Jacques Damala - Life After Separation and Health Deterioration

Life After Separation and Health Deterioration

Following his separation from Bernhardt, Damala attempted returning to the diplomatic world. His re-entrance in the diplomatic profession proved very hard for him, though, and he remained in the acting profession. That same year, in 1883, he performed the most memorable role of his career (save for Armand) as Philippe Berlay opposite Jane Hading in the stage adaptation of Georges Ohnet's novel, Maître de Forges (Ironmaster). The play was a great success and ran through the entire year in the Théâtre du Gymnase, in Marseille.

Damala starred in few memorable productions in the following years. He played the leading man (as Jean Gaussin) in the comedy Sapho, Alphonse Daudet's stage adaptation of his own novel, Sapho, mœurs parisiennes, again with Hading as his partner. The play opened in the Gymnase in Paris, on 18 December 1885. Damala also participated in the stage adaptation of another Ohnet novel, La Comtesse Sarah, in 1887.

Despite these few prolific plays, Damala was quickly forgotten or even deliberately ignored by the Parisian society, following his separation from the great diva. In March 1889, Bernhardt returned to Paris after a year-long European tour and receive a message from Damala who informed her that he was dying in Marseille and begged her to forgive him and take him back. The fact she had never stopped loving and caring for her husband was proved that very moment: she abandoned her performances in Paris, rushed to him and nursed Damala, whose health was wasted as a result of his longtime addiction. She took him in her house and after he recuperated, she cast him as her leading man in La Dame aux Camélias. Damala promised to stop taking morphine and embarked on a European tour with Bernhardt (which also included Egypt). In truth, Damala's addiction to drugs became progressively worse. He continued using the drug and occasionally ridiculed himself, his clarity severely reduced from the morphine. On one occasion, he almost got arrested for exhibiting himself naked in the Hotel de Ville in Milan. Damala reprised his role as Armand but after a six-week run he collapsed and was carried in the hospital. Shortly before his death, he was offered another role by Bernhardt, in the play Lena, at the Théâtre des Variêtés. Just after the second performance, he was considered incapable of playing the part, due to his now permanent lack of clarity and continuous influence from alcohol and drugs.