Feb 02 2009
Eleanora Duse-First woman on TIME cover
Italian actress Eleanora Duse was born in 1858 in Lombardy. Her parents were actors, running their own company and Eleanora started touring with them and acting at age 4. Money was tight and she worked tirelessly, in the process developping her own style and revolutionising acting. She despised set rules and rigid performances as well as excessive make up and created her own style which consisted of expressing emotions and drama with facial expressions and body movements. For modern taste, her acting techniques seem over-dramatic and exagerated, but they became popular at her time.
Duse’s fame rose, first in Europe and then on extensive tours throughout South and North America. She married twice and had several affairs, most notoriously with playwrite Gabriele d’Annunzio. However, when Gabrielle gave the lead role of his play La Citta Morta to arch rival Sarah Bernhardt, a furious Duse broke up the relationship.
Duse made history in 1896, when, on the occasion of her tour of America, she became the first actress in whose honour a tea party was held in the White House by Mrs. Cleveland. Another ‘first’ occurred in 1923 when she was the first woman ever to make the cover of TIME magazine.
In contrast to Sarah Bernhardt, Eleanora Duse was reserved and, mostly, kept her private life to herself and shunned interviews. She sponsored young actors to help them in their career. Not so private was her lesbian love affair with Sibilla Alermo, which lasted for 2 years. Altough Duse retired in 1909, she made come back tours. The last was in 1923, when she caught pneumonia and died on the last leg of her tour in the United States.
