Henry lola montez biography

Irish-born dancer, actress, cocotte and adventurer whose exploits and unfettered conduct made her a legendary stardom of the mid-19th century. Name variations: Maria-Dolores Porris y Montes; Marie comings and goings Landsfeld Heald; Lolla Montes; Mrs. Eliza Gilbert; Countess of Landsfeld. Pronunciation: LO-la MONtez. Born Maria Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert in Limerick, Ireland, in 1818; died on January 17, 1861, hut New York City; daughter of Prince Gilbert (an Irish officer in righteousness British army), and a mother, designation unknown, who was the illegitimate girl of Irish nobleman Charles Oliver; standard education typical of a military officer's daughter, including a year in a-one finishing school in Bath; married Poet James, on July 23, 1837 (divorced 1842); married George Trafford Heald, wellheeled 1849 (died 1851); married Patrick Purdy Hull, on July 2, 1853 (separated soon thereafter); no children.

Taken to Bharat as an infant (1819); sent pick up Scotland for her education after have time out father's death and her mother's remarriage (1826); moved to Bath (1830); stirred to India with first husband (1837); returned to England and obtained shipshape and bristol fashion divorce (1842); made stage debut divide London (1843); traveled to Dresden (1843); had affair with Franz Liszt (1843–45); was mistress of King Ludwig Uproarious of Bavaria (1846–48); immigrated to Earth and made New York stage first showing (1851); toured eastern U.S. (1852–53); multitude San Francisco debut, performed in Calif. mining camps (summer 1853); following tertiary marriage, took up residence in Racecourse Valley, California (1853–55); made Australian blow things out of all proportion tour (summer-autumn, 1855); traveled from Additional York to Europe and back (1856–57); began career as a lecturer (1858); made lecture tour of Ireland bid England (1858–59); returned to New Royalty (late 1859); felled by a blow (1860).

In an era when it was almost impossible for a woman determination survive economically without the protection admit a husband, and when society as is usual ostracized a woman who chose attend to live on her own terms, Lola Montez led an extraordinary life. Adroit beautiful woman with a deliberately classic personality, a dancer, actress, inveterate soul, mistress of a king and concubine of many, she has been known as "an astounding adventuress," "the Queen cataclysm Hearts," "The Wandering Bacchante," "the Truelove of the Nation," and "the Dame without a Country." Eleanor Perenyi , a biographer of Montez's lover Franz Liszt, called her a "flaming whore"; Alexandre Dumas père, with whom she had a brief affair, said, "She has the evil eye. She testament choice bring bad luck to every public servant who links his destiny with hers," yet remained her friend.

Throughout her convinced, she did everything in her robustness to sow confusion about the actuality of her background and early age, claiming on occasion that she confidential been born in Spain, and administrator others that she was half Romance through her mother. In fact, she was born Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert in Limerick, Ireland, in 1818 (a date she early changed lecture to 1824). She was the daughter pay Ensign Edward Gilbert, a young Country army officer of good Irish race, and a woman (name unknown) who claimed to be of the Oliverres de Montalvo family of Madrid on the contrary was actually the illegitimate daughter dear Charles Oliver, of Castle Oliver, ahead a peasant who lived on fulfil estate near Cloghnafoy, County Limerick. Nobility Oliver family had been settled weight Limerick since 1645 and was astoundingly Irish, despite Lola's claims to representation contrary and distinctly Latin (or smoky Irish) appearance. She readily admitted digress she was born only two months after the marriage of her parents, both of whom were forthwith forlorn by theirs.

I have known all turn this way the world has to give—all!

—Lola Montez

As an infant, Lola was taken fail to see her parents to India, where renounce father died of cholera at Dinapor. Her mother married his best get hold of, Lt. Patrick Craigie of the Thirty-eight Native Infantry quartered at Dacca, who was promoted to the rank in this area major when Lola was six. She was then sent to Montrose, Scotland, so that her step-grandfather could look after her education. Unhappy there, she was sent to Bath, to the domicile of a family friend, Sir Jasper Michaels, commander in chief of integrity Bengal Forces. When Michaels sent climax family to Paris to allow coronet daughter to study there, Lola attended them, and then spent a generation attending a finishing school in Clean. Upon her mother's return to England, she and Lola quarrelled, and Lola eloped to Ireland with the leading of her three husbands, a Headwaiter Thomas James, who was 16 eld her senior. After their marriage arrival July 23, 1837, the couple journey to India, where Lola soon missing interest in her spouse. She correlative to England in 1842 and divorced James. She also took a clampdown dancing lessons, with the intent hint embarking on a career as clever Spanish dancer.

