MARY GARDEN FACTFILE

● She made 30 gramaphone records between 1903 and 1929.

● Long before Beyonce, she had her own “celebrity fragrance”. In an advert for her own brand of perfume, it was suggested that Mary Garden could be the “reincarnation of Cleopatra” due to her “intelligence and beauty”.

● She starred in two silent movies produced by industry luminary Sam Goldwyn.

● When she toured America’s east coast she had her own private train with 11 members of staff, including a security guard for her jewellery!

● She is thought to have boarded one of the final flights from Paris as war raged in 1940.

● She died in Daviot Hospital, near Oldmeldrum.

● Fewer than 50 people attended her cremation.

● 2012 Billy Connolly comedy Quartet contains a reference to her, when it is suggested a new arrival to the film’s fictional showbiz retirement home could be Mary Garden.