April Ashley(1935-2021)
- Actress
April Ashley was born in 1935. Her
father was a sailor in the British Royal Navy during WWII with an
affinity for drink who sired 10 children in quick succession.
As a girl she was frail, refusing to eat most food or drink her school
milk and ended up with malnutrition and a calcium deficiency.
After leaving the merchant marine, April moved to London at the urging
of her friend Ronald Cogan. She worked as a table wiper, bacon slicer
and a string of other small jobs to pay the bills. April was absolutely
fascinated with London. April acquired the nickname "Eyelashes" after
Albert Einstein remarked in the restaurant Quo Vardis in Soho that she
should be Madame Butterfly with her thick long lashes. Albert Einstein
had asked to be introduced to April (even though she was still
dressing androgynous). In 1956, while on holiday in the South of
France, April met up with some friends who suggested she work at Le
Carrousel nightclub in Paris. The management at Le Carrousel, which
specialized in female impersonators, was stunned by her feminine looks.
She was immediately asked to join the troupe and stayed with them for
four years. April paid 2,000 pounds for her sex-change operation. The
process was excruciating and the side-effects - dizziness, nausea and
swelling - lasted for two years. As a woman, April felt confident to
pursue a career in the public eye. April was queen of the catwalk,
Vogue's favorite underwear model photographed by Terence Donovan and
David Bailey, and was in constant demand by photographers. She did the
Royal shows for Deenfield Furs, appeared in Road to Hong Kong with Bob
Hope, Bing Crosby and Joan Collins. April married Arthur Corbett, son
of Lord Rowallen in 1961. They opened a successful nightclub together
in Spain and became close friends with Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif.
After 7 years of marriage April and her husband filed for divorce. The
divorce left April completely without funds and the discovery of her
transsexual past by the British tabloids ruined her personal life and
modeling career (a la Caroline 'Tula' Cossey). Instead of losing her
place in swinging London, though, April rallied by shifting her
position slightly and opening a restaurant. April and Desmonds, or AD8,
was opened on March 1, 1970, at 8 Egerton Graden Mews, Knightsbridge,
just down from Harrods. Lord Lichfield bought it eventually. As
London's most glamourous hostess, April was once more all over the
paper. She was interviewed about her 23 inch waist, her taste for
citrus colours, her beehive, tailored pants and sequined Biba dresses.
In 1975, after a massive heart attack, April retreated to Hay-on-Wye on
the Welsh border where she lived for 11 years with her dog Flora,
before small legacies from two locals allowed her to move to the
warmer, more liberal France, Spain and finally America's West Coast.