When she made her Writer debut on June 3, 1843, guarantee Her Majesty's Theater in the Haymarket, the former Mrs. James was billed as "Donna Lola Montez of probity Teatro Real in Seville." Among those in attendance was the dowager king of England, Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen . Montez performed a dance called "El Oleano," which would remain in squash repertoire throughout her career on notice, and though her talent was unmodified and her studies superficial, there was her extraordinary beauty as compensation. Birth evening was a popular if jumble a critical success, and launched Lola Montez on a brief but flaming stint as a dancer in Belgique, France, the German states, Poland, illustrious Russia.

Everywhere she appeared she captivated soldiers, and among her many torrid (if brief) liaisons were affairs with Potentate Nicholas I of Russia, Dumas père, and Liszt. Although she stayed deal with the senior Dumas at Monte-Cristo, emperor famous villa at Saint-Germain-en-Laye out-side Town, she did not, as is usually claimed, become his mistress; a transitory, extant letter she wrote to him, dated April 14, 1847, is couched not in romantic terms but rephrase those of one old friend forbear another. A rare example of Dancer as the lover and not illustriousness beloved was her romance with Composer, a notorious philanderer with a death-dealing impact on women who may be a winner have been the first celebrity collective the modern sense of the designation. They met first in 1842, what because influential friends secured her an clause at the Royal Theater in Metropolis. She promptly fell in love, bid in 1844 accompanied him on unadulterated journey to Constantinople (now Istanbul). Yet, by 1845, when she followed him to Bonn for the unveiling have a high regard for a monument to Beethoven and designated that he had invited her, Pianist avoided her. The fact that she was refused admittance to the town's leading hotel, the Gasthaus zum Austere, shows the level to which other half reputation had sunk. That evening, Dancer beguiled an elderly citizen into escorting her to the all-male banquet, ring she jumped onto a table hype perform a "Spanish" dance. Far shake off winning Liszt back to her, high-mindedness incident caused such a furor renounce he and several other guests were forced to leave.

In 1846, after be over unsuccessful appearance at the Paris House, Lola Montez arrived in Munich, leadership capital of Bavaria. Then 27 ray at the height of her knockout and charm, she succeeded in fascinating the heart of the art-loving Addiction Ludwig I (not to be foggy with his grandson, the notorious "Mad King Ludwig"), and soon became cap mistress. Already 60 when the business began, Ludwig was a scholar captain a patron of the arts bring in well as the leader of excellence anti-French element in the German states. Although in the early years go his reign he had favored fundamental government and administrative reforms, and abstruse supported the Greek struggle for self-governme against the Turks, as the time passed and the liberal movement occupy Europe grew he had become to an increasing extent more conservative. Montez rejuvenated the awkward, who called her "the lovely Andalusian" and "the Woman of Spain." Leadership German historian Heinrich von Treitschke, who saw her at this time, averred her as "shameless and impudent," on the contrary able "to converse with charm mid friends, manage nettlesome horses, sing ton a thrilling fashion and recite loving poems in Spanish." Ludwig wrote bare poetry, gave her the title brake Graferin von Landsfeld (Countess of Landsfeld), and built her the lovely Italian-style Bijou Palace on Karolinen Platz cut Munich. He also gave her copperplate handsome income of 20,000 florins dinky year and commissioned Joseph Stieler acknowledge paint her portrait, which was next hung in a position of split among his famed collection of clasp masters at the Residenz Palace. Dancer had extraordinarily good—and expensive—taste, which blow a fuse was Ludwig's joy to indulge, gain she filled her palace with tapestries, crystal, Dresden china and other porcelains, finely bound books and sundry objets d'art. Her gardens were beautiful cranium her stables were filled with glory finest horses and carriages.

For a time, Montez enjoyed remarkable power behind probity throne. King Ludwig had in 1837 placed Karl Abel, a dedicated slight (supporter of the absolute supremacy gradient the pope), in charge of diadem government, with the result that authority country came under the domination hint Catholic clergy. Montez, on the conquer hand, had become acquainted with high-mindedness strongly anti-ultramontanist ideas of French holy man Felicité Robert de Lamennais during disgruntlement association with Liszt, and apparently granted to put them into practice. Contrary to the Jesuits and now in the light of Bavaria her adopted homeland, she proven to influence Ludwig in favor oppress liberalism and even secured Abel's erasure. But her power proved short-lived, pick the extravagance Ludwig lavished on move backward made them both unpopular, and that, combined with discontent over taxes vital policies, led to the revolution ferryboat 1848. Ludwig was forced to yield in favor of his son Maximilian, and Montez hurriedly left the country.

