More Nos artistes dans leur loge

We are fans of the French postcard series 'Nos artistes dans leur loge'. These cards of French stage and film stars of the 1910s and 1920s in their dressing rooms form a unique and wonderful series. We love these intimate and candid views of legendary French artists - most are now forgotten - with their mirrors, poses, and extravagant costumes. Nearly all of the postcards were produced by the French journal Comoedia. Since 2012, EFSP has regularly posted about the series. During our visit to Noordwijk, Ivo Blom found 19 more cards from the series still missing from his collection.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 105. Photo: Comoedia.

This could be the actress Renée Devilder (?-?). Between 1926 and 1931, she played in various operettas, such as 'No No, Nanette' (1926) and 'Brummel' (1931). In the early 1930s, she acted in seven French musical films. After debuting in a supporting part in the French alternative version Moi et l'impératrice (Friedrich Hollaender, Paul Martin, 1933) starring Lilian Harvey, Devilder had the lead opposite Jean Garat in Cent mille francs pour un baiser (Hubert Bourlon & Georges Delance, 1933). Yet, mostly she played supporting parts.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 113. Photo: Comoedia.

Régina Camier (1894-?) was a French stage and screen actress, famous for her little feet. She had a rich theatre career in the 1920s and 1930s, and at one stage she even owned a theatre. She also directed two operettas in the 1920s, but it is unclear how many films she did. Cine-Ressources indicates only a small part in Par la vérité (1917) by Gaston Leprieur and Maurice de Féraudy.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 117. Photo: Comoedia.

Eugène Gabriel Mansuelle (1873-1938) began his stage career in 1895, playing in local bawling halls and café-concerts. His popularity was mainly due to his physique - he was overweight, which he used to comic effect. He got into the habit of playing a trumpet solo at the end of his performance, so much so that the audience would shout out ‘Ugène! The trumpet! Mansuelle also had a modest film career. In 1909, he played Mes Bottes in the Zola adaptation L'Assommoir by Albert Capellani for Pathé Frères. In 1916, he played at Pathé Magloire in La Joueuse d'orgue by Georges Denola. In 1917, he acted in Oh! ce baiser!, by René Hervil et Louis Mercanton. In the 1930s, he acted in two French sound films, Amants et voleurs (1935) by Raymond Bernard, and Les Jumeaux de Brighton (1936) by Claude Heymann.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 119. Photo: Comoedia.

French comic singer, music hall, stage and film actor Dranem (1869-1935) performed in 1895 with fellow newcomers Félix Mayol and Max Dearly in the 'Concert Parisien', from where he went on to become a leading music hall entertainer in his own comic absurdist genre. In 1899, he was signed to perform at the famous Eldorado Club, where he appeared regularly for the next twenty years. Dranem's comedic singing routine brought a loyal following, and his work made him a very wealthy man. Dranem also acted and sang in live theatre and in film. He already acted in 1900 at Pathé in Ma Tante / My Aunt, followed by several silent shorts by Pathé. In 1905, Dranem also performed in a series of 11 early sound films 'phonoscènes' by Gaumont and directed by Alice Guy. The advent of synchronised sound film in the late 1920s made Dranem much in demand for screen roles featuring his singing routines. In the early 1930s, he played in some 13 films, several of which featured him in the lead.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 119. Photo: Comoedia.

French stage actor Jean Sarment (1897-1976) debuted during the First World War and quickly became a beloved actor by director Jacques Copeau, who had him act in 13 of his plays in 1917-1918 at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in Paris. In 1920, Sarment started stage-writing and directing himself, now at the Théâtre de l'Œuvre, and later at the Théâtre Antoine, often with himself in the male lead. In the early 1930s, he thus acted in his own plays, not only in Paris but also at the Théâtre de Monte-Carlo. In the era of French sound cinema, Sarment collaborated on film scripts or dialogues of various French films, e.g. Un carnet de bal (1937). He scripted and had the lead in the comedy Léopold le bien-aimé (1934), based on a play he had written.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 122. Photo: Comoedia.

Hilda Roosevelt (1991-1965) was a Parisian opera singer. Though French-born, she was a niece of American President Theodore Roosevelt. In early 1918, she sang in Paris at the Salle Gaveau at a charity for the war effort. In 1919, she debuted as a singer in Paris at the Opéra-Comique, where she worked for years. In 1924, she sang at the Scala in London in 'The Three Musketeers' by Isidore de Lara.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 151. Photo: Comoedia.

