Gaby Deslys
Encyclopedia
Gaby Deslys was a dancer, singer, and actress of the early 20th century from Marseilles, France. She selected her name for her stage career. It is an abbreviation of Gabrielle of the Lillies. During the 1910s she was exceedingly popular worldwide, making $4,000 a week in the United States alone. During the 1910s she performed several times on Broadway
, at the Winter Garden Theater, and performed in a show with Al Jolson
. Her dancing was so popular that The Gaby Glide was named for her.
Renowned for her beauty she was courted by several wealthy gentlemen including the deposed King of Portugal. She eventually made the leap to silent films, making her only US film "Her Triumph" with Famous Players-Lasky
in 1915. She would make a handful of films in France before her death.
In 1919 she contracted influenza and underwent several operations trying to cure a throat infection caused by the disease. She died from complications of her infection in Paris in 1920, at the age of 38.
. A detective employed by an imperial personage discovered that her true name was Hadiwga Nawrati. Another spelling of her name is Hedvika Navrátilová. The investigator reportedly found that Deslys denied her elderly mother's claim to kinship when he brought her to see the dancer. Deslys paid her mother a large amount of money to leave. Deslys attempted to conceal her identity, but claimed to be of French
ethnicity. The probe disclosed that she was in fact a Czech peasant girl, born in the village of Horní Moštěnice
. At least twenty-four people with the surname Navratilová exerted claims to Deslys' fortune after her death.
In January 1930 the then-French foreign minister
said he had settled the disagreement about Deslys' birthplace. According
to him Deslys was born at Marseilles on November 4, 1881. She was the daughter of Hippolyte Caire and his wife née
Terras. The study alleged that the claim of the Navrátil family was based on a statement that their daughter was the double
of Gabrielle Caire, and adopted the stage name
Gaby Deslys. Friends of the family asserted that the original Gabrielle Caire either died in obscurity or remained alive in England
.
, 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.
While she was dancing at the Hyperion Theater at Yale University
, in November 1911, students rushed the stage. The Yale News had complained about ticket prices for the production being raised to $2. The performance followed the Yale - Princeton University
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 Winter Garden Theater in a production of Vera Violetta. In 1913 Deslys appeared with Al Jolson
(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 in August 1912. She at first considered hiring a groom
to horsewhip
Charles before her lawyer advised against it.
and are still available. Another song, "La Parisienne" was recorded at the same time but rejected for an unknown reason, and thus never eleased.
in it. Her American feature film debut came in 1915 with Her Triumph costarring her dancer boyfriend Harry Pilcer. The film was presented by Daniel Frohman and produced by Famous Players-Lasky
. Her Triumph featured Deslys doing one of her famous dances with Pilcer. The film is lost
but surviving stills show a scene with Deslys and Pilcer and also the intro card with Deslys's picture in the credits. Deslys 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.
Deslys contracted a severe throat infection caused by influenza
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. Surgeons were inhibited by Deslys' demand that they not scar her neck. She died in Paris in February 1920.
In her will Gaby Deslys left her lovely villa on the Marseilles Corniche Road, and all of her property in Marseilles, to the poor
of Marseilles. The property was valued at half a million dollars.
Her carved and gilded bed, in the form of an enormous swan, was bought at auction by the Universal Studios prop department, and was used in the 1925 film of "The Phantom of the Opera"
. In 1950 it was in "Sunset Boulevard"
as the bed of Norma Desmond.
In 1943, her life story was bought by MGM as a potential film property for Judy Garland
to be produced by Arthur Freed
, but it was eventually shelved.
In 1986 James Gardiner wrote a biography of Desyls life, "Gaby Deslys: A Fatal Attraction".
Deslys celebrity rose following newspaper stories which gossiped about King Manuel's
infatuation with her. During a visit to Paris in July 1909, Desylys met the King and immediately began a relationship with him that would last until the end of Manuel II's reign.
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 Desyls moved to New York, in the summer of 1911, their relationship cooled off; Desyls became involved with a fellow stage actor Harry Pilcer, and Manuel married in 1913. Despite this Desyls maintained her contacts with the ex-King's personal secretary, the Marquês of Lavradio.
Deslys' was rumored to be engaged to Pilcer. She denied this as well as any other reports that suggested she had married one of her many wealthy admirers. Pilcer acted with Desyls in three of her films as well as the production of Vera Violetta.
