Yorkshire born and twice divorced, Wilton is the niece of actor Bill Travers. She’s performed widely but truly came to fame when she appeared alongside Richard Briers in the BBC’s Ever Decreasing Circles in 1984. As Rosemary in Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads 2 and as Mrs Bibby in his The History Boys, she was brilliant but it is as Isobel Crawley in Julian Fellowes’ Downton Abbey that she is now best known. Wilton has most definitely got playing middle-class down to a tee and once commented: “I find talking about acting very boring, having to come out with platitudes about how terribly nice everyone is… I would much rather just do it”.
Category: CREATIVES
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Penelope Wilton OBE
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The Most Hon the Marquess of Bath
Polygamous Lord Bath is as famed for his “wifelets” as he is for his erotically styled paintings. A prolific writer, this peer passed the management of his Longleat estate to his heir, Ceawlin Thynn, Viscount Weymouth, in 2010. The pair subsequently fell out and in April 2013, Lord Bath stated: “I don’t feel inclined to pay any interest in his wedding” after his son removed many of his murals from the Elizabethan mansion they share. -
Vito Schnabel
This New Yorker is the son of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly filmmaker Julian Schnabel and curated his first exhibition aged 16. Vito Schnabel dated Demi Moore at the age of 26 and though that relationship ended in December 2012 supposedly because Schnabel didn’t like the intrusion of the paparazzi he subsequently took up with Heidi Klum. In February 2013, he again hit the press when he organised a group exhibition entitled “White Collar Crimes”. Naturally, amongst those featured at the show in Acquavella Galleries was an image of Ruth Madoff. Aside from art, Vito Schnabel wants to make a movie “one day” and worked with Jeff Zalaznick, Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone on the launch of the Italian-American Carbonne restaurant in Greenwich Village. -
Judy Joo
This brilliantly named American started out in banking at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, but gave it up to become an “Iron Chef”. Having worked with Gordon Ramsay and at The French Laundry and The Fat Duck, she’s now executive of the Playboy Club London. Her Twitter handle states: “Everything is better with booze or bacon”. Bunnies beware. -
Richard Griffiths OBE (1947 – 2013)
Most recognised for having played Uncle Monty in Withnail and I and Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter films, this Yorkshireman truly was a larger than life actor. (more…) -
Anna Wintour OBE
Her Evening Standard editor father was known as “Chilly Charlie” and she’s become “Nuclear Wintour”. This New York based Brit states that she’s “lost count” of the number of times she’s been attacked by activists and once retaliated by sending anti-fur campaigners a plate of roast beef when they picketed her Condé Nast offices. In her youth, Wintour went to parties with the Daily Mail’s Nigel Dempster, dated older men and set her stall out clearly in the remark: “You either know fashion, or you don’t”. Now, this divorced trendsetter has morphed into a grande dame and hidden behind her sunglasses and a pageboy bob, this powerhouse of fashion truly does deserve the title: “Unofficial Mayoress of New York”. The Devil Wears Prada may have indeed been based on her, but the reality is far more salacious. -
Ben Howard
This singer-songwriter grew up in rural Devon but has become a “word-of-mouth” star and a “one-man One Direction”. This whisky loving Englishman cites his influences as Van Morison, Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel and won both BRIT Awards he was nominated for in 2013. He states that he “doesn’t really believe in fame” and nor is he into fashion either: “If I tried to be fashionable I’d look like a twat”. We like his style. -
Toby Flood
This level-headed “reluctant star” of English rugby grew up in Northumberland and describes himself as a “horse whisperer, ventriloquist, ladies swimwear model and soft play enthusiast” to his 50,000 followers on Twitter. He enjoys gardening, fishing and walking his black Labrador and eventually intends to become a lawyer. Whilst both of his grandfathers were actors, he has become an ambassador and model for the Eden Park fashion brand, official suppliers of formalwear to the RFU. His view on fame is simple: “I don’t want to be a celebrity or be on the front pages of the papers. I don’t want to be recognised. I just want to play rugby to the best of my ability and lead my own life away from the job”. His fans are rightly united in calling him a “great bloke”. -
Rachel Khoo
“Mademoiselle Khoo”, as she likes to be known, is a Paris based chef, writer and broadcaster. Bubbly and vivacious, she’s “seduced the French with Paris’ smallest restaurant” and charmed the Brits with her fresh and enthusiastic approach to all things edible. Watch out – her profile is rising faster than any soufflé. -
Justin Timberlake
This child star has morphed via a stint on the Disney Channel and in boy band ‘N Sync into an internationally known singer-songwriter, actor, record producer, dancer and businessman. (more…)