French stage actress (Gabrielle) Colonna Romano (1883-1981) was a pupil of Sarah Bernhardt and a famous tragedienne of the Comédie-Française from 1913 till 1936. She also appeared in Film d'Art shorts and other early silent films. Her love life was tempestuous and legendary.
![Colonna Romano]()
French postcard by KF Editeurs d'art Paris, series 2039. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.
![Colonna Romano in Electre]()
French postcard. Colonna Romano in the play 'Electre' (Electra) by Euripides.
![Gabrielle Colonna-Romano]()
French postcard in the Nos artistes dans leur loge series, no. 237. Photo: Comoedia.
Gabrielle Colonna-Romano aka Colonna or Colonna Romano was born Gabrielle Dreyfuss in Paris in 1883. Wikipedia writes that she used Colonna Romano as a film actress, but on most of the cards in this post (including the one above for a stage role and others from the period before her film career), she was called 'Colonna Romano'.
She was a pupil and devotee of Sarah Bernhardt. In 1913, Colonna Romano became a member of the Comédie-Française and was a sociétaire between 1926 and 1936, when she left the Comédie-Française.
Colonna Romano was famous for her roles as tragediénne, such as in the Euripides play 'Electre' (Electra), and she also gave numerous poetry readings, notably by the Symbolist poet Saint-Pol-Roux.
She was also a favourite model of the Impressionist painter Auguste Renoir and posed for such paintings as 'Jeune femme à la rose' (1913). She had an affair with his son Pierre Renoir until he left her for the actress Vera Sergine.
Colonna-Romano also acted in silent films. Between 1908 and 1913 she appeared in Film d'Art shorts such as Hamlet (Henri Desfontaines, 1908), in which she played Queen Gertrude.
She also acted in modern drama and action films, like Hop-Frog (Henri Desfontaines, 1910), L'Honneur/Legion of Honor (Albert Capellani, 1910) with her then-husband George Grand, Le Scarabée d'or/The Gold-Bug (Henri Desfontaines, 1910), and Antar (N.N., 1912).
IMDb and Wikipedia state that her film L'Honneur dates from 1913 and was made by Henri Pouctal. The mostly more reliable Seydoux-Pathé site gives another name and date, which we use above.
![Colonna Romano]()
French postcard by. S.I.P., no. 97/20.
![Colonna Romano, Mardi]()
French postcard by S.I.P., no. 908/6. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris. Caption: Mardi (Tuesday).
![Colonna Romano]()
French postcard by FA, no. 275. Photo: Félix. Caption: Colonna Romano, Comédie Française.
During the First World War, Colonna Romano was a nurse, according to IMDb.
In England, she met and became friends with Marie Bell who, on her advice, decided to go to the Conservatory.
Romano was married to actor Georges Grand, who died in 1921 of a heart attack at the age of 56. In 1916, while married, she had a relationship with the very young, future filmmaker René Clair, but his best friend Jacques Rigaut was jealous and Romano very free in her relationships... The deluded Clair left for the Red-Cross in 1917.
She was the sixth and final wife of the millionaire press-magnate Alfred Edwards, and after his death, she married in 1939 the actor Pierre Alcover, like her first husband a colleague from the Comédie-Française. IMDb writes that Colonna Romano was a resistance fighter in WWII.
In 1981, Gabrielle Colonna Romano died in Paris at the age of 93. She and Alcover rest in the old cemetery of Rueil-Malmaison. Their granddaughter Cathérine is an actress too. Colonna Romano gave her name to the Colonna-Romano Prize for Classical Tragedy at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art in Paris.
Colonna Romano can be seen acting in the documentary Un soir à la Comédie-Française/An Evening at the Comédie-Française (Léonce Perret, 1935).
![Colonna Romano]()
French postcard, no. 2247. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.
![Colonna Romano]()
French postcard, no. 261. Photo: ND Phot. Caption: Colonna Romano (Théâtre Antoine).
![Colonna Romano, reutlinger]()
French postcard. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris, c. 1900-1910.
Sources: Fondation Jerome Seydoux Pathe, Wikipedia (French and English), and IMDb.
French postcard by KF Editeurs d'art Paris, series 2039. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.
French postcard. Colonna Romano in the play 'Electre' (Electra) by Euripides.
French postcard in the Nos artistes dans leur loge series, no. 237. Photo: Comoedia.
A favourite model of Renoir
Gabrielle Colonna-Romano aka Colonna or Colonna Romano was born Gabrielle Dreyfuss in Paris in 1883. Wikipedia writes that she used Colonna Romano as a film actress, but on most of the cards in this post (including the one above for a stage role and others from the period before her film career), she was called 'Colonna Romano'.
She was a pupil and devotee of Sarah Bernhardt. In 1913, Colonna Romano became a member of the Comédie-Française and was a sociétaire between 1926 and 1936, when she left the Comédie-Française.
Colonna Romano was famous for her roles as tragediénne, such as in the Euripides play 'Electre' (Electra), and she also gave numerous poetry readings, notably by the Symbolist poet Saint-Pol-Roux.
She was also a favourite model of the Impressionist painter Auguste Renoir and posed for such paintings as 'Jeune femme à la rose' (1913). She had an affair with his son Pierre Renoir until he left her for the actress Vera Sergine.
Colonna-Romano also acted in silent films. Between 1908 and 1913 she appeared in Film d'Art shorts such as Hamlet (Henri Desfontaines, 1908), in which she played Queen Gertrude.
She also acted in modern drama and action films, like Hop-Frog (Henri Desfontaines, 1910), L'Honneur/Legion of Honor (Albert Capellani, 1910) with her then-husband George Grand, Le Scarabée d'or/The Gold-Bug (Henri Desfontaines, 1910), and Antar (N.N., 1912).
IMDb and Wikipedia state that her film L'Honneur dates from 1913 and was made by Henri Pouctal. The mostly more reliable Seydoux-Pathé site gives another name and date, which we use above.
French postcard by. S.I.P., no. 97/20.
French postcard by S.I.P., no. 908/6. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris. Caption: Mardi (Tuesday).
French postcard by FA, no. 275. Photo: Félix. Caption: Colonna Romano, Comédie Française.
Nurse in WWI and resistance fighter in WWII
During the First World War, Colonna Romano was a nurse, according to IMDb.
In England, she met and became friends with Marie Bell who, on her advice, decided to go to the Conservatory.
Romano was married to actor Georges Grand, who died in 1921 of a heart attack at the age of 56. In 1916, while married, she had a relationship with the very young, future filmmaker René Clair, but his best friend Jacques Rigaut was jealous and Romano very free in her relationships... The deluded Clair left for the Red-Cross in 1917.
She was the sixth and final wife of the millionaire press-magnate Alfred Edwards, and after his death, she married in 1939 the actor Pierre Alcover, like her first husband a colleague from the Comédie-Française. IMDb writes that Colonna Romano was a resistance fighter in WWII.
In 1981, Gabrielle Colonna Romano died in Paris at the age of 93. She and Alcover rest in the old cemetery of Rueil-Malmaison. Their granddaughter Cathérine is an actress too. Colonna Romano gave her name to the Colonna-Romano Prize for Classical Tragedy at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art in Paris.
Colonna Romano can be seen acting in the documentary Un soir à la Comédie-Française/An Evening at the Comédie-Française (Léonce Perret, 1935).
French postcard, no. 2247. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.
French postcard, no. 261. Photo: ND Phot. Caption: Colonna Romano (Théâtre Antoine).
French postcard. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris, c. 1900-1910.
Sources: Fondation Jerome Seydoux Pathe, Wikipedia (French and English), and IMDb.