3.7 • 928 Ratings
🗓️ 17 August 2022
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
0:00.0 | House of lies. I'm Jason Horton. I'm Rebecca Leib. And this is Ghost Town. |
0:20.0 | In December 1911, the oceanic, not to be confused with the Titanic, which would sink in April 1912, arrived in New York. |
0:28.0 | The ship would bring decades of scandal, beginning with a famous vaudeville dancer named Andre Riella, who is returning from a trip to Paris. |
0:36.0 | But Riella wasn't alone. In Paris, he had fallen in love with a beguiling singer and actor 10 years his senior, named Antoinette Delielis. |
0:44.0 | The two had married, and Riella brought his new bride back to America. |
0:48.0 | There was drama with the new couple before the two even left the boat. Riella's Italian diplomat parents and sister were shocked and discussed it at the site of Delielis. |
0:57.0 | And caused commotion at the dock. Paparazzi immediately picked up on this flamboyant, dramatic interaction, and reported it to all the papers. |
1:06.0 | But the thing was, these people weren't Riella's family at all. They were actors paid to act like his family, for the tabloids. |
1:14.0 | Riella was a Philly fugitive, and Delielis herself, a French seamstress, turned struggling actor. From there, what was real and what was fake would converge, creating a tabloid power couple that were truly larger than life. |
1:26.0 | The two would have a strange and haunted legacy, with plenty of twists and turns along the way. |
1:31.0 | Today we're talking about the Sherry Castle, the culmination of the life and lies of Andre Riella and Antoinette Delielis. |
1:39.0 | Like I mentioned in 1911, young 18-year-old Andre Riella brings Antoinette Delielis back home with him and his fake parents are pissed. |
1:48.0 | Riella feeds the narrative to the press, also saying that his parents were strict and oppressive, and wants Riella to marry an American, someone they've already pre-selected, someone young, strategic, not some old woman, 28, from France. |
2:02.0 | Described a reporter from New York World of the very convincing Riella family of actors, quote, |
2:07.0 | The father frowned and looked with savage glances at the shrinking bride, his son, senior, and quite a mature and seasoned woman. |
2:14.0 | The mother was in hysterics. The bride began to cry, the groom embraced his love and dried her tears. |
2:20.0 | Reporters read these ships all the time, explains historian Lynn Borovsky, because things go on. |
2:25.0 | So they have this story of this young couple, Andre's parents are screaming he's too young for her, and just, it's just mayhem, it's great. |
2:33.0 | The two are already in the news for the age gap, the dramatic announcement of their marriage, and deeply upsetting their parents. |
2:40.0 | This media bump really got Riella and Delielis high profile life in America off to a great start. |
2:46.0 | After that, Riella moves his new bride into a Midtown Manhattan apartment, and the holidays have arrived, which means more time for scandal. |
2:54.0 | Riella tells a reporter that he brought his bride home to celebrate the holidays with his family, and it did not go well. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jason Horton & Rebecca Leib, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Jason Horton & Rebecca Leib and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.