Gaby Deslys (born Marie-Elise-Gabrielle Caire, 4 November 1881 – 11 February 1920) was a singer and actress during the early 20th century. She selected her name for her stage career, and it is a contraction of ''Gabrielle of the Lillies''. During the 1910s she was exceedingly popular worldwide, making $4,000 a week in the United States alone. She performed several times on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, at the

Winter Garden Theater The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...

, and performed in a show with a young

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed ...

. Her dancing was so popular that ''The Gaby Glide'' was named for her.''The Gaby Glide''
streetswing.com; accessed 6 May 2014.] Renowned for her beauty, she was courted by several wealthy gentlemen including King

Manuel II of Portugal '' Dom'' Manuel II (15 November 1889 – 2 July 1932), "the Patriot" ( pt, "o Patriota") or "the Unfortunate" (), was the last King of Portugal, ascending the throne after the assassination of his father, King Carlos I, and his elder brother, ...

. She eventually made the leap to

silent films A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, whe ...

, making her only U.S. film '' Her Triumph'' with

Famous Players-Lasky Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and ...

in 1915. She would make a handful of films in France before her death. In 1919 she contracted

Spanish influenza The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

and underwent several operations trying to cure a throat infection caused by the disease. She died from complications of the infection in Paris in 1920, at the age of 38.

Early life

Deslys had many admirers among royalty, most notably King Manuel II of Portugal, and her origins became the subject of dispute. A private detective claimed her true name was Hadiwga Nawrati or Hedvika Navrátilová and that she was a Czech peasant girl, born in the village of Horní Moštěnice, then part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. The investigator reported that Deslys had denied her alleged mother's claim to kinship when he brought her to see the dancer, paying her a large amount of money to leave. Deslys replied that the story was ridiculous and that she was French, not Czech.Marie Elise Gabrille Caire profile at
Valentine Theatre website, accessed 15 April 2012. After Deslys' death, at least two dozen persons with the surnames Navratil/Navratilová attempted to claim her fortune. In January 1930, the French foreign minister said he had settled the dispute about Deslys' birthplace and origins. According to him, Deslys had been born in Marseilles on 4 November 1881, daughter of Hippolyte Caire and his wife, Mathilde (née Terras). This study found that the claim of the Navrátil family was incorrect and was based on their daughter's being a look-alike of Gabrielle Caire, who later adopted the stage name Gaby Deslys.

Career

Dancer

Deslys rose in popularity in dance halls around Paris and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. She was a practitioner of several types of dance such as the ''Ju-Jitsu waltz'', '' Ballroom'', '' Grizzly Bear'', '' Turkey Trot'' and her most famous ''The Gaby Glide''. Her appearance at the Liverpool Olympia was also well received. She had been to the United States where she had earned $4,000 per week. She was dedicated to the art of dancing. At least a part of her popularity was a result of her desire to please the audiences who came to watch her perform. Gaby Desyls Still

While she was dancing at the Hyperion Theater at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, in November 1911, students rushed the stage. The

Yale News The ''Yale Daily News'' is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut since January 28, 1878. It is the oldest college daily newspaper in the United States. The ''Yale Daily News'' has consis ...

had complained about ticket prices for the production being raised to $2. The performance followed the Yale ''-''

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

football game played earlier the same day. The inflated price of admission is thought to have triggered the students to pull the seats to pieces and proceed with the outbreak. Deslys retreated to her room while stage hands used fire extinguishers to subdue the students. The same month Deslys performed at the

in a production of ''

Vera Violetta ''Vera Violetta'' was an operetta, with a libretto by Louis Stein and music by Edmund Eysler, additional music by George M. Cohan, Jean Schwartz and Louis A. Hirsch, about the flirtatious wife of a professor. ''Vera Violetta'' was the name bo ...

