European Film Star Postcards: Gabrielle Dorziat

09 August 2024

Gabrielle Dorziat

Elegant, imperious French stage and film actress Gabrielle Dorziat (1880–1979) was a fashion trendsetter in Paris and helped popularise the designs of Coco Chanel. From 1936 onwards, she appeared in over 70 films often as strong-willed women.

French postcard by Editions S.I.P., no. 1458. Sent by mail in 1906. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

French postcard by Editions S.I.P., no. 1607. Sent by mail in 1907. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

French postcard by Editions S.I.P. Sent by mail in 1911. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

A great lover of fashion

Gabrielle Dorziat was born Marie Odile Léonie Gabrielle Sigrist in Epernay, France, in 1880.

She was a student at the Lycée Racine in Paris. Dorziat made her stage début in 1898 at the Théâtre Royal du Parc in Brussels. Her stage name was inspired by the name of a character in a novel by Georges Ohnet: Doziat, to which she added an r.

Dorziat moved the same year to Paris and appeared in Alfred Capus' 'La Bourse ou la vie' (1900), but it was her performance as Thérèse Herbault in 'Chaîne anglaise' (1906) that brought her to public attention. In the following decades, she was particularly successful in plays by Sacha Guitry, several times under his direction.

She became known for her off-stage life as well, becoming romantically involved with actors Lucien Guitry and Louis Jouvet. She had close friendships with Jean Cocteau, Jean Giraudoux, Coco Chanel, Paul Bourget and Henri Bernstein.

A great lover of fashion, Gabrielle Dorziat was one of the first to wear the Chanel hat in 1912. During World War I Dorziat left France to tour the United States where she raised money for war refugees. After the war, she toured Canada, South America and the rest of Europe.

French postcard in the Collection Reutlinger, Série no 6, no. 72, by * Paris (Étoile Paris). Photo: Reutlinger.

French postcard, no. 2247. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

The Countess of Zogheb

In the silent era, Gabrielle Dorziat appeared in her first film, L'infante à la rose/The Infanta with a Rose (Henry Houry, 1923). Thirteen years later, she had her breakthrough in the cinema as Empress Elisabeth in Mayerling (Anatole Litvak, 1936) with Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux.

She went on to play in over sixty films including Les parents terribles/The Storm Within (Jean Cocteau, 1948) starring Jean Marais and Manon (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1949) with Serge Reggiani and Cécile Aubry. In 1949, she was awarded the Prix féminin du cinéma for best actress.

She published her memoirs 'Côté cour, côté jardin' in 1968. She paid tribute to those who accompanied her in one of the highlights of her career, Jean Cocteau's 'Les parents terribles' with Yvonne de Bray and Jean Marais: "During five hundred performances, I had the time to get to know and appreciate my author and we became great friends."

Dorziat married Count Michel de Zogheb in Cairo in 1925. The count, who died in 1964, was a cousin of King Fouad of Egypt.

Gabrielle Dorziat died in 1979 in Biarritz, France, less than two months before her hundredth birthday. The 'Countess of Zogheb' is buried in the old cemetery of Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine. The Théâtre Gabrielle-Dorziat in Épernay, France is named for her.

French postcard in the Series Collection Artistique du Vin Désiles by S.I.P. Photo: Jean Reutlinger, Paris. Caption: Patience and le Vin Désiles lead to everything. Gabrielle Dorziat.