The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing
The story of Evelyn Nesbit was the subject of popular media throughout her life. The book, musical and movie Ragtime was based loosely based on her life. A major motion picture was made starring Joan Collins and Ray Milland entitled: The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing available on YOUTUBE. She was also the model for Anne of Green Gables (see photos below).
The Gilded Age in America was a time of great political corruption, wealth inequality and loosening of Victorian Age morals in the late 1800s. No one person embodied all that the Gilded Age promised more than Evelyn Nesbit, a willowy, copper-haired beauty from Philadelphia. Arguably, she was the world’s first ever supermodel. Before she was out of her teens, Evelyn was the most sought-after artist and fashion model in NYC.
She was the original “it” girl, the model for the Gibson Girl and her haunting face graced the packaging of almost every commercial product of the age. She rubbed elbows with the rich and famous and even had time to have a tryst with John Barrymore. Her life was turbulent and eventful, but her fame peaked when she became embroiled in a murder.
She was an innocent Mormon girl. He was America's most notorious serial killer. When their paths crossed on a quiet autumn afternoon, he planned to kill her. But this victim had an incredible will to survive and would live to tell her story nearly three decades after he met death in a Florida electric chair.
Ted Bundy brutally attacked Rhonda Stapley in a secluded Utah canyon in 1974. She miraculously escaped and hid her dark secret until now. This compelling real story of triumph over tragedy is both shocking and inspiring and told with the true courage of a victim turned survivor.
It was my honor to sit down with Rhonda as she bravely recounted her attack and her road to recovering her life. I think you will be as moved by her story as I was.
