriate behavior. Day’s deviant behavior is the fact that she is smoking a cigarette. She also seems to be wearing pants which is also a violation that could get her in trouble with the fashion police. To top things off, she is rebelliously staring at the photographer as this photo was taken. At first, I thought that Marjory Day was one of those “bad girls” of the theatre (there were also “bad boys”). However, I later learned that this photograph was taken while Day was in costume for playwright George Bernard Shaw’s “Devil’s Disciple” (1897). This postcard was published by Rafael Tuck as part of the “Celebrities of the Stage” series (no. T 790). 
This vintage real photo postcard features Russian ballerina, choreographer, and silent film star, Vera Karalli (1889-1972). She was born in Moscow. Her father was an entrepreneur and her mother was an actress. Karalli was active between 1914 and 1921. Karalli was a graduate of the Moscow Theatre School in 1906. She performed in the Ballets Russes company in 1909, and then again, in 1919 and 1920. She was a soloist with the Bolshoi Theater and after two years became a ballerina in 1915. She often danced with ballet star, Mikhail Mordkin. Karalli becan acting in 1914 and she became one of Russia’s most celebrated film actresses. From 1914 to 1919, Karalli appeared in about sixteen Russian silent films. One of these films was an adaptation of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”. Her last film was a German drama released in 1921. Karalli was a mistress of the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia. He was the cousin of Nicholas II. It was reported that she was a co-conspirator in the 1916 murder of Grigori Rasputin. After the October Revolution, she fled to the West. Between In the 1920’s she taught dance in Lithuania. Between 1930 and 1935 she was ballet mistress of the Romanian opera in Bucharest. She lived in Paris between 1938 and 1941. She later settled in Baden, Austria. (SOLD)
This real photo postcard features actress Miss Rosalie Jacobi. Little information could be found about her and this particular postcard is very uncommon. Miss Jacobi appeared in the 1900 production of “Herod” which was produced at “Her Majesty’s Theatre” in London, England. Actors in the play included Maude Jeffries and Beerbohm Tree. The Sketch (1900) has an article about the play “Bonnie Dundee”, which appeared at the Adelphi Theatre. The review praises Rosalie Jacobi and labels her as a “child actress”. The article also states that she gave a “remarkably talented performance”. The photograph on the face of this postcard is from 1906 (see the postmark) and it is likely that the photo was taken when Jacobi was in her teenage years. The postcard was published by Rapid Photo of London as part of a series (no.3036). The photographer was Carr & Hopperton. This vintage postcard is in good condition (see scans).
This vintage real photo postcard features British actress, Alice de Winton (1870-1941). She was born and died in the city of London. Her sister, Dora de Winton was also an actress. Alice de Winton was a very popular stage actress. She appeared on Broadway in “The Man from Blankley’s” (1903). De Winton was beautiful and sophisticated. She also had a film career. She appeared in many drama films. In 1912 she played a role in Cecil Hepworth Film Companys “The Fairy Doll’. Other notable appearances included “Lady Windermere’s Fan” (1916) and “The Bachelor’s Club (1921). De Winton also was a film script writer. The IMDB credits her with 24 film appearances between 1913 and 1921. The National Portrait Gallery has two cabinet card photographs of Miss de Winton in their collections. Both images were photographed by the Elliott and Fry studio in the 1890’s. This vintage postcard was published by Frederick Hartmann. His postcard publishing company was headquartered in London. He was active in the UK between 1902 and 1909. It is thought that he produced the first divided back card in the world. His postcards were printed in Saxony (Germany) because of the country’s advanced printing industry. He produced view cards from all over England and imported glamour cards from the European continent. He was the English distributor for Trenkler & Company postcards. In 1907, Hartmann partnered with Christian Linck. The business went bankrupt that same year (1907). This vintage portrait postcard is in very good condition (see scans).
