April Ashley
April 29, 1935 – December 27, 2021
April Ashley Featured Photo Credit: – Flickr: An Evening With April Ashley at the Southbank Centre
URNA remembers April Ashley, a transgender icon, who died on December 27, 2021 at the age of 86. April was born George Jamieson in Liverpool, England in 1935. April stated that she felt she was a girl even though she was born a boy. April served her country in the Merchant Navy during World War II. She moved to Paris in the late 1950s and joined the drag cabaret at the Caroussel Theatre. April grew tired of hiding her true identity which led her to undergo gender reassignment surgery in 1960 at the age of 25. Her surgery was performed by gender reassignment pioneer Dr. Geoure Burou. April described the surgery as extremely painful but successful.
In the early 1960s April became a fashion model, appearing in British Vogue. She was famously outed as a transsexual in the Sunday People newspaper and quickly made International headlines. Soon afterward, her modeling assignments stopped. April settled down in Paris where she met Hon. Arthur Corbett who later became Lord Rowallan. They got married in 1963. An annulment was granted in 1967 when Corbett claimed April was a man, even though he had known about her background before they were married.
Corbett v Corbett became case law setting legal precedent regarding the status of transsexuals in England.
Continued below…
April Ashley Narrated Slideshow
This is one of the films that previously appeared in the April Ashley, Portrait of a lady exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool. This photo slideshow is narrated by April.
April Ashley Life and Career
Continued…
April was a transgender rights activist and she grew close with other transgender figures like Caroline Cossey, Renée Richards, and Mark Rees. They remain close friends well into their elder years. She wrote about her life in “April Ashley’s Odyssey” which was later adapted to a full-length movie that won the BAFTA award.
Her acting career brought her roles such as that of Prunella in Stanley Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon”. She also had roles in other movies, TV shows and even appeared in music videos by Elton John and Culture Club during the 1980s.
In 2005 April was finally legally recognized as female and issued a new birth certificate.
Visit the April Ashley website.
What a lovely lady!