The Lady Chablis, the transgender performer featured in the 1994 best-seller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, died Thursday in Savannah. The Lady Chablis was 59.
Jail Report Publisher Greg Rickabaugh witnessed her appearance in March 1999 in an Aiken courtroom and wrote this article for The Augusta Chronicle:
AIKEN – The Lady Chablis, the outrageous female impersonator featured in the John Berendt novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, later adapted to a movie, spent time in an Aiken jail Monday while waiting for his attorney to pay a hefty fine for traffic charges.
Dressed in a navy-blue dress, Western coat and leopard slippers and wearing no makeup, The Lady Chablis walked in handcuffs into Aiken County Central Court to answer five traffic tickets from January.
He paid a $1,325 fine rather than face 150 days in jail.
A judge in February found the Columbia resident guilty on five traffic charges when he failed to appear in court.
The charges stem from a Jan. 13 traffic stop along Interstate 20 in Aiken County when a Highway Patrol trooper stopped his vehicle and charged him with speeding 100 mph in a 65 mph zone, carrying an open container, displaying an improper tag and having no insurance and no vehicle license.
Aid Bonding Co., which posted his bond in January, sent a bail bond runner to retrieve him from his Columbia home Monday to face five bench warrants.
His Savannah attorney had warned Judge Gail Shaw in a telephone call Monday to refer to The Lady Chablis as “she,” despite a traffic ticket listing The Lady Chablis as a man. The hearing took place just after 4 p.m. before a somewhat bare courtroom.
He crossed his shaven legs at the defendant’s table as sheriff’s Lt. Michael Cain explained the charges to him. The lieutenant then asked him to remove the hat.
“Take off my scarf?” The Lady Chablis asked.
He seemed humiliated as he removed the piece, forcing him to stand in court with disheveled hair that stood straight up.
Asked by Judge Shaw if he was aware he had missed his February court date, The Lady Chablis said he thought Savannah attorney Kathleen Aderhold had taken care of the matter.
In his trademark racy voice, The Lady Chablis quickly apologized to Judge Shaw for the problems he had caused.
“I’ve never done anything like this before,” he said. “It’s a big misunderstanding. I do try to take every precaution.”
Judge Shaw accepted the apology but sent the actor to jail until the fine was paid.
The Lady Chablis was kept for five hours in an isolated holding cell away from the inmate population. His friend arrived in Aiken County late Monday, paying the fine and resolving the charges.
The Lady Chablis, 42, was born Benjamin Edward Knox, in Quincy, Fla., but he realized early in life that he didn’t fit that name or gender, according to an interview with People magazine in 1996. He started dressing as a woman at age 14 and performing as a drag queen by 17.
A nightclub act in Savannah gave him some notoriety, but it was John Berendt’s best-selling novel that brought celebrity status. He was the only character from the book who played himself in the film, directed by Clint Eastwood.
Since his new-found fame, he has appeared on television programs such as Good Morning America, The Today Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show. He wrote an autobiography, Hiding My Candy, and was selected Miss Gay World.
The Lady Chablis still performs frequently in Augusta nightclubs.
But he drew little fanfare during his appearance at Aiken County Central Court along Hampton Avenue. Several sheriff’s officials stood outside, alerted to his impending arrival.
Some joked about the possibility of getting an autograph.
Judge Shaw, however, said she had never seen the book or movie adaptation of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The judge and two clerks said they intended to find a copy of the movie and watch it this week.
After the court hearing Monday, the defendant answered reporters’ questions as a jailer walked him to the Aiken County Detention Center. He said his movie and book careers are still going strong.
“Thanks to Aiken, I have a new chapter to write in my new book,” he said, smiling.
Asked what his next movie would be titled, he quickly replied: “Busted in Aiken.”
He asked two newspaper reporters to “please say something positive about me.”
