Véra Sergine (born Marie Marguerite Aimée Roche; August 18, 1884 – August 19, 1946) was a French actress (though her stage name meant she was often described as Russian). She was married to actor

Pierre Renoir Pierre Renoir (March 21, 1885 – March 11, 1952) was a French stage and film actor. He was the son of the impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and elder brother of the film director Jean Renoir. He is also noted for being the first ...

and was the mother of cinematographer

Claude Renoir Claude Renoir (December 4, 1913Some sources, such as Ginette Vincendeau's ''Encyclopedia of European Cinema'', London: Cassell/BFI, 1995, p.328 indicate 1914 as his year of birth – September 5, 1993) was a French cinematographer. He was the ...

Early life

Marie Marguerite Aimée Roche was born in Paris. Her father worked at the Ministry of Justice and Religion. She trained as an actress at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

, and won a first prize while there, for Tragedy.

Career

Sergine was a stage actress in Paris. She appeared in ''Une lâche'' (1907) with

Albert Dieudonné Albert Dieudonné (26 November 1889 – 19 March 1976) was a French actor, screenwriter, film director and novelist. Biography Dieudonné was born in Paris, France, and made his acting debut in silent film in 1908 for ''The Assassination of the ...

, ''Le Grand Soir'' (1908), ''The Children's Cardinal,

L'Aiglon ''L'Aiglon'' is a play in six acts by Edmond Rostand based on the life of Napoleon II, who was the son of Emperor Napoleon I and his second wife, Empress Marie Louise. The title of the play comes from a nickname for Napoleon II, the French wor ...

,'' and Racine's ''Phedre''. Critic André Germain counted her as one of the "three best actresses in Paris" in 1921, alongside Berthe Bady and

Ève Francis Ève Francis (born Eva Louise François; 20 August 1886 – 6 December 1980) was an actress and film-maker. She was born in Belgium but spent most of her career in France. She became closely associated with the writer Paul Claudel, and she wa ...

. Sergine appeared in several silent films, including ''Mary Stuart'' (1908), ''The Great Breach'' (1909), ''Pygmalion'' (1910), ''L'écharpe'' (1911), ''Moderne Galathée'' (1911), ''Les deux gosses'' (1912, 1916), ''Pro Patria'' (1914), ''Le médecin des enfants'' (1916), and ''Le geste'' (1917). Her father-in-law,

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "R ...

, painted her portrait in 1914. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she traveled to a military hospital to tell the wounded

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent film, silent era to the end of the 1960s. ...

of his mother

Aline Charigot Aline Victorine Charigot (23 May 1859 – 27 June 1915) was a model for Auguste Renoir and later became his wife while continuing to model for him and then caring for him when he became disabled. She is pictured in many of his paintings over ver ...

's death, and caused an uproar with her short dress and cropped hair. The episode was incorporated into Renoir's 1937 film, '' La Grande Illusion''. In 1916, she recited Saint-Georges de Bouhélier's ''Ode to Our Friends in the United States'', at an event in the Sorbonne. Vera_Sergine-Carnaval_des_Enfants

Sergine continued acting through the 1920s, and was considered an exemplar of Paris women's style. In 1927, she toured as an actress as "French fashion ambassador", in Asia and North America.

Personal life

Véra Sergine married fellow actor Pierre Renoir in 1914; they divorced in 1925. They had a son, cinematographer Claude Renoir, born in 1913. She also had a relationship with actor

Henri Rollan Henri Rollan (23 March 1888 – 23 June 1967) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1910 and 1962. Selected filmography * '' De afwezige'' (1913) * ''Les Trois Mousquetaires'' (1921) * ''The Three Masks'' (1921 ...

. She died in 1946, in

Cagnes-sur-Mer Cagnes-sur-Mer (, literally ''Cagnes on Sea''; oc, Canha de Mar) is a French Riviera town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Geography Cagnes-sur-Mer is a town in south-eastern ...

, aged 62 years. French actress

Sophie Renoir Sophie Renoir (born 1964) is a French actress. She is the great-granddaughter of the French Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), and daughter of the cinematographer Claude Renoir (1913–1993), granddaughter of actors Pierre R ...

(born 1964) is her granddaughter.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sergine, Véra 1884 births 1946 deaths French actresses French women in World War I Renoir family