|
|
Carlos Gardel with Sadie Wakefield (left) and Charles Chaplin (right) in Nice in April 1931 In Nice, Gardel performed to the rich elite at the luxurious Le Palais de la Méditerranée. Accompanying Gardel and Chaplin on the left is Sadie Wakefield, whose Russian born Jewish father Bernhard Baron, owned the Carreras tobacco company, the most famous brand being "Craven A" cigarrettes. Her husband was an American industrialist, George T. Wakefield. Sadie was neither a baroness, nor a widow, as the Argentine press erroneously and continuously reported. She died near New York in November of 1942. She was 62. Sadie Wakefield admired Gardel and protected him in every sense. It was she who invited him to visit her in Paris and knowing he was not rich, she paid all the expenses for him and his accompanists. Carlitos had many debts and Madame Wakefield with selflessness and patronage love helped him to pay them. She was instrumental in financing one of Gardel's first films - Buenos Aires City Lights (Luces de Buenos Aires) - with a title very similar to Chaplin's movie (City Lights). |
