Mlle. Polaire was used by French singer and actress Emilie Marie Bouchard (born May 14, 1874; died 1939). Born at Agha, Algiers, Algeria, she began her show-business career as a café singer, at age 15. At 17, she joined her older brother in Paris, France. Eventually adopting the stage name Polaire, she worked as a music-hall singer; in 1895, her fame increased significantly when Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's sketch of her appeared in the satirical magazine Le Rire; in 1900, attention grew again, when she was painted by Leonetto Cappiello. Polaire went on to act in the theatre. He…
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