Leblanc, Georgette (c. 1875–1941)
Leblanc, Georgette (c. 1875–1941)
French actress and operatic singer. Name variations: Georgette Le Blanc or LeBlanc. Born c. 1875 in Rouen, France; died Oct 26, 1941; dau. of Emile Bianchini (Leblanc) and Mdlle de Brohy; sister of Maurice Leblanc (wrote the detective novels of Arsène Lupin); companion of Belgian poet and playwright Maurice Maeterlinck (1895–18); lived with Margaret Carolyn Anderson (1922–41, editor of Little Review).
Created the role of Thaïs at Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels; inaugurated the Opéra-Comique, appearing as Carmen (1898); appeared as Ariane in Ariane and Bluebeard (1907); sang Mélisande in Pélléas and Mélisande at Boston Opera (1912); founded Théâtre Maeterlinck, appearing in Monna Vanna, Joyzelle, and La mort de tintagiles, and adapted Maeterlinck's The Blue Bird into The Children's Blue Bird; held a noted salon for such personages as Octave Mirabeau, Anatole France, Rodin, Judith Gautier, Colette, Oscar Wilde, and Rachilde (pseudonym of Marguerite Vallette).
See also memoirs Souvenirs: My Life with Maeterlinck (trans. from French by Janet Flanner).