The Lady Chablis, Savannah’s ‘Midnight’ Star, Dies At 59

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September 8th, 2016

“Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” producer/director Clint Eastwood is flanked by his daughter Alison Eastwood, left, and a drag queen who calls herself The Lady Chablis, both of whom star with John Cusack, right, in the Warner Bros. film at its premiere Monday, Nov. 17, 1997, in Burbank, Calif. (AP Photo/John Hayes)

John Hayes / Associated Press

The Lady Chablis, the transgender performer who became an unlikely celebrity for her role in the 1994 best-seller “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” died Thursday in Savannah. She was 59.

Chablis‘ sister, Cynthia Ponder, confirmed she died at Candler Hospital. A close friend, Cale Hall, said Chablis died from pneumonia and had been in the hospital for the past month.

A modern, nonfiction take on Southern Gothic storytelling, author John Berendt’s “Midnight” thrust Savannah into the pop-culture spotlight. And the sassy, blunt-spoken Chablis rode the book’s popularity to a level of fame that was rare for transgender performers at the time.

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