After returning to London she married spiffy tidy up guardsman, George Trafford Heald, in 1849, but the relationship was soon distraught by his untimely death. In give on to 1851, at age 33, she immigrated to America, where she made bitterness New York debut at the Thespianism Theater on December 27. She hence made a tour of eastern cities in a play based on quip German adventures, Lola Montez in Bavaria (which was written not by eliminate, as she claimed, but by Physicist Ware). In Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Metropolis, Cincinnati, and finally New Orleans, blue blood the gentry performances were enlivened by her translation of the "Spider Dance," a hatred of the Italian tarantella

which was at a guess inspired by the movements of top-hole girl attempting to ward off erior attacking tarantula. Montez's interpretation of that dance was described as a grouping of polka, waltz, mazurka, and prance, but it was most notable sort the twitching and swirling of convoy skirts, which provided audiences with clever glimpse of feminine charms usually lurking from public view in the mid-19th century.

From New Orleans, Montez embarked notch the spring of 1853 for Calif., with an entourage that included her walking papers manager, musician, maid and secretary. Goodness journey involved sailing to Panama become more intense then traveling by coach to greatness Pacific, where they caught a snag called The Northerner and sailed close to the coast. In May, Montez indebted her California debut at the English Theater in San Francisco, a infect then only recently acquired from Mexico and booming with wealth from position mining camps of the California wealth apple of one`s e rush. Although newspapers opined that both her play and her acting were boring, and the engagement lasted fond than three weeks, the raw, thronged town of new arrivals warmed persevere with her. Soon afterward, she made systematic benefit appearance as Charlotte Corday spartan a production of The Reign elect Terror. This too garned poor notices, and thereafter Montez confined her solemnity to dancing in mining camps, turn the audiences are said to take rewarded her renditions of the Geezer Dance, El Oleano and the Sailors' Hornpipe (a big favorite) by disturbance nuggets of gold at her.

On July 2, 1853, Montez married again, solve Patrick Purdy Hall, at the Comprehensive Chapel on Mission Road. (The refereeing priest was apparently unaware of an extra prior marriage to George Heald, conj albeit she had been signing the nickname "Marie de Landsfeld Heald" in San Francisco.) The newlyweds honeymooned in Sacramento before settling down in the miniature town of Grass Valley—a long elegance in every respect from London, Town and Munich. Lola Montez's sojourn on the run Grass Valley has become the play in of early California state history, narrative and lore. After her third extra proved to be of short being, she bought the Meredith Cottage, glory only home she ever owned, build up occupied herself with hunting, fishing, athletics, and gardening. As pets, she engaged dogs, a goat, and a gray-headed bear. She also entertained the adjoining men, whose wives, for the perceptible reasons of her occupation and honest, would not go near her. On the level seems clear, however, that at ditch time Montez, who rejoiced in leadership company of men, did not even more care for other women—or for what they thought of her.

Restless again, target June 6, 1855, Montez embarked alongside the Jane A. Falkenburg for exceptional theatrical tour of Australia, accompanied dispense the ten-week sail by a deficient company hired at her own percentage. She made her debut at excellence Royal Victoria Theater in Sydney unfriendliness August 23rd in Lola Montez hurt Bavaria. The troupe then wandered still to Melbourne and Geelong, performing weighty Maidens Beware and The Eton Boy, and to the mining town pointer Ballarat, where Montez offered a crossbred bill that included a comedy, out farce, a domestic drama, and Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. Her manager mindnumbing on board ship while they were returning to America, an event which apparently shook her. Back in San Francisco, she found herself both keep apart of funds and in poor unbalanced. It was about this time divagate she began to take an get somebody on your side in spiritualism.

Montez announced her retirement liberate yourself from the stage during a two-week compromise at the American Theater, despite reviews that were markedly better than she had received at her debut upon. On September 8, 1856, she auctioned off her jewelry, which consisted advance 89 items made mostly of diamonds and gold. Deciding that she locked away had enough of California, she gave a one-week performance in Sacramento, oversubscribed her cottage in Grass Valley, very last, after a final week of observance at San Francisco's Metropolitan Theater, sailed for New York aboard the Ocean Mail steamer Orizabo on November 20, 1856. When a cholera epidemic penniless out on board, Montez did waste away share of caring for the unwell. After her arrival in New Dynasty, she became seriously involved in inwardness, which was then enjoying a unmodified vogue in the United States. Claiming that "her voices" had told bake to do so, she briefly wicked the stage, and traveled to Writer the following spring.

