Mademoiselle Beatrice

Marie Beatrice Binda, known professionally as Mademoiselle Beatrice (5 August 1839 – 22 December 1878), born in Italy and with aristocratic connections in France, was an actress in England and founder of a touring theatre company.

Life Family background Beatrice was born in Lucca. Her father, Chevalier Binda, was the British Consul at Florence and Leghorn, and was later in the service of the Imperial Court of Napoleon III. Early in life, because of political offences, he lived in England for 17 years, staying for much of this time at Chatsworth House and Holland House, and meeting many of the political, literary, and aristocratic celebrities of the day. Beatrice's mother was a granddaughter of the Marquise de Lage de Volude, the principal maid of honour to Marie Antoinette.

Career beginnings When her father became ill ("seized with paralysis"), his income was reduced. Beatrice, deciding on a career on stage to assist her family, entered the Conservatoire de Paris, and obtained a first prize. Her first stage appearance was at the Théâtre de l'Odéon, as the heroine in a French version of The Stranger by August von Kotzebue. She appeared, by special command of the Empress, at the Royal Opera of Versailles as the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro. She was selected by Alexandre Dumas fils for the heroine in his play L'Ami des femmes, but the death of her father prevented her from accepting it.

In May 1872 at the Olympic Theatre she presented Our Friends. a version of Nos Intime by Victorien Sardou. In August 1874 at the Haymarket Theatre she presented Le Sphinx by Octave Feuillet, and Our Friends. In August 1875 she presented at the Globe Theatre Monsieur Alphonse by Campbell Clarke, adapted from a play by Alexander Dumas fils. In July 1876 she revived some of these plays.

An obituarist in The Era (29 December 1878) wrote: "She invested the characters she portrayed with a grace, a refinement, and a charm peculiarly her own, and in her own particular line she had no rival. Her company, too, was always noted for its excellence, many of its present members being in it from its organization. .... Mdlle. Beatrice did not count her admirers amongst her audience alone. Her great kindness of heart, her high sense of justice, her charm of manner, made her a special favourite with everyone with whom she came in contact...."

After a requiem mass at the Pro-Cathedral in Kensington, her remains were interred in the family vault at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.