Gaby Deslys

Gaby Deslys was a singer and actress of the early 20th century from Marseilles, France. She selected her name for her stage career. It is an abbreviation of Gabrielle of the Lillies. During the 1910s she was exceedingly popular worldwide, making 4,000 a week in the United States alone. During the 1910s she performed several times on Broadway, at the Winter Garden Theater, and performed in a show with a young Al Jolson. Her dancing was so popular that The Gaby Glide was named for her.

Deslys had many admirers among royalty, most notably King Manuel II of Portugal, and her origins became the subject of dispute. A private detective claimed her true name was Hadiwga Nawrati, or Hedvika Navrtilov, and that she was a Czech peasant girl, born in the village of Horn Motnice, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary. The investigator reported that Deslys had denied her alleged mothers claim to kinship when he brought her to see the dancer, paying her a large amount of money to leave. Deslys replied the story was ridiculous and that she was French, not Czech.

Source: Wikipedia