Brenda Irene Isabelle Frances Theresa Dean Paul (8 May 1907 – 26 July 1959), generally known by her stage name Brenda Dean Paul, was a British

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

actress, socialite, and " Bright Young Thing" in the 1920s. Her use of illegal drugs landed her in court and in the

tabloid press Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism, which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as a half broadsheet. The size became associated with sensationalism, an ...

of the day. She served time in

Holloway Prison HM Prison Holloway was a British prison security categories, closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, ...

and had many stints in hospitals in efforts to shake her addiction.

Early life

Dean Paul was the daughter of Sir Aubrey Edward Henry Dean Paul, 5th Bt and the Belgian-born pianist and composer known as

Poldowski Poldowski was the professional pseudonym of a Belgian-born British composer and pianist born Régine Wieniawski (16 May 187928 January 1932), daughter of the Polish violinist and composer Henryk Wieniawski. Some of her early works were publishe ...

, the daughter of the Polish violin virtuoso

Henryk Wieniawski Henryk Wieniawski (; 10 July 183531 March 1880) was a Polish virtuoso violinist, composer, and pedagogue, who is regarded amongst the most distinguished violinists in history. His younger brother Józef Wieniawski and nephew :pl:Adam Tadeusz Wien ...

. Her elder brothers were Aubrey Donald Fitzwarren Severin Dean Paul (1902–1904) and Sir Brian Kenneth Dean Paul, 6th Baronet (18 May 1904 – 5 August 1972). Raised Catholic and educated in convent schools, she went on to play minor roles in touring theatre companies and ventured to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

to build her film career, but she was quickly drawn into Berlin's hectic nightlife and failed her screen test in 1927.

Bright Young Thing

On her return to England, she became a fixture of London's

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

youth culture Youth culture refers to the societal norms of children, adolescents, and young adults. Specifically, it comprises the processes and symbolic systems that are shared by the youth and are distinct from those of adults in the community. An emphasis ...

, "the

Bright Young Things __NOTOC__ The Bright Young Things, or Bright Young People, was a group of Bohemian young aristocrats and socialites in London during the Roaring Twenties. The name was given to them by the tabloid press. They threw flamboyant fancy dress part ...

", and socialised with such celebrities as

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

and

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as costume designer and set designer for stage and screen. His accolades ...

at the group's

fancy dress A costume party (American English) or fancy dress party (other varieties of English) is a type of party, common in contemporary Anglo culture, in which many of the guests are dressed in costume, usually depicting a fictional or stock characte ...

parties. Following a reported

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion, is an end to pregnancy resulting in the loss and expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the womb before it can fetal viability, survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks ...

, she became chemically dependent on

morphine Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...

, which led to her lifelong battle with

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

and made her one of the most talked-about young women in London.

Later years

In February 1931, Brenda Dean Paul made her first court appearance, having been charged with bouncing a cheque. The following decades saw her in and out of various courts, receiving sentences of up to six months in prison for possession of dangerous drugs, obtaining goods on false pretences, and theft of services (refusing to pay

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

drivers). With each court appearance her name appeared in the papers, which added to her notoriety. In 1932, she was sent to

, where she developed

bulimia Bulimia nervosa, also known simply as bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating (eating large quantities of food in a short period of time, often feeling out of control) followed by compensatory behaviors, such as self-induc ...

, dropping to five stone (). Over the next few years she was in and out of nursing and care homes. In 1935, she quit drugs and her ghost-written memoir, ''My First Life'', was published. Her acting ambitions never came to anything and she again fell victim to drug addiction. In 1939 she was evicted from her flat because she "walked about naked" and "answered the door in the nude", and in 1940 she was tried for buying goods on other people's accounts. In the mid-1950s, the young artist Michael Wishart, sitting in a restaurant, watched her take a syringe of

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

from her handbag and fill it "from a vase of flowers on the table". In 1951, she assured a reporter that she was cured and was preparing to open her own addiction clinic, Brenda Dean Paul profile
elvirabarney.wordpress.com, 11 June 2012. but this was untrue. In 1952, a former flatmate wrote to the police to tell them that she "augmented her income by allowing sadists to

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

her". Worn down by addiction but still beautiful, she finally realized her ambition to act when she got the leading role in

Ronald Firbank Arthur Annesley Ronald Firbank (17 January 1886 – 21 May 1926) was an innovative English novelist. His eight short novels, partly inspired by the London aesthetes of the 1890s, especially Oscar Wilde, consist largely of dialogue, with referen ...

's play ''The Princess Zoubaroff'' at Dhurjati Chaudhury's Irving Theatre Club, on Irving Street, off

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised town square, square in the West End of London, England, and is the centre of London's entertainment district. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leice ...

, London. Neville Phillips reported “the role of the Princess was played by the always newsworthy, once ravishing now ravaged, oft arrested society blonde

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

drug addict, Brenda Dean Paul, who, owing to her addiction, was not able to do all the performances, giving the ones she could manage the extra frisson of wondering if the police might burst in at any moment and make an on-stage arrest.”''The Stage Struck Me! A Sort of Memoir'' (Leicester: Matador, 2008), p. 243.

Last years and death

In 1957, she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

with a parcel of

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

in her possession. She died in London on 26 July 1959, aged 52.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean Paul, Brenda 1907 births 1959 deaths 20th-century English actresses 20th-century English LGBTQ people 20th-century English memoirists 20th-century English women writers 20th-century Roman Catholics Actresses from London People from Kensington British lesbian actresses British women memoirists Daughters of baronets Drug-related deaths in England English people of Polish-Jewish descent English prisoners and detainees English silent film actresses English socialites LGBTQ people from London Actors from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea