YVETTE GUILBERT

Yvette Guilbert was a French cabaret singer and actress of the Belle Epoque. She was born as Emma Laure Esther Guilbert in 1865, and at age 16 she worked as a model at the Printemps department store in Paris. She took acting and diction lessons, which enabled her in 1886 to appear on stage at several smaller venues. Guilbert debuted at the Variete Theatre in 1888, and eventually sang at the popular Eldorado club, then at the Jardin de Paris before headlining in Montmartre at the Moulin Rouge in 1890. She was a favorite subject of artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who made many portraits and caricatures of Guilbert and dedicated his second album of sketches to her. She appeared in several films, including F. W. Murnau's Faust. She passed away in 1944 at the age of 79.