Actress Phyllis Gordon with her tame cheetah

This arresting black‑and‑white image captures American stage and silent‑film actress Phyllis Gordon promenading along a London pavement with a full‑grown cheetah on a leash. Clad in a swirling silk dress and draped in a fur stole, Gordon pauses beside a grocer’s window, her exotic companion gazing calmly at the display of bananas and bottled goods. The elegant shopfront and passers‑by in the background freeze a startling collision of West End glamour and untamed wildlife.

Historical Context
On the eve of World War II, London still basked in the glow of interwar celebrity culture and colonial enthusiasm for exotic fauna. Phyllis Gordon—already famed for bringing lions and leopards to New York theatre premieres—became a press sensation in 1939 by walking her tame cheetah through the West End. Such stunts tapped into both the public’s fascination with “African” wildlife and the burgeoning power of glamour publicity, even as Europe teetered on the brink of conflict.

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