title: Émilienne d'Alençon
text: # Émilienne d'Alençon
  
  Émilienne d'Alençon (17 July 1870 – 14 February 1945) was a French dancer, actress, and courtesan.
  
  ## Biography
  
  Born in Paris, d'Alençon made her début at the Cirque d'été in 1889 before appearing at the Casino de Paris, Menus-Plaisirs, Folies Bergère, Paris Scala and the Théâtre des Variétés.
  
  Among her earlier shows were Paris Boulevards, Vénus d'Arles and Que d'eau Que d'eau. She appeared in La Belle et la Bête at the Folies Bergères and she danced in the ballet The Red Slippers in London. She also performed as a dancer at the Paris Olympia in Faust and Grand Ballet Féerie. In 1892, she came on stage as a snake dancer.
  
  Renowned as a courtesan, she was involved in a number of affairs including one with the industrialist Étienne Balsan. In 1895, she married the jockey Percy Woodland.
  
  Émilienne d'Alençon left the stage in 1906 and invested in horse racing. After losing her fortune on drugs and gambling in 1931, she was forced to sell her property and lavish furniture. She died in Monaco on 14 February 1945 and was buried at the Batignolles cemetery in Paris, in the mausoleum of her maternal family, the Normand chapel.
  
  * Poster from between 1896 and 1900 "Émilienne d'Alençon, tous les soirs"
  * Amélie Diéterle, Ève Lavallière and Émilienne d'Alençon, at the Théâtre des Variétés, in Paris in 1898.
  * (Nadar)
  
  ## In popular culture
  
  She was portrayed by Karen Black in Chanel Solitaire and by Emmanuelle Devos in Coco Before Chanel.
  
  