''. In 1913 Deslys appeared with

(in blackface) in the musical comedy ''The Honeymoon Express''. On a number of occasions she appeared at the Grand Casino in Marseilles. Her final performance there was in 1919. Her passion for Marseilles was matched by her animosity toward her critics among French editors. One of her most prominent detractors was Ernest Charles. She sued him for 50,000

francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...

in August 1912. She at first considered hiring a groom to horsewhip Charles before her lawyer advised against it. During the early decades of the last century, her likeness adorned many cigarette trading cards issued in the United States and United Kingdom that were dedicated to series on ‘beauties’ or famous actresses and dancers.

Singer

In 1910 Deslys recorded two songs in Paris, "Tout en Rose" and "Philomene". Both were released on phonograph by

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

and are still available. Another song, "La Parisienne" was recorded at the same time but rejected for an unknown reason, and thus never released.

Films

She began her movie career in 1914 with ''Rosy Rapture'', a short film based on the play of the same name in which she had appeared in England. This film according to IMDb had a scene with

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

in it. Her American feature film debut came in 1915 with ''Her Triumph'' costarring her dancer boyfriend

Harry Pilcer Harry Pilcer (April 29, 1885January 14, 1961) was an American actor, dancer, choreographer, and lyricist. Biography Pilcer is mainly remembered for his association with French dancer and singer Gaby Deslys who may have been his wife. According t ...

. The film was presented by Daniel Frohman and produced by

. ''Her Triumph'' featured Deslys doing one of her famous dances with Pilcer. The film is

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

but surviving stills show a scene with Deslys and Pilcer in Daniel Blum's ''Pictorial History of the Silent Film'', as well as the intro card with Deslys' picture in the credits. She made only two more French silent films in 1918 and 1919, both with Harry Pilcer in the cast, before getting the illness that would take her life.

Personal life

Deslys' celebrity rose following newspaper stories which gossiped about King Manuel II of Portugal's infatuation with her. During the king's visit to Paris in December 1909, he was introduced to Deslys and immediately began a relationship with her. It was thought that after this first meeting the King sent Deslys a pearl necklace worth $70,000. Their relationship was anything but discreet (she would arrive before night at the Palácio das Necessidades and would pass through Portugal unnoticed); abroad, meanwhile, they were on the front pages of newspapers in Europe and North America, especially after he was deposed in 1910. In public interviews, usually on trips, Deslys never negated the obvious, but always refused to comment on her relationship with the deposed king. After his exile, they would continue to meet, especially while she had stage engagements in London. When Deslys moved to New York, in the summer of 1911, their relationship cooled off; Deslys became involved with a fellow stage actor

, and Manuel married in 1913. Despite this, she maintained her contacts with Manuel's personal secretary, the Marquês of Lavradio. Deslys and Pilcer became a successful dance act duo during the First World War on a par with the

Castles A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified ...

, but it is unclear if they ever legally married.

Death and legacy

Deslys contracted a severe throat infection caused by the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case wa ...

pandemic in December 1919. She was operated on multiple times in an effort to eradicate the infection, on two occasions without the use of an

anesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...

. Surgeons were inhibited by Deslys' demand that they must not scar her neck. She died in Paris in February 1920. In her will, Deslys left her villa on the Marseilles Corniche Road, and all of her property in Marseilles, to the poor of Marseilles. The property was valued at $500,000. According to the ''Pittsburgh Press'' on July 18, 1920: "In an adjoining room was the exquisite bed that belonged to the celebrated Dutchess de Fontanges--one of several beds of equal historical value which Gaby used in rotation. In cabinets about her were Limoges enamels that had been the joy of great King Francis I. On the walls were paintings by Botticelli and other early Italian masters. On the book shelves were priceless volumes printed by Elzevir and Aldus Manutius." Her was inspired by the boat in the "Grotto of Venus" scene from the opera "Tannhauser". On its bow, there are two with images from Boucher's "Cupid's Target". The bed was bought at auction in Marseilles by Metro Pictures. It was used in the 1922 film ''

Trifling Women ''Trifling Women'' is a 1922 American silent romantic drama film directed by Rex Ingram. It is credited with boosting the careers of its leads, Barbara La Marr and Ramon Novarro. It has been described as Ingram's most personal film. The film i ...

