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Caroline Cossey (born 31 August 1954[2]) is a British model and actress who often worked under the name Tula, which she also used for two memoirs. She appeared in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only as an extra. Following her appearance in the film, she was outed as transgender by British tabloid News of the World. In 1991, she became the first trans woman to pose for Playboy.[3] Cossey has since then fought for her right to legally marry and be legally recognised as a woman.
Caroline Cossey | |
|---|---|
| Born | Barry Kenneth Cossey 31 August 1954 Brooke, Norfolk, England |
| Other names | Tula |
| Spouses | Elias Fattal
(m. 1989; annul. 1989)David Finch (m. 1992) |
| Modelling information | |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1] |
| Hair colour | Brown |
| Eye colour | Green |
Early life and transition
Cossey was born in Brooke, Norfolk and assigned male at birth. Through puberty, Cossey was distinctly feminine in appearance due to an intersex variation of XXXY syndrome (which she was unaware of until adulthood).[1][4] In Cossey's autobiography My Story, she describes an unhappy childhood, where she suffered confusing feelings and bullying by peers due to her femininity.[4] Growing up, Cossey's closest companion was her sister, Pam, with whom she played dress-up in their mother's clothes.[1] Cossey left formal schooling when she was fifteen and found work in a clothing store and as a butcher's apprentice. At sixteen, she moved to London and worked at a variety of low-wage jobs.[4]
Cossey started transitioning while working as an usherette in London's West End.[4] By seventeen, Cossey was receiving hormone therapy and working full-time as a showgirl.[4] Following her breast augmentation surgery, Cossey worked as a showgirl in Paris and as a topless dancer in Rome, so she could save money for her sex reassignment surgery. After years of hormone therapy, Cossey had her final surgery on December 31, 1974, at Charing Cross Hospital, London.[1] Doctors discovered her XXXY syndrome during pre-surgery testing, at age 20.[1][4]
Modelling career
Cossey began an active social life as a woman, concealing her transition.[4] Asked about her dating life, Cossey replied, "I'm afraid I went a little wild."[1] She told tabloids she had a romance with the television presenter Des Lynam, though Lynam says he does not recall it.[5] Lynam however mentions going on dates with her in his autobiography. Cossey worked as a model under the name "Tula". She appeared in top magazines such as Australian Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, and worked extensively as a glamour model. She was a Page Three Girl for the British tabloid The Sun and appeared in Playboy in 1991.[4]
In 1978, Cossey won a part on the game show 3-2-1. A tabloid journalist then contacted her, revealing he had discovered she was transgender, and planned to write about it. Other journalists researched her past, attempting to interview her family members. Cossey dropped out of the show, convincing the producers to release her from her contract. After this incident, Cossey purposefully maintained a lower profile, accepting only smaller assignments.[4]
Outing by the tabloid press
Cossey was cast as an extra in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only.[6] Shortly after the film's release, the tabloid News of the World came out with a front-page headline "James Bond Girl Was a Boy". By her own accounts, Cossey was so upset she contemplated suicide. However, she continued her modelling career by focusing, once again, on smaller assignments.[4] Cossey then responded by releasing I Am a Woman, which was her first autobiography.[7]
Continued career and legal battle
In 1985, Cossey appeared extensively in the video for The Power Station's "Some Like It Hot", while also appearing in the band's video for "Get It On".
On 27 September 1990, the European Court of Human Rights overturned its prior decision,[further explanation needed] following a British government appeal.[1] Subsequently, the right of transgender people in the United Kingdom to change their legal sex would not be granted until the Gender Recognition Act 2004. Following this and her annulment, Cossey returned to modelling, which she had given up four years earlier.[1]
She was featured in the September 1991 issue of Playboy in the pictorial "The Transformation of Tula", as an acknowledged transgender person.[8]
Autobiography
In 1991, Cossey released My Story, which was her second and final autobiography. In it she gave details of her transition, her relationship with Fattal, and her unsuccessful battle with the European Court of Human Rights.
Relationships
Cossey became engaged to Count Glauco Lasinio, an Italian advertising executive, who was the first man to date her knowing of her past. He encouraged her to petition for changes in the British law concerning transsexuals. The engagement ended, but her legal efforts continued for seven years, eventually reaching the European Court of Human Rights.[1][9]
After breaking up with Lasinio, Cossey met Elias Fattal, a businessman, who was unaware of her history until he proposed marriage on St. Valentine's Day 1988. When she told him, rather than rejecting her, Fattal merely asked if she would convert to Judaism. She agreed.[1] They were married on 21 May 1989, which was weeks after the European Court of Human Rights decided legally to recognise Tula as a woman. They returned from their honeymoon to find that the News of the World had published a story on their wedding, which led Fattal to seek an annulment.
In 1992, Cossey married Canadian engineering student David Finch.[10][11]
Cossey published two autobiographies during her lifetime, and these include the following:
- Caroline Cossey (1982). I Am a Woman. Sphere. ISBN 0-7221-0583-5.
- Caroline Cossey (1991). My Story. Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-16251-7.
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