Sarah Bernhardt (born Henriette-Rosine Bernard, 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She also played male roles, including Shakespeare's Hamlet. French poet and dramatist Edmond Rostand called her "the queen of the pose and the princess of the gesture", while Victor Hugo praised her "golden voice".