'', starring

Barbara La Marr Barbara La Marr (born Reatha Dale Watson; July 28, 1896 – January 30, 1926) was an American film actress and screenwriter who appeared in twenty-seven films during her career between 1920 and 1926. La Marr was also noted by the medi ...

. Later, it came into the possession of the Universal Studios prop department, and it was used in the 1925 film ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...

''.Hall, Mourdant, MOVIE REVIEW/THE SCREEN
New York Times, 7 September 1925. In 1934, it was used as Lily Garland's bed in ''

Twentieth Century The 20th (twentieth) century began on January 1, 1901 (1901, MCMI), and ended on December 31, 2000 (2000, MM). The 20th century was dominated by significant events that defined the modern era: Spanish flu, Spanish flu pandemic, World War I and ...

'' and in 1950, it was in ''

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in ...

'' as the bed of

Norma Desmond ''Sunset Boulevard'' (styled in the main title on-screen as ''SUNSET BLVD.'') is a 1950 American black comedy film noir directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, and produced and co-written by Charles Brackett. It was named after a major street ...

. In 1964, it appeared in a dream sequence in the film "Good Neighbor Sam". In 1943, her life story was bought by

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

as a potential film property for

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

to be produced by

Arthur Freed Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 – April 12, 1973) was an American lyricist and Hollywood film producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture twice, in 1951 for '' An American in Paris'' and in 1958 for '' Gigi''. Both films were musicals. ...

, but it was shelved after a few script treatments. She was portrayed humorously by the ballerina

Tamara Toumanova Tamara Toumanova ( ka, თამარა თუმანოვა; 2 March 1919 – 29 May 1996) was a Georgian-American prima ballerina and actress. A child of exiles in Paris after the Russian Revolution of 1917, she made her debut at the ag ...

in the

Sigmund Romberg Sigmund Romberg (July 29, 1887 – November 9, 1951) was a Hungarian-born American composer. He is best known for his musicals and operettas, particularly '' The Student Prince'' (1924), '' The Desert Song'' (1926) and '' The New Moon'' (1928). E ...

biopic '' Deep in My Heart'' (1954), directed by

Stanley Donen Stanley Donen ( ; April 13, 1924 – February 21, 2019) was an American film director and choreographer whose most celebrated works are '' On the Town,'' (1949) and ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), both of which he co-directed with Gene Kell ...

. In 1986 James Gardiner wrote a biography of Deslys' life, titled ''Gaby Deslys: A Fatal Attraction''.

Filmography

(all are believed to be lost films) *''La remplaçante'' (short film, 1914) *'' Her Triumph'' (1915, only American film) *''Rosy Rapture'' (1915) *''

Infatuation Infatuation or being smitten is the state of being carried away by an unreasoned passion, usually towards another person for whom one has developed strong romantic feelings. Psychologist Frank D. Cox says that infatuation can be distinguished ...

'' (*aka ''Bouclette'') (1918) *''Le Dieu du hasard'' (1921)

Theatre

*''The Revue of Revues'' (27 September 1911 - 11 November 1911) *''Vera Violetta'' (20 November 1911 - 24 February 1912) *''The Honeymoon Express'' (6 February 1913 - 14 June 1913) *''The Belle of Bond Street'' (30 March 1914 - 9 May 1914) Gaby Deslys Drian Etching 1910

*''Stop! Look! Listen!'' (25 December 1915 - 25 March 1916)

Discography

*''Philomene'' (1910, HMV) *''Tout en Rose'' (1910, HMV) *''La Parisienne'' (Unreleased, 1910)

References

External links

*
Gaby Deslys photo
gallery at NY Public Library Billy Rose Theater Collection
Gaby Deslys and Harry Pilcer, June 1915
gettyimages.com; accessed 6 May 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Deslys, Gaby 1881 births 1920 deaths French female dancers French stage actresses French film actresses French silent film actresses French musical theatre actresses Actresses from Marseille Deaths from Spanish flu Infectious disease deaths in France 20th-century French actresses 20th-century French women singers