Chrystabel Jane Leighton-Porter (née Drewry; 11 April 1913 – 6 December 2000) was the model for the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' newspaper cartoon heroine '' Jane'' which boosted morale during the Blitz.

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

suggested that Jane was "Britain's secret weapon".

Early life

Born Chrystabel Jane Drewry in

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the United Kingdom 2011 census, 2011 census. The town ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

in April 1913, she had an older twin, Sylvia, and was the youngest of eleven children of whom three died young. Her modelling started after she left school when she moved to London to live with her sister and earned a living posing for life classes. In 1934, she married pilot Arthur Leighton-Porter. Later during her time as 'Jane' the fact she was married became a carefully guarded secret as Leighton-Porter believed her fans thought of her as their girlfriend, and that she must always remain single in their eyes.

Jane

The ''

'' cartoonist

Norman Pett Norman Pett (12 April 1891 – 16 February 1960) was an English artist who, in 1932, created the famous cartoon character '' Jane'' for the ''Daily Mirror''. Early life Pett was born on 12 April 1891 in Kings Norton, Worcestershire. After be ...

had been drawing a weekly cartoon since 1932 which he called ''Jane's Journal – The Diary of A Bright Young Thing''. Pett's original model was his wife, but he replaced her with Chrystabel in 1940. In 1944, when Jane first appeared nude in the cartoon, she was credited with 'inspiring' the 36th Division to advance six miles into

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. In 1948, Pett's assistant Michael Hubbard took over the Jane cartoons. Chrystabel Leighton-Porter began a

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

striptease-act based on the Jane character which toured army bases around the country. She won the title of "Britain's Perfect Girl" at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many wit ...

and was signed up by theatrical agent

Lew Grade Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a Ukrainian-born British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production ...

which led to her starring in the film '' The Adventures of Jane'' in 1949. It was released on DVD in April 2008. "Jane" received many letters from servicemen proposing marriage (62 in just one week) and Chrystabel was careful to hide the fact that she had already secretly married Arthur Leighton-Porter, a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

pilot, before the outbreak of the war. Hubbard continued to develop the cartoons' storyline until 1959, when he gave Jane a happy marriage and ended the series.

Later life

In 1952 Leighton-Porter gave birth to a

stillborn Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can often result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. T ...

baby boy, and then in 1955 suffered another loss of a baby girl named Jane who lived for just fourteen hours. In 1957 the couple had a son Simon, who grew up to be a writer. In the fifties, she worked for theatre impresario Paul Raymond in such shows as the Festival of Strip-tease (1958). In the early-1960s Leighton-Porter moved to

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

and then to

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

where she centred her activities around her son Simon (who later followed his father into the RAF) and was a fundraiser for several charities. She was also active in her local Conservative Party association. In the 1980s a BBC television adaptation was made of "Jane", starring

Glynis Barber Glynis Barber (born Glynis van der Riet; 25 October 1955) is a South African born British actress. She is known for her portrayals of Sgt. Harriet Makepeace in the British police drama ''Dempsey and Makepeace'', Glenda Mitchell in ''EastEnders ...

. In her later years, Leighton-Porter made regular appearances at wartime reunions. In 1993, the

Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...

exhibition ''Forces Sweethearts'' included her 1940s frilly knickers. She died on 6 December 2000 aged 87. Arthur died in January 2002.

References

*Saunders, Andy (2004) ''Jane, a Pin Up at War''. Barnsley: Leo Cooper . * " Jane" film. 1943. British Pathe. * " Jane and Pett " film. 1945. British Pathe. * " Cartoons and Cartoonists" film, 1956. Produced by Harold Baim.

External links

Norman Pett Video featuring Christabel Leighton-Porter

The original GI Jane
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leighton-Porter, Chrystabel 1913 births 2000 deaths British erotic dancers Conservative Party (UK) people English female models People from Eastleigh English twins Models from Hampshire