"Tales of Lydia's touring company, of "British Blondes," and such lurid episodes as her horsewhipping of a Chicago editor and her newspaper-invented romance with a Russian Grand Duke left her with an historical reputation as a bawdy burlesquer, but Kurt Ganzl shows she was nothing of the kind. Sweet, gentle and loving, she was an electrifying actress, a peerless dancer and charming singer with an unbeatable comedic sense and, above all, more star quality than the entire Milky Way put together.

From this biography, the reader will learn the whole-hitherto untold-story of this fascinating, musical theatre star: the truth, the whole truth about her theatrical triumphs and her tragic private life."--BOOK JACKET.