Cat. #001241321: GABY DESLYS

Highly rare vintage 3.5 x 5.25-inch black and white English rotary postcard portrait, boldly signed with her name alone in black fountain pen, circa 1918.  In good condition, with the tiniest chip to the upper left-hand corner tip. Gorgeous French singer, and stage and silent film star Gaby Deslys was one of the most popular performers of the first decade of the 20th century, introducing a dance craze called The Gaby Glide and courting King Manuel II of Portugal. Not long after her transition to the screen, which included an acclaimed turn in Her Triumph in 1915, she contracted Spanish influenza, which spread to her throat. In a tragic effort to retain her singing voice, she underwent several operations on her throat, one of which led to an infection. She died in Paris at the age of 38 and her autograph is extremely scarce in any format.