Gaby Deslys

Who was Gaby Deslys?

Gaby Deslys was a danseuse, 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 a young 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 King Manuel II 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.