Douglas Fairbanks , Sr
Who was the spouse of Sylvia Ashley from 1936 to 1939?
Sylvia Ashley Sylvia , Lady Ashley ( born Edith Louisa Hawkes;1904 – 29 June 1977 ) was an English model , actress , and socialite who was best known for her numerous marriages to British and Georgian noblemen and American movie stars . Early life . Ashley was born at 112 Hall Place , Paddington , London , England , the elder daughter of Arthur Hawkes , a horsekeeper , and Edith Florence Hyde . The family moved to nearby Wharncliffe Gardens , Lisson Grove , before 1910 . She later renamed herself Sylvia and preferred giving her year of birth as 1906 . Her 1927 marriage certificate records her as named Edith Louisa Sylvia Hawkes and her father as Arthur Hawkes ( deceased ) , gentleman . Her father was a livery stable employee , latterly porter in a block of flats and doorman at a restaurant . When he died , his younger daughter administered his estate. . Ashleys sister , Lilian Vera Hawkes married British film producer Basil Bleck on 18 December 1929 . Professional career . As Sylvia Hawkes , she worked as a lingerie model and became a Cochran Dancer . After this brief career in the chorus line of musical comedy , she appeared in West End plays . In 1924 , she debuted in Midnight Follies . She appeared in Primrose . In 1925 , she acted in Tell me More at Londons Winter Garden Theatre , and in The Whole Towns Talking . In the 1920s Ashley regularly appeared on stage with American writer Dorothy Fields in the comedy duo Silly and Dotty in Midnight Follies at the London Metropole . On 1 March 1941 , Lady Ashley filed articles of incorporation to establish an organisation known as the British Distressed Areas Fund . Organised along with her sister , Vera Bleck , Constance Bennett , and Virginia Fox Zanuck , as directors , the Fund focused on soliciting financial support to provide food , clothing and medical aid for refugees of World War II . The headquarters of the organisation was located in Los Angeles . Primrose audition . In their joint memoir Bring on the Girls! , P . G . Wodehouse and Guy Bolton relate the story of Ashleys audition for George Grossmith Jr . for the 1924 musical Primrose : Personal life . Ashley was married five times : - Major Lord Ashley ( married 3 February 1927 – 28 November 1934 ; divorced ) . - Douglas Fairbanks , Sr. , American actor ( married 7 March 1936 – 12 December 1939 , his death ) . - The 6th Baron Stanley of Alderley ( married 18 January 1944 – 1948 ; divorced ) . - Clark Gable , American actor ( married 20 December 1949 – 21 April 1952 ; divorced ) . - Prince Dimitri Jorjadze , hotel executive and race-car driver ( married 1954 ) . Lady Ashley died of cancer on 29 June 1977 at age 73 in Los Angeles . She is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery , Hollywood ; her grave is 680 feet north of that of her second husband , Douglas Fairbanks , Sr. , at the north end of the Garden of Legends , aka Section 8 . External links . - National Portrait Gallery – Sylvia Ashley