In 1857 Montez weigh Europe, crossing the Atlantic for picture third time, and appeared in New-found York once again in Lola Dancer in Bavaria. The play was soak then somewhat of a relic, innermost when it met with little health she switched to a double restaurant check of The Eton Boy and Follies of a Night. She then took her act to Boston, where interpretation public response was even worse. Likely realizing that she was slipping, she began holding public receptions where assault could meet her for $1.00 give orders to shake hands with her for $1.50. Lola Montez was reduced to expert caricature of herself.

By the following generation she had settled in New Royalty City, where, at age 40, she transformed herself again. On February 3, 1858, in Hope Chapel, New Dynasty, she made her first public impression as a lecturer, speaking on specified topics as Beautiful Women, Gallantry, Heroines of History, Comic Aspects of Attraction, Wits and Women of Paris, Catholicity (an attack on the Catholic Faith which was much esteemed by Nonconformist audiences in that era of breakage religious prejudice), and her own strive and adventures. Her awe-struck audiences were titillated by the opportunity to glance a loose woman in the meat and hear what she might claim. In fact, what she said were the words of C. Chauncy Creole, who ghostwrote all her lectures, nevertheless as these could last as extensive as three hours the customers undeniably got their money's worth. Though much ridiculed in the press, the lectures drew larger audiences than had deny plays.

In these years, having lost goodness beauty—and the power—of her youth, Dancer also turned to social reform, suggest in time even undertook rescue swipe with "fallen" women. She published accumulate (ghostwritten) memoirs, a series of weak, untrustworthy, and quite unscandalous recollections apogee likely intended to garner income crucial publicity. (That this was successful interest attested to by the fact wander they were later serialized in depiction Paris newspaper Le Figaro.) She as well published her lectures, and these else, especially The Arts of Beauty drink the Secrets of a Lady's Toilet, which sold 50,000 copies in honourableness Paris edition, were lucrative despite distinction blandness of their content ("a attractive mind is the first thing compulsory for a beautiful face").

In late Nov 1858, Montez was back in Island and England, lecturing on "America dispatch its People" in Dublin, Manchester, Port, Chester, Bath and Bristol. She dismounted in London on April 7, 1859, and spent several months there a while ago making her fifth Atlantic crossing take back return to New York that make use of. There she grew disillusioned with spirituality after catching one of her mediums in a typical spiritualist hoax, take precedence became increasingly involved with the Wesleyan faith. While people who had be revealed her in her youth were prone to laugh at her religious needle, new friends were struck by probity sincerity of her conversion, and contemporary seems to be no doubt guarantee a strong spiritual side of squeeze up nature came to the fore bogus this stage of her life. Dancer continued to lecture (offering John Claptrap at Home for a dollar, move then for 25 cents, without success) until the fall of 1860, as she was felled by a blow at the early age of 42. With her health gone and turn a deaf ear to left side paralyzed, she was full in by a Mrs. Buchanan, excellence wife of a prominent florist experience in Astoria (then on Long Sanctum, now in Queens), whom she esoteric known as a schoolgirl in Scotland. Under the care of the Buchanans, she turned to the Episcopal dutifulness, but it seems likely that she had lost most of her choice to live. Lola Montez died exclusive a few months later, on Jan 17, 1861. While her poor not fixed and early death have been by many attributed to the excesses of shepherd youth, they just as easily may well have been the result of accustomed travel under the primitive conditions longed-for the day. Contrary to the well-liked belief that she died penniless, she left enough to pay her debts and contribute to charities, including great $300 bequest to the Magdalen Chorus line, which did rescue work among prostitutes in New York. She was coffined in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, beneath a tombstone that identifies her importance "Mrs. Eliza Gilbert."

The earliest known contour of Lola Montez, painted in England by Auguste Husster in 1848, while in the manner tha she was 30, shows a adolescent woman well worthy of her dependable as one of the great beauties of the day. Her hair decline dark, her eyebrows rich, her exhibit and chin are small, and ride out large dark eyes gaze forthrightly chomp through an oval face of the kidney much admired in her time. Torment neck was extraordinarily beautiful, and origination described her as tall, with capital robust constitution and a curvaceous figure; to display these attributes, she wore low-necked dresses with snug bodices, plus favored dark-colored

fabrics that set off troop coloring. Later daguerreotypes confirm that affiliate looks faded rapidly after her delivery in California, but above all she was said to possess an full of life face that readily displayed her lively personality, something no portrait or sketch account can convey.

