Léonie Yahne

Léonie Yahne
Leonie Yahne in about 1900, by Reutlinger
Born
Marie Léonie Jahn

(1867-08-08)August 8, 1867
Versailles, France
DiedApril 26, 1950(1950-04-26) (aged 82)
Paris, France
OccupationActress
Years active1884–1917
Known forLa Reine Fiammette

Léonie Yahne (August 8, 1867 – April 26, 1950) was a French comedic actress.

Early life

Marie Léonie Jahn was born at Versailles, France. She used a different spelling of her surname professionally, to reflect its pronunciation.[1]

Career

Yahne was an actress on the Paris stage for most of her career, which lasted from about 1884 to 1917. Her stage roles included Lucienne in Monsieur l'Abbé (1891),[2] Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac (1900), opposite Benoît-Constant Coquelin,[3][4] the title part in Catulle Mendès's La Reine Fiammette (1898),[5] Huguette in Famille (1901).[6] and Adinolfa in Impressions d'Afrique (1912).[7] In 1895, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec drew her with her co-stars André Antoine and Henry Mayer in L'Age Difficile.[8] She also appeared in at least one silent film short, Le duel de Max (1913) with Max Linder.

In 1911 she won a lawsuit against another Parisian actress calling herself "Yane", preventing the other woman from using a stage name that so closely resembled her own.[1] An English magazine referred to Yahne as "a favourite in society, an expert with foils, a passionate horsewoman, and a terror of France on her automobile."[9]

Personal life

Léonie Yahne owned a property in Louveciennes, named Villa Fiammette after one of her best-known roles. [10] She died in Paris in 1950, aged 82 years.

References

  1. ^ a b John Henry Wigmore, Select Cases on the Law of Torts (Little, Brown 1912): 960.
  2. ^ "New Plays Produced in Paris" The Dramatic Year Book for ... 1891 (Trischler 1892): 338-339.
  3. ^ "From Abroad" The International (December 1900): 508.
  4. ^ "French comedian Léonie Yahne as Roxane in play 'Cyrano de Bergerac'" (1900), Getty Images.
  5. ^ R. S. W., "Catulle Mendès's Play, 'Queen Fiammetta'" The Theatre Magazine (October 1902): 16.
  6. ^ "French comedian Léonie Yahne as Huguette in play 'Famille'" (1901), Getty Images.
  7. ^ "French comedian Leonie Yahne as Adinolfa in play 'Impressions d'Afrique'" (1912), Getty Images.
  8. ^ Colta Feller Ives, Toulouse-Lautrec in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Metropolitan Museum of Art 1996): 66. ISBN 9780870998041
  9. ^ "Beauty on the Paris Stage" Royal Magazine (1901): 196.
  10. ^ William C. Carter, Marcel Proust: A Life (Yale University Press 2002): 452. ISBN 9780300094008