A new book has provided a fascinating insight into the life of the 500-pound circus performer dubbed ‘World’s Most Beautiful Fat Lady’ – who lost a whopping 200 pounds and rebranded herself as a diet guru after suffering a near-fatal heart attack.
Therese Oneill’s Unbecoming A Lady, released earlier this week, provides a glimpse into C’s whirlwind journeyElesta Geyer dropped out of school at the age of 16 after being mercilessly tormented by her peers because of her weight.
She bounced around from job to job – including factory worker and beautician – before finally deciding to embrace her size and tour with the circus.
The artist, from Cincinnati, Ohio, adopted the stage name Dolly Dimple and made a fortune cashing in on her claim to be the world’s most beautiful fat lady.
Celesta Geyer, dubbed “the world’s most beautiful fat lady,” lost a whopping 200 pounds and changed her name to diet guru after suffering a near-fatal heart attack
She had such a passion for life that she soon started new ventures and tried to become a psychic before finally deciding to turn her life around.
At the age of 50, CStanding just four feet tall, Elesta weighed a whopping 555 pounds, but began to see firsthand the devastation that being so overweight could cause: losing her sister-in-law and mentor in quick succession due to weight-related health issues.
As resulthe lost no less than 200 kg in just over a year and ended up in the Guinness World Book of Records.
Celesta was eventually able to maintain her weight and so was she became a diet guru – and also a talk show celebrity – before she died in 1982 at the age of 81.
Celesta left school after being tormented by her peers and looked for a permanent job, but was deemed too fat even to work on a telephone exchange
Celesta had developed an unhealthy relationship with food from a young age after going to her father’s popular German pub almost every day, where she was “rewarded for her cuteness with food.”
She started school at the age of six, but soon discovered that having a plus size in a classroom was not easy excluded both physically and emotionally.
Celesta, who was already overweight at the time, was she had to undergo humiliating special measures to accommodate her height, including having to sit at the front of each classroom with an extended desk.
It meant that she was constantly in everyone’s sight and that she was tormented and tortured ‘all day long’ by students and teachers alike.
At the age of 16, the youngster had had enough and decided to quit school in an attempt to find a permanent job instead.
Celesta developed an unhealthy relationship with food from a young age after going to her father’s popular pub almost every day, where she was ‘rewarded with food for her cuteness’
She got a low-level job in a factory, which was a common calling for young girls of that time. packaging products such as soap and chocolate.
Celesta had tried to answer worked at a switchboard but was turned away after being told that at 255 pounds she would not be able to fit on the stool.
But despite the scathing feedback, she was was not deterred and set out to start her own business in Miami.
There she became a beautician and make-up model – with great success.
“Her face was very large, but very beautiful, and the cosmetics sellers thought her size emphasized how their products could flatter,” the book reads.
It was during this time that she learned to let her hair down and tap into her wild side – dating prostitutes and ‘bad boys’, attending fancy dress balls and going on joyrides.
Celesta later met a man called Frank and fell in love, and although she had initially been ‘suspicious’ as to ‘why he married a 300-pound pariah’, the couple were happily married until his death in 1967.
During the Great Depression, and as the couple’s finances dwindled, they attended a nearly empty carnival – and the day trip would change their lives forever.
The great performer made a fortune as circus ‘Fat Lady’ after rising to £500
Celesta had a hard time in the outside world since then: ‘Every time she left her house, she had to be prepared for an onslaught of snickers, glares, and shouted insults.
‘It wasn’t worth it. She stayed put and grew bigger.”
But it was her trip to the circus with Frank that would completely change her outlook.
A worker outside the existing ‘Fat Lady’ tent called out to her as she walked by and Celesta wrote: ‘My heart sank and my heart sank…but I held myself and when we were within a few feet of each other, I told him I shouted, “You want to see a real fat lady weighing 338 pounds? I bet I’m a lot fatter than the one you have.”
The couple went in and were introduced to Jolly Pearl Stanley, who weighed 350 pounds, and she eventually became Celesta’s mentor.
Jolly Pearl said that if people are already making fun of her, Celesta might as well get paid for it – and that’s exactly what she did.
Celesta had been having a hard time in the outside world since: ‘Every time she left her house, she had to be prepared for an onslaught of snickers, stares and shouted insults’
She adopted the stage name Dolly Dimples and was branded as the world’s most beautiful fat lady
Celesta adopted the stage name Dolly Dimple and was just that branded as the world’s most beautiful fat lady.
She danced and sang on stage in a series of striking satin costumes – with her performances providing a gateway to a much more lavish lifestyle.
The couple’s finances were in shambles during the Great Depression, but her newfound prominence at the center of the Carnival community led them to tour Hawaii and drive around in private Pullman cars.
By the time Celesta, who stood just four feet tall, was in her forties, she weighed about 500 pounds—and she was once again looking for a new venture.
She and Frank bought a gas station in Florida before Celesta started working as a psychic – under the guidance of Madame Celeste.
‘Celesta didn’t believe she was psychic. But she had developed a useful skill often found in people who live lives wary of the harm of others. Empathy. The ability to read people,” the book revealed.
She was inundated with clients seeking answers to a range of problems – from help choosing winning lottery numbers to healing sick children.
Celesta’s personal life was marred by tragedy when her ‘fat friends kept dying’ – giving her the push she needed to shed the pounds
“Celesta had discovered how to thrive as a fat lady. But that didn’t change the fact that her fat friends kept dying. Even if you try not to be fat,” the book says.
The entrepreneur, along with her sister-in-law, had started taking diet pills described as “military-grade methamphetamine.”
Both women lost weight, but her sister-in-law, who was relatively slim at the time of her death, ended up with two burst heart valves.
Celesta quit and barely survived the kidney failure that she initially dismissed as fluid retention.
Celesta Alter went on a mission to completely change her body shape and regain her health – she lost a whopping 440 pounds in just over a year
She avoided the pills she had previously taken and instead limited her diet to just 800 calories per day
Elsewhere, mentor Jolly Pearl, unable to move without assistance, suffered a fatal heart attack during one of her performances.
And the circumstances surrounding her funeral were “humiliating.”
Jolly Pearl was buried in a “rough wooden coffin” – as no traditional coffin could comfortably accommodate her size – and she was driven to her grave on the back of a flat-bottomed truck.
The trauma had already panicked Celesta, but at the age of 50, weighing a whopping 500 pounds, she also suffered a heart attack.
In light of her impressive overhaul, Celesta took on yet another professional guise: this time as a diet guru and talk show celebrity
She survived, but the doctors told her she could go on a diet or she could die. Those were her choices.”
Celesta immediately went on a mission to completely change her body shape and restore her health.
She lost a whopping 440 pounds in just over a year — and even earned a spot in the Guinness World Book of Records for the feat.
She avoided the pills she had previously taken and instead rlimited her diet to just 800 calories per day.
‘It was horrible. She was hurting, she felt starved and she was depressed.
‘But she did it. And the depression lifted, the cravings were controlled, and she didn’t gain the weight again. Ever,” the book said.
In light of her impressive overhaul, Celesta took on yet another professional guise — this time as a diet guru and talk show celebrity, where she presented her proven calorie-restricting diet.
She died at the age of 81, weighing 121 pounds.