Gaby Deslys
French postcard by EPG, no. Ser. 20/1.
French dancer and actress Gaby Deslys (1881-1920) (aka Gaby Delys) was an internationally celebrated - and notorious - star of the early 20th Century. She was famous for her extravagant clothes, jewels, and millinery. She had many admirers, most notably King Manuel II of Portugal, and during World War I, she reportedly worked as a spy for the French government. Before her tragic early death, she also made a series of silent films.
Gaby Deslys was born in 1881 in the French harbour city Marseille as Marie-Elise Gabrielle Caire, but during the latter part of her life and after her death, this identification was put under scrutiny. She selected Gaby Deslys for her stage career - an abbreviation of Gabrielle of the Lillies. She started her career in 1898 in the Folies Bergères in Paris. Gaby was dedicated to dancing and loved to please the audience. In 1906 she traveled to London and appeared at the Gaiety Theatre in The New Aladdin and performed the Ju-Jitsu waltz. She became the nickname The Charm of Paris. Deslys became an international celebrity following newspaper stories about King Manuel's infatuation with her. He is thought to have given Deslys a pearl necklace worth $70,000 after first meeting her in Paris in 1909. More gifts soon followed. In 1911, she appeared at the Winter Garden in Vera Violetta, which also featured Al Jolson and a young Mae West. Gaby’s costume gowns attained almost as much attention as herself. She is also credited for introducing the first Striptease number in a Broadway Musical. In 1912 she returned to Paris with American dancer Henry (Harry) Pilcer, who she was rumored to have been married to. Pilcer created her most famous dance, The Gaby Glide, which she performed in Europe and in the United States. They became the most popular dance couple of the music-halls of Paris. Gaby Deslys introduced with her ostrich feathers and costumes a new style. She introduced the first Jazzband (Alexander's Ragtime Band) to Paris.
In London Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie was so smitten by her that he wrote a one-act play for her, Rosy Rapture, at the Duke of York's theatre. This became also one of her first films, A Rosy Rapture (Percy Nash, 1914). Other short films followed like the French La Remplaçante (René Hervil, Louis Mercanton, 1914). In 1915 Gaby Deslys and Harry Pilcer filmed for Famous Players Lasky in Paris Her Triumph (1915). A feature film with the couple was Bouclette (René Hervil, Louis Mercanton, 1918), written by the famous film director of the French avant-garde, Marcel L’Herbier, who was co-starred. In Dieu du hasard (Henri Pouctal, 1919) Gaby appeared with Félix Oudart, Georges Tréville, and Harry Pilcer. She graced the cover of Pictures and the Picturegoer magazine in 1915, and Erté did a serigraph painting of her. On a number of occasions, she appeared at the Grand Casino in Marseilles. Her final performance there was in 1919. Deslys contracted a severe throat infection caused by influenza. She was operated on multiple times in an effort to eradicate the infection, on two occasions without the use of an anesthetic, but she died in Paris in February 1920. In her will, she left her villa and all of her property, valued at half a million dollars, to the poor of Marseilles. 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 Phantom of the Opera (1925) and in Sunset Boulevard (1950) as the bed of Norma Desmond. Gaby Deslys was portrayed by Tamara Toumanova in Deep in My Heart (Stanley Donen, 1954).
Sources: Wikipedia, Dance History Archives, National Portrait Gallery, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Gaby Deslys
French postcard by EPG, no. Ser. 20/1.
French dancer and actress Gaby Deslys (1881-1920) (aka Gaby Delys) was an internationally celebrated - and notorious - star of the early 20th Century. She was famous for her extravagant clothes, jewels, and millinery. She had many admirers, most notably King Manuel II of Portugal, and during World War I, she reportedly worked as a spy for the French government. Before her tragic early death, she also made a series of silent films.
Gaby Deslys was born in 1881 in the French harbour city Marseille as Marie-Elise Gabrielle Caire, but during the latter part of her life and after her death, this identification was put under scrutiny. She selected Gaby Deslys for her stage career - an abbreviation of Gabrielle of the Lillies. She started her career in 1898 in the Folies Bergères in Paris. Gaby was dedicated to dancing and loved to please the audience. In 1906 she traveled to London and appeared at the Gaiety Theatre in The New Aladdin and performed the Ju-Jitsu waltz. She became the nickname The Charm of Paris. Deslys became an international celebrity following newspaper stories about King Manuel's infatuation with her. He is thought to have given Deslys a pearl necklace worth $70,000 after first meeting her in Paris in 1909. More gifts soon followed. In 1911, she appeared at the Winter Garden in Vera Violetta, which also featured Al Jolson and a young Mae West. Gaby’s costume gowns attained almost as much attention as herself. She is also credited for introducing the first Striptease number in a Broadway Musical. In 1912 she returned to Paris with American dancer Henry (Harry) Pilcer, who she was rumored to have been married to. Pilcer created her most famous dance, The Gaby Glide, which she performed in Europe and in the United States. They became the most popular dance couple of the music-halls of Paris. Gaby Deslys introduced with her ostrich feathers and costumes a new style. She introduced the first Jazzband (Alexander's Ragtime Band) to Paris.
In London Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie was so smitten by her that he wrote a one-act play for her, Rosy Rapture, at the Duke of York's theatre. This became also one of her first films, A Rosy Rapture (Percy Nash, 1914). Other short films followed like the French La Remplaçante (René Hervil, Louis Mercanton, 1914). In 1915 Gaby Deslys and Harry Pilcer filmed for Famous Players Lasky in Paris Her Triumph (1915). A feature film with the couple was Bouclette (René Hervil, Louis Mercanton, 1918), written by the famous film director of the French avant-garde, Marcel L’Herbier, who was co-starred. In Dieu du hasard (Henri Pouctal, 1919) Gaby appeared with Félix Oudart, Georges Tréville, and Harry Pilcer. She graced the cover of Pictures and the Picturegoer magazine in 1915, and Erté did a serigraph painting of her. On a number of occasions, she appeared at the Grand Casino in Marseilles. Her final performance there was in 1919. Deslys contracted a severe throat infection caused by influenza. She was operated on multiple times in an effort to eradicate the infection, on two occasions without the use of an anesthetic, but she died in Paris in February 1920. In her will, she left her villa and all of her property, valued at half a million dollars, to the poor of Marseilles. 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 Phantom of the Opera (1925) and in Sunset Boulevard (1950) as the bed of Norma Desmond. Gaby Deslys was portrayed by Tamara Toumanova in Deep in My Heart (Stanley Donen, 1954).
Sources: Wikipedia, Dance History Archives, National Portrait Gallery, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.