Lady Chablis, famed performer and former West Columbia resident, dies

The Lady Chablis, a famed transgender performer, died surrounded by friends and family Thursday morning, according to a Savannah, Ga., club where she performed for.

Club One posted on its website that The Lady Chablis died Thursday morning. She was 59.

“Chablis always wanted to give the audience, be it 15 or 1,500, the best that she had,” the post stated. “With her declining health, she regretted that her body wouldn’t allow her to give more.”

Chablis, who was born Benjamin Edward Knox, is known for her performances at Club One and for her role in the New York Times best-seller book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” by John Berendt. The nonfiction book describes quirky characters in Savannah during a murder trial.

Chablis also starred as herself in the 1997 movie version directed by Clint Eastwood. Club One stated if she wasn’t going to play herself in the movie, “there would not be one.”

She was well-known nationally, having been interviewed on “Good Morning America” and “Today” and featured in People magazine, among others.

Chablis lived in West Columbia in the 1990s, according to The State archives.

“I picked West Columbia because it’s the last place anybody would expect to find me,” Chablis said to a reporter at The State in 1994.

She went on to describe how she lived in a small house on a quiet street but reserved one bedroom as the “drag room,” which was filled with dozens of sequined and satin gowns and tight catsuits.

SC Price President Jeff March said he and Chablis were friends before her fame took off, and they traveled around the Southeast together doing gigs.

March said Chablis broke the news to him that she was going to be featured in a book, though she swore him to secrecy until it was publicly announced.

After “Midnight” hit shelves, it soon became a movie, and March said he visited Savannah one weekend to watch the filming.

“It was crazy down there!” he said. “... The city was loaded with celebrities, but Chablis’ charisma grabbed all their attention.”

March said one night after filming, the cast and crew went to see her show at Club One.

“She was a star and this was her element,” March said. “I was so proud so see her success!”

Drag performer Patti O’Furniture said she met Chablis when they co-hosted an event called Runaway Runway in Eau Claire. They later performed in a series of shows around the South that Chablis branded “The Lady and the Tramp.”

She said she last saw Chablis during a performance at Club One “some months ago” where Chablis thanked O’Furniture for being her friend.

Their last moments together included a laugh, a tear and a gentle hug.

“It is appropriate that my last memory of her is on the stage she made famous (and that brought her fame as well) but with no audience and no spotlight, because beneath the sequins and sparkle was a genuine individual whose personality lit up a room every time she was present.”

Columbia City Ballet Executive and Artistic Director William Starrett said Chablis was a big fan of the arts, and of Columbia City Ballet in particular. Starrett said she performed in the company’s production of “Dracula” in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

“What a terrible loss to South Carolina,” Starrett said. “The Lady Chablis was truly a national trailblazer. She never met a stranger.”

While living in the Midlands, Chablis had a show at The Edge, a defunct gay bar in Columbia, where she hosted “ Lady Chablis ‘ Cabaret.”

Chablis also released an autobiography called “Hiding My Candy” in 1996.

She is survived by her sister, Cynthia, according to Club One.

Dwaun Sellers contributed to this report.

This story was originally published September 8, 2016 at 11:08 AM with the headline "Lady Chablis, famed performer and former West Columbia resident, dies."