Manuel is thought to have given Deslys a pearl necklace worth $70,000 after first meeting her in Paris in July 1909. More gifts soon followed. One was a diamond necklace with black and white pearl drops set in a platinum band. From these gifts Deslys cultivated a pearl fetish. She became so absorbed in collecting them that before she died she asserted she owned her weight in them.
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, at the Winter Garden Theater, and performed in a show with Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
. Her dancing was so popular that The Gaby Glide was named for her.
Renowned for her beauty she was courted by several wealthy gentlemen including the deposed King of Portugal. She eventually made the leap to silent films, making her only US film "Her Triumph" with Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company created on July 19, 1916 from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company -- originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays -- and Jesse L...
in 1915. She would make a handful of films in France before her death.
In 1919 she contracted influenza and underwent several operations trying to cure a throat infection caused by the disease. She died from complications of her infection in Paris in 1920, at the age of 38.
Early life
Deslys' heritage has been disputed. She had many admirers among royalty, most notably Manuel II of PortugalManuel II of Portugal
Manuel II , named Manuel Maria Filipe Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis Eugénio de Bragança Orleães Sabóia e Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha — , was the last King of Portugal from 1908 to 1910, ascending the throne after the assassination of his father and elder brother Manuel...
. A detective employed by an imperial personage discovered that her true name was Hadiwga Nawrati. Another spelling of her name is Hedvika Navrátilová. The investigator reportedly found that Deslys denied her elderly mother's claim to kinship when he brought her to see the dancer. Deslys paid her mother a large amount of money to leave. Deslys attempted to conceal her identity, but claimed to be of French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
ethnicity. The probe disclosed that she was in fact a Czech peasant girl, born in the village of Horní Moštěnice
Horní Moštenice
Horní Moštěnice is a village and municipality in Přerov District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has a population of about 1,600, who live in 560 houses. It is south of the town of Přerov, on the road between Přerov and Otrokovice. It is a quite modern village...
. At least twenty-four people with the surname Navratilová exerted claims to Deslys' fortune after her death.
In January 1930 the then-French foreign minister
Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs ), is France's foreign affairs ministry, with the headquarters located on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris close to the National Assembly of France. The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the government of France is the cabinet minister responsible for...
said he had settled the disagreement about Deslys' birthplace. According
to him Deslys was born at Marseilles on November 4, 1881. She was the daughter of Hippolyte Caire and his wife née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Terras. The study alleged that the claim of the Navrátil family was based on a statement that their daughter was the double
Double
Double or The Double may refer to:* Multiplication by 2* Look-alike* Body double, someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character* Doppelgänger, ghostly double of a living person* Polish Enigma doubles...
of Gabrielle Caire, and adopted the stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Gaby Deslys. Friends of the family asserted that the original Gabrielle Caire either died in obscurity or remained alive in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Dancer
Deslys rose in popularity in dance halls around Paris and London, England. She was a practitioner of several types of dance such as the Ju-Jitsu waltz, BallroomBallroom dance
Ballroom dance refers to a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world. Because of its performance and entertainment aspects, ballroom dance is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television....
, Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear (dance)
The Grizzly Bear is an early 20th century dance style. It started in San Francisco, along with the Bunny Hug and Texas Tommy and was also done on the Staten Island ferry boats in the 1900's. It has been said that dancers John Jarrott and Louise Gruenning introduced this dance as well as the Turkey...
, 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.
While she was dancing at the Hyperion Theater at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, in November 1911, students rushed the stage. The Yale News had complained about ticket prices for the production being raised to $2. The performance followed the Yale - Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
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 Winter Garden Theater in a production of Vera Violetta. In 1913 Deslys appeared with Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
(in blackface
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
) 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 in August 1912. She at first considered hiring a groom
Groom (horses)
A groom is a person who is responsible for some or all aspects of the management of horses and/or the care of the stables themselves. The term most often refers to a person who is the employee of a stable owner, but even an owner of a horse may perform the duties of a groom, particularly if the...
to horsewhip
Horsewhip
A horsewhip or horse whip is* a crop* a whip* a quirt* a tool used as an artificial riding aid* in zoology, the English name for a snake species Oxybelis aeneus...
Charles before her lawyer advised against it.
Singer
In 1910 Desyls recorded two songs in Paris "Tout en Rose" and "Philomene". Both were released on phonograph by HMVHMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...
and are still available. Another song, "La Parisienne" was recorded at the same time but rejected for an unknown reason, and thus never eleased.
