LIVING A TEENAGE DREAM

 

What do you do if you are a recognized beauty afraid of losing your looks? You fill your face with paraffin wax that settles an odd lumps towards your chin. Such was the situation for Gladys Deacon, a noted Gilded Age beauty who modeled for Pond's Soap and had her portrait painted by Boldini. Gladys Deacon faced a rocky childhood, life as a Gilded Age socialite and a terrible marriage to the man of her dreams. Gladys Deacon's story is most definitely one of the most unusual socialite stories ever.

Gladys was born in Paris February 7 1881. Gladys was one of three sisters and the family lived the European life of wealthy expatriated Americans. In 1892 Gladys's mother went away for a week tryst with a lover. Gladys's father followed them, burst into their room, and shot his wife's lover. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison. Gladys was sent to a convent school but her mother kidnapped her so Gladys his father could not claim her upon his release. After his release, Gladys' parents divorced, and her father was awarded custody of Gladys and her three sisters. The girls returned to their mother up on their father's death of syphillis in 1901.

When Gladys was 14 she learned of American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt and the Duke of Marlborough's "love" story. Gladys began to dream of being old enough to marry the Duke, known as Sunny. Gladys met Sunny in 1897 when she was 16, and Sunny invited her to stay at Blenheim Castle with him and Consuelo. Gladys was just 4 years younger than Consuelo and Consuelo enjoyed Gladys's company. She found Gladys bright and charming. Sometime during the visit Gladys met the King of Prussia, who found her so captivating he proposed. She turned him down, having set her exquisitely beautiful eyes on Sunny.

In 1901 Sunny invited Gladys to Blenheim again, and the two began a 20-year affair. Consuelo and Sunny divorced in 1921 and Gladys and Sunny quickly married. She became the new Duchess and as mistress of Blenheim she commissioned paintings of her eyes to be hung in the entry hall of the castle. Gladys underwent a procedure to have paraffin wax injected into her nose, but the wax migrated and created lumps in her chin. Gladys retreated from society life, enjoying gardening and breeding dogs. Her teenage dream of being the Duke's wife began to darken. She would tell guests she kept a gun in her bedside table. When asked why Gladys would respond "I might just kill the Duke." In 1933 Sunny fired Gladys' staff, evicted her from Blenheim, and fled to Paris. Sunny died before the two could divorce. Gladys settled with her dogs in the countryside. After neighbors showed concern about her mental well-being, Gladys was placed in his psychiatric home, where she died in 1977 and age 96. The woman who lived out her teenage dream saw it turned into a nightmare.

SOURCES :

Charleston, LJ. "The Story of Gladys Deacon: The 1920s Socialite Who Became a Recluse and Died in a Mental Hospital." 11 August 1019.

Gladys Deacon. Wikipedia.

FURTHER MEDIA :

BOOKS :

Gable, Michelle ~ I'll See You in Paris

VIDEOS : 

Forgotten Lives. Why She Vanished From Society For 50 Years : Gladys Deacon