Sylvia Ashley

Sylvia, Lady Ashley (1904 – 29 June 1977) was an English model, actress, and socialite[1] who was best known for her numerous marriages to British and Georgian noblemen and American movie stars.

Princess Sylvia Jorjadze
Born
Edith Louisa Sylvia Hawkes

1 April 1904
Paddington, London, England
Died29 June 1977 (aged 73)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other namesEdith Hawkes
Sylvia Hawkes
Lady Ashley
Princess Sylvia Jorjadze
Occupation
  • Model
  • actress
  • socialite
Spouse(s)
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(m. 1927; div. 1934)​

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(m. 1936; died 1939)​


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(m. 1949; div. 1952)​

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(m. 1954)​

Early life

Ashley was born Edith Louisa Hawkes at 112 Hall Place, Paddington, London, England, the elder daughter of Arthur Hawkes, a horsekeeper, and Edith Florence Hyde. The family moved to nearby Wharncliffe Gardens, Lisson Grove, before 1910. She later renamed herself Sylvia and preferred giving her year of birth as 1906. Her 1927 marriage certificate records her as named Edith Louisa Sylvia Hawkes and her father as Arthur Hawkes (deceased), gentleman.

Her father Arthur Hawkes (11 October 1881 – 11 November 1954) was a livery stable employee, latterly porter in a block of flats and doorman at a restaurant. He was still living in Wharncliffe Gardens when it was hit by a flying bomb on 21 August 1944, killing 33 people. The flats were demolished after the war and Arthur, tired and sick and with a small pension, was rehoused in Norwood, south London, where he died on ten years later. Administration of his personal effects, valued at £406 16s 8d, was granted to his younger daughter.

Her sister, Lilian Vera Hawkes (6 March 1910 – 1 January 1997), married British film producer Basil Bleck (2 August 1903 – 9 November 1971) on 18 December 1929. Arthur Hawkes was again described on the certificate as a gentleman.

Professional career
Sylvia and Clark Gable

As Sylvia Hawkes, she worked as a lingerie model and became a Cochran Dancer. After this brief career in the chorus line of musical comedy, she went on to appear in a number of West End plays. In 1924, she made her debut in Midnight Follies. She appeared in Primrose. In 1925, she acted in Tell me More at London's Winter Garden Theatre, and in The Whole Town's Talking.

In the 1920's Ashley regularly appeared on stage with American writer Dorothy Fields in the comedy duo "Silly and Dotty" in "Midnight Follies" at the London Metropole.

On 1 March 1941, Lady Ashley filed articles of incorporation to establish an organisation known as the British Distressed Areas Fund. Organised along with her sister, Vera Bleck, Constance Bennett, and Virginia Fox Zanuck, as directors, the Fund focused on soliciting financial support to provide food, clothing and medical aid for refugees of World War II. The headquarters of the organisation was located in Los Angeles.

Primrose audition

In their joint memoir Bring on the Girls!, P. G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton relate the story of Sylvia's audition for George Grossmith Jr. for the 1924 musical Primrose:

"Must I sing, Mr Grossmith?"

"Yes, Sylvia, you must. All of you have to sing if you want jobs as showgirls in Primrose. The Gershwin score demands it."

"Oh very well," she replied petulantly, and, going down to the floats she handed over a piece of music to the pianist in the pit. The piano struck a chord.

God save our gracious King,
Long live our noble King,
God save the King.

Grossmith, a strict observer of ritual, rose and stood at attention. His minions rose and stood at attention. Guy, on his way to announce his arrival, stood at attention.

As the anthem came to the normal stopping point, George started to sit down, but there is more, much more of the fine old choral than is generally known. James Carey is credited with a three-stanza version; in another version John Bull... has expressed the same sentiment in his own way; while James Oswald... also got into the act. A printing is extant giving them all. Sylvia Hawkes sang them all. The pianist stopped playing, but that didn't stop Sylvia. They wanted her to sing, did they? Well, sing she would. Of course no one dared to call a halt. The national anthem is sacrosanct – especially if you're an actor-manager clinging to the hope of a belated knighthood.[2]

Personal life
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Lord Ashley and Sylvia Ashley

Ashley was married five times:

Lady Ashley died of cancer on 29 June 1977 at age 73 in Los Angeles. She is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood; her grave is 680 feet north of that of her second husband, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., at the north end of the "Garden of Legends", aka "Section 8".

References
  1. "Lady Sylvia Ashley". National Portrait Gallery, London.
  2. Wodehouse and Bolton, Bring on the Girls! (1953), Chapter 13, section 3
  3. "LADY ASHLEY TO CONTEST.; Ex-Actress to Fight Divorce Suit Involving Douglas Fairbanks" (PDF). The New York Times. 26 May 1934. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  4. "DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS SAILS FROM QUEBEC; Sylvia, Lady Ashley, Leaves on the Same Ship, Bound for England and Japan" (PDF). The New York Times. 13 July 1935. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  5. "FAIRBANKS SR. PLANS TRIP AROUND WORLD; American Movie Star and Lady Ashley Leave London Today on a Yachting Cruise" (PDF). The New York Times. 15 February 1935. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  6. "FAIRBANKS IS WED TO LADY ASHLEY; Legal Bars Finally Overcome for Paris Marriage of Actor to British Divorcee" (PDF). The New York Times. 8 March 1936. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  7. "WIDOW OF FAIRBANKS WED TO LORD STANLEY; Former Lady Ashley Bride of Royal Navy Man in Boston" (PDF). The New York Times. 19 January 1944. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  8. "Lady Ashley Wins Divorce" (PDF). The New York Times. 16 January 1947. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  9. "CLARK GABLE WEDS FAIRBANKS' WIDOW; Film Star and Former Lady Ashley Married on Ranch North of Santa Barbara" (PDF). The New York Times. 21 December 1949. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  10. "GABLE SUED FOR DIVORCE; Mental Cruelty Charged to Star by Lady Sylvia Ashley" (PDF). The New York Times. 1 June 1951. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
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