Socialite. Born Edith Louise Sylvia Hawkes in Paddington, London, the daughter of Edith Florence Hyde and Arthur Hawkes, a publican. She left home at 15, and found a job as a lingerie model. She then moved on to theatre, appearing in the chorus in such plays as 'Midnight Follies' (1924), 'Primrose' (1924), and 'Tell Me More' (1925). In February 1927, she married Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Lord Ashley, heir of the 9th Earl of Shaftsbury who strongly disapproved of the match, and a scandal ensued. She left him within the year. A divorce would not be finalized until November 1934, and despite it, she continued to style herself as 'Lady Sylvia Ashley.' She met Douglas Fairbanks, Senior in 1933, and they entered into an affair while awaiting divorces. They married in March 1936, and remained together until his death in December 1939. After which, she often divided her time between London and Hollywood, and she met Edward Stanley 6th Baron Stanley of Alderly, on one such trip. They married in January of 1944, and he filed for divorce a year later. After a contentious and acrimonious settlement, the petition for divorce was granted in 1948. She met Clark Gable at a party at his agent's home in the summer of 1949. They married that December, but the couple was mismatched from the start, and they started divorce proceedings seventeen months later. It was finalized in April 1952. She married for the final time in 1954, to Dmitri Djordjadze, an hotelier who styled himself a Georgian prince. Reportedly estranged within a year, they never appeared to have divorced. In her last years she became increasingly reclusive, more so after a diagnosis of bone cancer, to which she succumbed at the age of 73. She was interred under the title and name Princess Sylvia Djordjadze.
Socialite. Born Edith Louise Sylvia Hawkes in Paddington, London, the daughter of Edith Florence Hyde and Arthur Hawkes, a publican. She left home at 15, and found a job as a lingerie model. She then moved on to theatre, appearing in the chorus in such plays as 'Midnight Follies' (1924), 'Primrose' (1924), and 'Tell Me More' (1925). In February 1927, she married Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Lord Ashley, heir of the 9th Earl of Shaftsbury who strongly disapproved of the match, and a scandal ensued. She left him within the year. A divorce would not be finalized until November 1934, and despite it, she continued to style herself as 'Lady Sylvia Ashley.' She met Douglas Fairbanks, Senior in 1933, and they entered into an affair while awaiting divorces. They married in March 1936, and remained together until his death in December 1939. After which, she often divided her time between London and Hollywood, and she met Edward Stanley 6th Baron Stanley of Alderly, on one such trip. They married in January of 1944, and he filed for divorce a year later. After a contentious and acrimonious settlement, the petition for divorce was granted in 1948. She met Clark Gable at a party at his agent's home in the summer of 1949. They married that December, but the couple was mismatched from the start, and they started divorce proceedings seventeen months later. It was finalized in April 1952. She married for the final time in 1954, to Dmitri Djordjadze, an hotelier who styled himself a Georgian prince. Reportedly estranged within a year, they never appeared to have divorced. In her last years she became increasingly reclusive, more so after a diagnosis of bone cancer, to which she succumbed at the age of 73. She was interred under the title and name Princess Sylvia Djordjadze.
Bio by: Iola
Inscription
Dearest Beloved
Family Members
Advertisement