French stage and film actor Georges Saillard (1877-1967) could be seen at the Théâtre Antoine, in plays such as 'Sherlock Holmes' (1907), 'La Femme et le pantin' (1910), and 'Hamlet' (1913). From 1909 on, he also appeared in several early silent Eclair and Pathé productions. After some 23 shorts, Saillard had the lead in the feature Le petit Jacques / Little Jack (Georges Monca, 1913) - in which he is a man unjustly arrested for murder, but trying to protect his child. Saillard returned to the sets in the 1920s, playing, e.g. the evil Thenardier in Les misérables (Henri Fescourt, 1925). Yet, particularly during the 1930s, Saillard played many supporting parts in French sound films, often playing doctors, e.g. the doctor in Yoshiwara (Max Ophüls, 1937) and in Abel Gance's own remake of J'Accuse (1938).


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 177. Photo: Comoedia.

Lucienne Debrenne [without -s] was a French stage actress who acted, e.g. in the comedy 'La Fleur d’oranger', performed in 1924 at the Comédie-Caumartin (Paris). According to IMDb, 'Lucienne Debrienne' acted in the French silent film comedy Bonheur conjugal (Robert Saidreau, 1923). Perhaps this is the same actress.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 226. Photo: Comoedia.

Guyon fils, pseudonym of Charles-Alexandre Guyon (1854-1923), was a French stage and screen actor, born in a family of actors. He made his debut at the Eldorado in 1873. He moved to the Théâtre Beaumarchais in 1880, where he played in the revue 'Madeleine-Bastille', before moving to the Théâtre du Château-d'Eau in 1882, where he created 'Casse-museau. In 1886, he went to the Folies-Dramatiques, where he remained for eight years and created around twenty plays and operettas. Guyon also appeared in six films between 1917 and 1923: La conscience de Monsieur Cachalot (Maurice Poggi, 1917), Le Retour aux champs (Jacques de Baroncelli, 1918), Les Bleus de l'amour (Henri Desfontaines, 1918), Les Cinq gentlemen maudits (Luitz-Morat & Pierre Régnier, 1920), Petit ange (Luitz-Morat & Pierre Régnier, 1920), and Petit ange et son pantin (Luitz-Morat, 1923) - the latter two with little Régine Dumien in the lead.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 236. Photo: Comoedia. The open window may be at the Comédie Française.

Yvonne Ducos (1887-1946) was a French stage actress who also played in four films. Ducos acted at the Comédie Française, where she was 'pensionnaire' between 1911 and 1937, both in modern plays such as 'la Marche nuptiale' (1913) by Henri Bataille as well as classics by Racine ('Esther', 'Iphigenia in Aulis') and Shakespeare ('The Taming of the Shrew). She acted in several Greek plays or reworkings of them, such as 'Elektra', 'Orestes' and, as mentioned, 'Iphigenia in Aulis', or, again, plays set in Ancient Greece ('Psyché', 1918; 'Les Phéniciennes', 1922; 'Les Erinnyes', 1931) or Rome ('L'Hérodienne', 1919). After two shorts in the 1910s, Les Jacobites (Le Film d'Art, 1912) and Les Lettres (Louis Feuillade, Gaumont, 1914), Ducos acted in two sound films, Cognasse (Louis Mercanton, 1932) starring Tramel, and La Troisième Dalle (Michel Dulud, 1946) with Jules Berry.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 253. Photo: Comoedia.

Odette Darthys (?-?) was a French prima donna singer at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Afterwards, she married auto racer Roger Lacor.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 273. Photo: Comoedia.

During the 1910s and 1920s, Sonia Pavloff (1885-1938), born in Russia, was a renowned dancer at the Opéra-Comique in Paris.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 298. Photo: Comoedia.

R. de Boncour (?-?) was a French stage actor in the 1920s, initially mostly at the Théâtre de l'Odéon, and only playing supporting parts. In the press, he was always listed as "R. de Boncour". Little is known about him.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 306. Photo: Comoedia. Audoin seems to wear a costume fit for the torero in the opera 'Carmen'.

Eric Audoin, aka Audoin (1881-?), was a French tenor. In 1904, he debuted as a singer at the Theatre of Besançon, while he sang at the opera of Nice in 1905-1906. Afterward. Albert Carré hired him for his Opéra-Comique in Paris, where Audoin's part of Don José in 'Carmen' became his most famous role. In 1906, he married the singer Hélène Lassara. In 1925, Audoin had the lead as Lohengrin in the opera by Richard Wagner, performed at the Theatre at Vichy.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 310. Photo: Comoedia.

