Eleonora Duse

Duse, Eleonora

Duse, Eleonora (1858–1924), actress. The greatest Italian player of her age, she made her American debut in 1893 as Marguerite Gautier in La Dame aux Camélias. This tour was followed by several more over the next eleven years; then, after a nineteen‐year hiatus, she made a farewell tour in 1923, during which she died in Pittsburgh. Duse was a small, darkish, lithe woman with sad eyes, who was credited by many with furthering the movement toward realistic acting. She is said to have eschewed the heavy makeup common at the time and, despite occasional marked moments of fidgetiness, to have usually seemed to underplay and to have been most eloquent in repose. Among her notable vehicles were Magda, Ghosts, Rosmersholm, The Lady from the Sea, and three by her lover D'Annunzio: La Gioconda, Francesca da Rimini, and La Citta Morta. Biography: Eleonora Duse, Arthur Symons, 1926.

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Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Duse, Eleonora." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Duse, Eleonora." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-DuseEleonora.html

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Duse, Eleonora." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-DuseEleonora.html

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