Sardou, Victorien
French dramatist
born Sept. 5, 1831, Paris, Fr.
died Nov. 8, 1908, Paris
playwright who, with Émile Augier and Alexandre Dumas fils, dominated the French stage in the late 19th century and is still remembered as a craftsman of bourgeois drama of a type belittled by George Bernard Shaw as “Sardoodledom.” His work Les Pattes de mouche (1860; A Scrap of Paper) is a model of the well-made play. He relied heavily on theatrical devices to create an illusion of life, and this largely accounts for his rapid decline in popularity. Madame Sans-Gêne, his last success, is still performed. His initial successes he owed to the actress Virginie Déjazet, and several of his 70 works were written for her; others were written for Sarah Bernhardt. In 1877 he was elected to the Académie Française.- Sir Peter Buck
- Sir Peter Hall
- Sir Peter Lely
- Sir Peter Mansfield
- Sir Peter Markham Scott
- Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
- Sir Peter Pears
- Sir Peter Quennell
- Sir Peter Shaffer
- Sir Peter Strawson
- Sir Peter Ustinov
- Sir P.G. Wodehouse
- Sir Phelim O'Neill
- Sir Pherozeshah Mehta
- Sir Philip Francis
- Sir Philip Sidney
- Sir Quintin Brand
- Sir Ralph Abercromby
- Sir Ralph Freeman
- Sir Ralph Hawtrey
- Sir Ralph Richardson
- Sir Randal Cremer
- Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji, Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawānagar
- Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji Nawānagar, Maharaja Jam Sahib of
- Sir Raymond Firth