Gaby Deslys: A fatal attraction

by James Gardiner

In 1920 a young woman died leaving a fortune estimated at 12 million francs, and jewellery to rival any queens. She left everything to the poor of Marseilles. Gaby Deslys had been the lover of princes, the mistress of Gordon Selfridge and the obsession of J. M. Barrie. She died as one of the riches and most famous beauties in the world, but she was a woman of secrets, and the secrets died with her.Gaby Deslys was born in Marseilles in 1881. Always hungry for glamour, she moved to Paris to dance and sing in the seedier theatres of La Belle Epoque. Before long she was its most celebrated star, commanding huge fees, receiving startling gifts and captivating audiences throughout Europe in a series of hugely successful revues. The young Cecil Beaton wrote of her, 'Gaby Deslys was something of a key transitional figure - a successor to the grand Parisian cocottes of the nineties on the one hand and, since she was a theatrical figure, the precursor of a whole school of glamour that was to be exemplified twenty years later by Marlene Dietrich.'Her appeal lay in basic, manipulative eroticism. With her spectacular costumes, suggestive stage presence and a rumoured scandalous private life, she represented all that was forbidden to society then. She revelled in her reputation but remained tantalizingly silent, thus fanning rumours that she brought about the fall of the Portuguese monarchy and even spied for the Allies during the First World War. She was awarded the Croix de Guerre.A furore followed her death, with fortune-hunters staking outrageous claims to her wealth including a Hungarian couple who maintained that they were Gaby's parents, but after years of acrimony the headlines ceased and the people of Marseilles received their legacy.In Gaby A Fatal Attraction, James Gardiner has pieced together the fragments of a classic mystery, a remarkable woman and her extraordinary times.

Genres: Biography

193 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1986

About the author

As a man who has lived a colorful life including sports accolades, pursuing a Hollywood celebrity lifestyle, his own television show, personal and business coaching, and even a Chippendale bow tie, James has now embarked on traveling and speaking about his powerful new memoir, All in with Love: my journey to the hero within. This book chronicles his amazing life experiences and accomplishments as well as showcases how he turned poor choices and failure into a recipe for personal growth. But above all it is a story of reconnection. Of getting back to the wonder and curiosity of the inner child and living life to its glorious potential. Beautifully and compellingly written, his story telling is not only entertaining its readers but also providing them with deep introspective questions and thoughts about life and their younger selves.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never heard of her, but her short life was certainly interesting.

[David Grassé · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting biography of a huge star of the Edwardian era who is all but forgotten todau

[Hester · Rating 3 out of 5]

A forgotten performer with as much know how about publicity as Lady Gaga or Madonna and as famous , in her time . Fascinating .