Chrystabel Jane Leighton-Porter (born Chrystabel Drury on 11 April 1913 – 6 December 2000) was the model for the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

'' newspaper cartoon heroine ''

Jane Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...

'' which boosted morale during the

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

suggested that Jane was "Britain's secret weapon".

Early life

Born Chrystabel Jane Drury in

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

in April 1913, she had an older twin, Sylvia, and was the youngest of eleven children of whom three died young. Her modelling started after she left school when she moved to London to live with her sister and earned a living posing for life classes. In 1934, she married pilot Arthur Leighton-Porter. Later during her time as 'Jane' the fact she was married became a carefully guarded secret as Leighton-Porter believed her fans thought of her as their girlfriend, and that she must always remain single in their eyes.

Jane

The ''

'' cartoonist

Norman Pett Norman Pett (12 April 1891, Kings Norton, Worcestershire – 16 February 1960, Sussex) was an English artist who, in 1932, created the famous cartoon character ''Jane'' for the ''Daily Mirror''. Early life Pett was born on 12 April 1891 in Kin ...

had been drawing a weekly cartoon since 1932 which he called ''Jane's Journal – The Diary of A Bright Young Thing''. Pett's original model was his wife, but he replaced her with Chrystabel in 1940. In 1944, when Jane first appeared nude in the cartoon, she was credited with 'inspiring' the 36th Division to advance six miles into

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. In 1948, Pett's assistant Michael Hubbard took over the Jane cartoons. Chrystabel Leighton-Porter began a

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

striptease-act based on the Jane character which toured army bases around the country. She won the title of "Britain's Perfect Girl" at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 an ...

and was signed up by theatrical agent

Lew Grade Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 1954 ...

which led to her starring in the film ''

The Adventures of Jane ''The Adventures of Jane'' is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Edward G. Whiting. It is the film version of the stage show based on the comic strip '' Jane'' originally created by Norman Pett. It was written by Alfred Goulding and Con We ...

'' in 1949. It was released on DVD in April 2008. "Jane" received many letters from servicemen proposing marriage (62 in just one week) and Chrystabel was careful to hide the fact that she had already secretly married Arthur Leighton-Porter, a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

pilot, before the outbreak of the war. Hubbard continued to develop the cartoons' storyline until 1959, when he gave Jane a happy marriage and ended the series.

Later life

In 1952 Leighton-Porter gave birth to a

stillborn Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. The term i ...

baby boy, and then in 1955 suffered another loss of a baby girl named Jane who lived for just fourteen hours. In 1957 the couple had a son Simon, who grew up to be a writer. In the fifties, she worked for theatre impresario Paul Raymond in such shows as the Festival of Strip-tease (1958). In the early-1960s Leighton-Porter moved to

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and then to

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

where she centred her activities around her son Simon (who later followed his father into the RAF) and was a fundraiser for several charities. She was also active in her local

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

association. In the 1980s a BBC television adaptation was made of "Jane", starring

Glynis Barber Glynis Barber (born Glynis van der Riet; 25 October 1955) is a South African actress. She is known for her portrayals of Sgt. Harriet Makepeace in the British police drama ''Dempsey and Makepeace'', Glenda Mitchell in ''EastEnders'', DCI Grace ...

. In her later years, Leighton-Porter made regular appearances at wartime reunions. In 1993, the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

exhibition ''Forces Sweethearts'' included her 1940s frilly knickers. She died on 6 December 2000 aged 87. Arthur died in January 2002.

References

*Saunders, Andy (2004) ''Jane, a Pin Up at War''. Barnsley: Leo Cooper . * " Jane" film. 1943. British Pathe. * " Jane and Pett " film. 1945. British Pathe. * " Cartoons and Cartoonists" film, 1956. Produced by

Harold Baim Harold Baim (1914–1996) was a British film producer, director and writer. He was born in Leeds in 1914; he died in Reading, Berkshire in 1996. Life and career According to his family, Baim left the family home in Leeds after the death of ...

External links

Norman Pett Video featuring Christabel Leighton-Porter

The original GI Jane
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leighton-Porter, Chrystabel 1913 births 2000 deaths British erotic dancers Conservative Party (UK) people English female models People from Eastleigh English twins