French comedian Polin (1863-1927) was one of the greatest stars of the café-concerts of Paris. His interpretations were sober and had nuance and finesse, which were rare in the café-concerts. From 1910 on, he also appeared in film and theatre, including Sacha Guitry's play Le Grand Duc/The Grand Duke (1921) with Lucien and Sacha Guitry, and Yvonne Printemps.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 324. Photo: Comoedia.

French stage actor Jean d’Yd (1880-1964) was active between the 1910s and the 1960s. From 1911, he acted in several plays at the Théâtre national de l'Odéon, directed by André Antoine. In the 1920s, he acted in various plays at the Théâtre des Arts, directed by Georges Pitoëff. After the Second World War, he acted in various plays at the Théâtre de l'Athénée, directed by Pierre Blanchar. He was a highly prolific character actor in French cinema. His M. Labas in Germaine Dulac's La souriante Madame Beudet (1923) was immediately followed by Dulac's episode film Gossette (1923). During the 1920s, d'Yd played La Bussière in Abel Gance's Napoléon (1927) and Guillaume Évrard in La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928) by Carl Theodor Dreyer. In the 1930s, he acted in over 15 films in the 1930s, including Les Misérables (1934) by Raymond Bernard. During the war years, he acted in Les Visiteurs du soir (1942) by Marcel Carné and L'Eternel retour (1943) by Jean Delannoy. In the post-war era, he had a major part as the uncle of Marlene Dietrich in Martin Roumagnac (1946) by Georges Lacombe, while he played the father of the family in Les Dernières Vacances (1948) by Robert Leenhardt. All in all, he acted in 56 films until 1959.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 326. Photo: Comoedia.

Robert Hista, known as Hasti, acted from 1907 at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens in Paris. Hasti often acted opposite Cora Laparcerie in stage comedies at the same theatre in the pre-WWI years. After the First World War, Hasti acted at the Théâtre national de l'Odéon and other Parisian theatres. His films included L'oeil de Saint Yves (1919) and Les deux jarretières (1919), both with Julian, René Norbert, and Geneviève Félix. In 1920, Hasti acted in Luitz-Morat's comedy Rien à louer, on a modern Robinson Crusoë. In the early 1930s, Hasti returned on screen in five comedies. After the Second World War, Hasti had a last performance in another military comedy, Tire-au-flanc (Fernand Rivers, 1950), a remake of a film by Jean Renoir.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 328. Photo: Comoedia.

Albert Laroche (1862-?) was a French stage actor whose peak was during the 1890s and 1900s. Laroche acted for years at the Théâtre de la Renaissance, where he had major supporting parts in many plays starring 'la divine' Sarah Bernhardt. When Bernhardt started her own theatre, Laroche had a major part in her 'L'Aiglon' (1900) by Edmond Rostand. In 1907, he reunited with Bernhardt at her theatre for 'Les Bouffons' and 'Adrienne Lecouvreur', and again in 1913 for Jeanne Doré. Yet, at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, he acted in plays with Coquelin ainé in the lead, such as 'Cyrano de Bergerac' (1904) and 'Scarron' (1905). In 1908-1909, he also co-wrote revues for the Scala and the Eldorado in Paris. In the 1910s, Laroche acted at the Odeon theatre, and in 1927, he starred opposite Huguette Duflos in Maurice Donnay's 'Une Revue', at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint Martin. His last performance (as far as known) he gave in 1929 in John Van Druten's play 'Destinée', with Roger Gaillard.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Comoedia, no. 330. Photo: Comoedia.

French stage and screen actor Lucien Callamand (1888-1968) had a rich stage career at various Parisian theatres in the 1920s. Yet, it was in the cinema that Callamand had his most prolific career. From 1909, he acted under the name of Paul Lack at Pathé Frères in films by Albert Capellani such as L'Assommoir (1909). Soon, he started to use his own name. In 1911, he launched at Eclipse his comical character of Agénor in Agénor, cavalier de deuxième classe. At Pathé, he played the comic type Narcisse in Narcisse a perdu son oncle (1914). After the introduction of sound film, Callamand became a regular character actor for decades. All in all, Callamand acted in some 145 films, even if some parts were uncredited.

Check out our earlier posts on Nos artistes dans leur loge

Nos artistes sans leur loge (21 November 2012).

New Acquisitions: Nos artistes dans leur loge (9 November 2019).

New Acquisitions: Nos artistes dans leur loge (18 January 2020).

Encore! Nos artistes dans leur loge (17 July 2021).

And check out our Flick Album on Nos artistes dans leur loge.