Cécile Sorel

Céline Émilie Seurre 7 September 1873 in Paris 3 September 1966 in TrouvillesurMer known as Cécile Sorel or the Comtesse de Ségur by marriage was a French comic actress She enjoyed great popularity and was known for her extravagant costumes Sorel was attracted to the theater at an early age studying with LouisArsène Delaunay and Marie Favart In 1899 she began her career at the Odéon and then in 1901 became a member of the ComédieFrançaise where she specialized in playing a stock character known as the grande coquette She was especially well known for her portrayal of Célimène in The Misanthrope In 1904 she became the 339th Sociétaire de la ComédieFrançaise and remained with the theater until 1933 Although long engaged to Whitney Warren an American architect who was related to the Vanderbilts she eventually married the Comte de SégurLamoignon great grandson of the famous Comtesse de Ségur who acted under the name Guillaume de Sax They were sometimes mocked as beauty and the beast and were separated after fifteen years but she kept the title of Comtesse for the rest of her life In 1909 she had the starring role in La Tosca a film by André Calmettes and Charles Le Bargy Her next film role did not come until 1937 when she played an aged courtesan in The Pearls of the Crown by Sacha Guitry Four years later she essentially played herself in a sketch comedy called Les Petits riens written by and starring Yves Mirande In 1944 she barely escaped the bombing that destroyed the ThéâtreFrançais in Rouen In 1950 she underwent a conversion and following the lead of the original Comtesse de Ségur took her vows as a Thirdorder Franciscan She adopted the name Soeur Cécile de lEnfantJésus and devoted her time to writing A television documentary of her career was produced in 1965 She died of complications from a fractured hip suffered in a fall at her rented château on the French coast and was buried in the Cimetière du Montparnasse She was painted by François Flameng and her likeness appears in a fresco by Charles Hoffbauer on the ceiling of the cupola at the Château dArtigny in Montbazon once owned by François Coty A college in the town of Mériel is named after her Source Article Cécile Sorel from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30