The Lady Chablis Has Passed Away

The first transgender star, The Lady Chablis, who was an unlikely celebrity because of her role in Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil has died.

Her sister, Cynthia Ponder, confirmed that Lady Chablis died Thursday at Candler Hospital at the age of 59-years-old. Chablis has been battling pneumonia for a month according to a close friend, Cale Hall.

The author of Midnight  - John Berendt had a style – Southern Gothic – that made the nonfiction “murder-and-mischief” modern and put Savannah’s character in the spotlight. The pop-culture realm was where the blunt and sassy Chablis rose to fame and took the book's popularity to another level.

She paved the way for many transgender performers and left a legacy that was true to her own values and beliefs – love and respect yourself first and others will follow. Although the book had a bunch of quirky characters, from a voodoo priestess to a well-versed piano player, Chablis was the most popular.

The Lady Chablis was born into the name Benjamin Edward Knox, but legally changed it around the same time the Midnight movie came out. The masculine name Benjamin is taken from the Hebrew name Binyamin that means “son of the right hand” or “son of the south”. This meaning is just not suitable for the transgender star the Lady Chablis. However, by using the name of a French wine - The Lady Chablis has a feminine ring to it that seems to be fitting for the transgender performer.