Douglas Thompson’s Inside Out: The Extraordinary Legacy of April Ashley: The Boy Who Became the Most Famous Woman in the World is more than a biography, it is a vivid chronicle of courage, glamour, heartbreak, and resilience. Through his careful research and storytelling, Thompson captures the extraordinary life of April Ashley, a pioneering figure in transgender history, whose personal battles and public triumphs left an indelible mark on LGBTQ+ rights.
Born in Liverpool in 1935 as George Jamieson, April Ashley knew from an early age that her true self was not aligned with the gender assigned to her at birth. Her childhood was marked by illness, hardship, and rejection, but also by a relentless determination to become who she truly was. At just sixteen, she joined the Merchant Navy, a move that would expose her to both adventure and trauma. Following two suicide attempts and brutal treatments, including hormones and electroshock therapy in a psychiatric unit, April resolved to take control of her destiny.
That determination led her to Paris in the late 1950s, where she reinvented herself as Toni April and became a performer at Le Carrousel de Paris, a legendary cabaret that welcomed gender-nonconforming artists. It was in this vibrant community, alongside figures like Coccinelle, that April embraced her identity fully and prepared for her historic gender reassignment surgery. In 1960, she traveled to Casablanca, Morocco, to undergo the pioneering procedure performed by Georges Burou. The surgery was experimental, dangerous, and came with a 50 percent chance of survival. April endured tremendous pain and hair loss in the aftermath, but the operation was a success. When she awoke, Dr. Burou greeted her with the words, “Bonjour, Mademoiselle”, words that signaled the beginning of her new life.
But fame came with a cruel twist. In 1961, April was outed as transgender by The Sunday People newspaper, her private life sold to the press for just five pounds. The revelation was devastating: her modeling contracts were canceled, her film roles erased, and her career left in ruins.
Despite the hostility she faced, April refused to disappear. She shared her own story publicly, determined to maintain control of her narrative. Her marriage in 1963 to Arthur Corbett, heir to the Rowallan barony, brought her further notoriety.
When the relationship collapsed, Corbett sought an annulment, leading to the infamous case Corbett v. Corbett (1970). The court ruled that April was legally male, making the marriage invalid and establishing a precedent that would deny transgender people legal recognition for decades. The ruling was devastating for April personally but became a landmark case in the fight for trans rights, its cruelty highlighting the urgent need for legal reform.
April’s life after the court case was turbulent. She opened a restaurant in Knightsbridge, suffered health setbacks, and at times lived away from the limelight in Hay-on-Wye and later California. Yet she remained a figure of fascination and a symbol of resilience. She continued to speak out, sharing her experiences in memoirs such as April Ashley’s Odyssey and The First Lady, and offering candid reflections on the pain and prejudice she had endured.
Douglas Thompson, an experienced biographer and journalist known for his bestselling works on Hollywood and notable figures, approaches April’s story with both rigor and empathy. His narrative interweaves her glamorous highs with her devastating lows, showing April not just as a public figure but as a woman who endured rejection, betrayal, and injustice while continuing to fight for dignity. Thompson’s account ensures that April is remembered not as a scandalous headline or tragic figure, but as a trailblazer whose courage paved the way for countless others.
April Ashley passed away in December 2021 at the age of 86, leaving behind a legacy of defiance, elegance, and hope. Her life embodied both the struggles and triumphs of transgender people in the twentieth century, and her story continues to inspire new generations who fight for equality. Inside Out captures this legacy in full, ensuring that April’s voice resonates long after her passing.
For readers today, April’s journey is both a window into the past and a guide for the future. It reminds us of the progress made, the injustices that must never be repeated, and the transformative power of living authentically. April Ashley was once called “the most famous woman in the world,” but her true legacy lies not in fame, it lies in courage, visibility, and an unshakable commitment to truth.
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Photos via digitaltransgenderarchive
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