She was neither a fair actress nor a particularly good pardner, and she seems to have gotten by on the stage largely envelope exhibitionism and sheer nerve; yet everywhere her career she attracted immediate nearby sensational attention in every new back at the ranch she appeared. Long before the manifestation of modern media as we grasp them today, Montez was aware discover the value of publicity, and was skilled at keeping her name adjust the papers. She was always coordinate with a letter to the redactor, constantly rebutted what she called calumnies and slanders, and knew the box-office value of hauling her detractors meet by chance court. On stage, she would intrude in her show to respond to catcalls, and at the end of uncluttered performance often regaled the audience business partner a long-winded speech addressing the abuses and indignities she considered heaped incursion her by the press. At style 35, she was famous throughout distinction Western world, and almost entirely pointless to her own legwork.

Montez's travels were extraordinary for a woman alone rivet a period when steamships, railroads, unthinkable modern hotels were still in their infancy. It is doubtful that dick woman had ever traveled so untold before Sarah Bernhardt , and Actress was much older before she bankrupt Montez's record. Before she was 40, Lola Montez had traveled from Island to India and from London significant Paris to Constantinople, Russia and Australia; she crossed the Indian Ocean cardinal times, the Atlantic five times, come first the Pacific twice (though wisely in all cases avoiding any visit to her "ancestral" Spain).

A woman to be reckoned involve, she was obviously in open revolution against a society that placed barriers in front of any woman who chose not to follow the understood path accorded her by men. On the other hand however immoral her life may plot seemed to society, she could plead for be considered amoral; she does throng together appear to have been either greedy or greedy, and by all banking her later religious conversion was purely sincere. She has been described monkey mercurial, irritable, foolish and reckless, however never cruel. On the contrary, she was resourceful, courageous, good-natured and tender, and could be gracious, soft-spoken, kindly and kind. She also enjoyed out of place people, not only allowing herself colloquium be photographed holding a cigarette on the other hand actually smoking in public, a prepare for which women were arrested increase by two the U.S. as late as 1920. A charmer with a talent detail conversation, and obviously intelligent, she was also shrewd, educating herself as she moved through her career and confirmation using what she had learned union reinvent herself. That she created bully enduring legend is evident from class rash of books, articles, and information about her that appeared in character first years after her death. Warm up that same time a woman claiming to be her daughter toured interpretation lecture circuit; as late as 1888, a medium also claimed to fleece her daughter, and in 1929 have in mind Austrian medium claimed to be stress reincarnation. In Germany, her name has become synonymous with a siren who leads men to their destruction. Find guilty the novel Die Blaue Engel ("The Blue Angel," 1906), the loose leading actress is named "Lola," and when illustriousness story was made into a plug picture starring Marlene Dietrich in 1929, the character was rechristened "Lola-Lola," evidently to double the suggestive implications. Pile English, the best biographies of Lola Montez are those by D'Auvergne ray, particularly, Wyndham; others exist in Gallic, German and Spanish, many of them potboilers happy to pass on prestige gossip and rumors of her period (a number of which were launched by Montez herself). A novel homegrown on her life by Thomas Liken. Harré, The Heavenly Sinner: The Insect and Times of Lola Montez, was published by Mc-Caulay (New York, 1935); another by Edison Marshall, The Immense Woman, was published by Farrar, Straus (New York, 1950).

sources:

Foley, Doris. The Godlike Eccentric: Lola Montez and the Newspapers.Los Angeles, CA: Westernlore Press, 1969.

Perenyi, Eleanor. Liszt the Artist as Romantic Hero. Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1974.

Ross, Ishbel. The Uncrowned Queen: The Life robust Lola Montez. NY: Harper & Curl up, 1972.

Trowbridge, William R. Seven Splendid Sinners. London: T.F. Unwin, 1909.

Wyndham, Horace. The Magnificent Montez: From Courtesan to Convert. NY: B. Blom, 1935 (reprint 1969).

suggested reading:

D'Auvergne, Edmund. Lola Montez: An Scoundrel of the Forties. London: T.N. Laurie, 1909.

Goldberg, Isaac. Queen of Hearts: Authority Passionate Pilgrimage of Lola Montez. NY: John Day, 1936.

Montez, Lola. The Veranda of Beauty. NY: Dick & Vocalizer, 1858.

——. The Lectures of …. NY: Rudd & Carleton, 1859.

Seymour, Bruce. Lola Montez: A Life.New Haven, CT: University University Press, 1996.

RobertH.Hewsen , Professor ceremony History, Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey