Paula Brébion

Paula Brébion (26 May 1861 – 21 July 1952) was a French singer and actress. Brébion began her stage career at the age of 6, first learning the trade in Paris from her mother, Marie Constance Joséphine Hersilie Brébion, who was also an actress, and then with mime Louis Rouffe and his troupe in Marseille. She had a huge success in the big concert halls of the French capital and in the provinces, performing light, saucy and patriotic songs, several dozen of which were her own creations. She was nicknamed "la Reine" (the Queen) and "l'Etoile de la Scala" (the Star of La Scala). She then turned to the theatre and performed in numerous plays in France and abroad. Paula Brébion was the daughter of Marie Constance Joséphine Hersilie Brébion, an 18-year-old dramatic artist, and an unknown father. She was born in Paris and originally called Marie. Her mother's sister was Maria Blanche, known as Blanche Brébion, a dancer and actress who made her debut at the Théâtre de la Gaité-Montparnasse in La Madonne des Roses. Her father and grandfathers are unknown. Paula Brébion's maternal grandmother was Françoise Joséphine Brébion born on 19 February 1820 in Courbevoie, the daughter of Louis Brébion and Marie-Claude Migeon, a Parisian launderers. She worked as a gold polisher. Paula Brébion later described herself as the "véritable enfant de la balle parisienne", beginning her career in 1867 at the age of 6 when she was introduced to the director of the Théâtre du Vaudeville where her mother played the great leading roles. She was engaged in small roles such as Vieux Caporal or Fugitif until 1876. In 1874, she played at the Théâtre Graslin in Nantes and returned in 1875 where she starred in the play Genova, in the company of another child, Géo Rémy. She was then hired by the director of the Alhambra theatre, Madame Pirola, for 180 francs a month. One day Pirola noticed her humming before going on stage and thought her voice was pretty, so asked her to try singing in the concert part of the show.