Films
Deslys from the beginning of her career had posed for numerous still photographs. These stills, as with many other actresses, were sold as part of cigarette packages or after performance lobby cards aimed at patrons, usually male, who wanted a take home keepsake of their favorite performer. Deslys loved the camera and it loved her. Deslys began her movie career in 1914 with Rosy Rapture, a short film based on the play of the same name she appeared in in England. This film according to IMDb had a scene with George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
in it. Her American feature film debut came in 1915 with Her Triumph costarring her dancer boyfriend Harry Pilcer. The film was presented by Daniel Frohman and produced by Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company created on July 19, 1916 from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company -- originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays -- and Jesse L...
. Her Triumph featured Deslys doing one of her famous dances with Pilcer. The film is lost
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
but surviving stills show a scene with Deslys and Pilcer and also the intro card with Deslys's picture in the credits. Deslys 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.
Death and Legacy
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
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. Surgeons were inhibited by Deslys' demand that they not scar her neck. She died in Paris in February 1920.
In her will Gaby Deslys left her lovely villa on the Marseilles Corniche Road, and all of her property in Marseilles, to the poor
of Marseilles. The property was valued at half a million dollars.
Her carved and gilded bed, in the form of an enormous swan, was bought at auction by the Universal Studios prop department, and was used in the 1925 film of "The Phantom of the Opera"
The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film)
The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same title directed by Rupert Julian. The film featured Lon Chaney in the title role as the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to force...
. In 1950 it was in "Sunset Boulevard"
Sunset Boulevard (film)
Sunset Boulevard is a 1950 American film noir directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, and produced and co-written by Charles Brackett...
as the bed of Norma Desmond.
In 1943, her life story was bought by MGM as a potential film property for Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
to be produced by Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was a Jewish American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer.- Biography :Freed began his career as a song-plugger and pianist in Chicago...
, but it was eventually shelved.
In 1986 James Gardiner wrote a biography of Desyls life, "Gaby Deslys: A Fatal Attraction".
Personal life
Manuel II of Portugal
Manuel II , named Manuel Maria Filipe Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis Eugénio de Bragança Orleães Sabóia e Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha — , was the last King of Portugal from 1908 to 1910, ascending the throne after the assassination of his father and elder brother Manuel...
infatuation with her. During a visit to Paris in July 1909, Desylys met the King and immediately began a relationship with him that would last until the end of Manuel II's reign.
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 Desyls moved to New York, in the summer of 1911, their relationship cooled off; Desyls became involved with a fellow stage actor Harry Pilcer, and Manuel married in 1913. Despite this Desyls maintained her contacts with the ex-King's personal secretary, the Marquês of Lavradio.
Deslys' was rumored to be engaged to Pilcer. She denied this as well as any other reports that suggested she had married one of her many wealthy admirers. Pilcer acted with Desyls in three of her films as well as the production of Vera Violetta.
Manuel is thought to have given Deslys a pearl necklace worth $70,000 after first meeting her in Paris in July 1909. More gifts soon followed. One was a diamond necklace with black and white pearl drops set in a platinum band. From these gifts Deslys cultivated a pearl fetish. She became so absorbed in collecting them that before she died she asserted she owned her weight in them.
Filmography
(all are believed to be lost films)- Le Dieu du hasard (1921)
- Bouclette (1918)
- Rosy Rapture (1915)
- Her TriumphHer TriumphHer Triumph is a 1915 feature length silent film built around the talents of famous French star Gaby Deslys. It is Desly's only American feature film, a dramatic retelling of her career, and is now lost. Her dancing partner Harry Pilcer costars. Daniel Frohman produced and was Gaby Desly's American...
(1915, only American film) - La remplaçante (short film, 1914)
Theatre
- Stop! Look! Listen! (Dec 25, 1915 - Mar 25, 1916)
- The Belle of Bond Street (Mar 30, 1914 - May 9, 1914)
- The Honeymoon Express (Feb 6, 1913 - Jun 14, 1913)
- Vera Violetta (Nov 20, 1911 - Feb 24, 1912)
- The Revue of Revues (Sep 27, 1911 - Nov 11, 1911)
Further reading
Gardiner, James Gaby Deslys: A Fatal Attraction (Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd, 1986) ISBN 0-2839-9398-7External links
- Gaby Deslys at IBDb.com
- Gaby Desyls Recordings at the Internet Archive
- Gaby Deslys photo gallery at NY Public Library Billy Rose Theater Collection
- Gaby Deslys and Harry Pilcer in June 1915