Their story is a modern day equivalent of that of Romeo and Juliet and Vanity Fair chronicled their deaths as The Golden Suicides. “Handsome” Blake, a digital artist and painter who worked with Malcolm McLaren and Fox Searchlight, and “sexy” Duncan, a writer, game designer and filmmaker best known for the “girl-centric” game Chop Suey, were the toast of New York but became obsessed with those they felt threatened them and their works. Personally wounded by a rejection from the post-modern rocker Beck to work with her on making a film out of one of her scripts, Duncan blamed his church, the Church of Scientology, and stated: “They are furious because he valued our way of life far more than Celebrity Center sex trash”. As more rejections came, this talented pair who “supported one another totally” became more and more irrational and in July 2007, a week apart, both committed suicide.
Category: CREATIVES
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Jeremy Blake and Theresa Duncan (1971 – 2007 and 1966 – 2007)
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Josh Henderson
This Texan actor and singer is a rising star who first found fame in Desperate Housewives before taking a lead role in the TNT revival of Dallas. Henderson is heterochromatic and has one green eye and one blue eye. He lists his style icons as James Franco and Ryan Gosling and of them states: “I take a lot of my fashion tips from those two. In my opinion, they’re the ones getting it right”. -
Michelle Dockery
This Golden Globe and Emmy nominated actress came to prominence as Downton Abbey’s Lady Mary Crawley in September 2010 and is now considered “one of the most chattered-about women on television”. Born in Romford, Essex, Dockery has also appeared in television series’ including Heartbeat and Dalziel and Pascoe and films such as Anna Karenina with Jude Law and Keira Knightley. Of her future ambitions, she states: “I love singing live, actually. And I’m dying to sing in a role, whether it’s in a musical or a biographical film about a singer. It’s always been one of my aspirations”. In the meantime, the nation will continue to celebrate watching this rising talent as she morphs into Downton’s merry widow. -
Alex Preston
This talented Oxford educated author is a former credit derivatives trader who is now regular on BBC2’s The Review Show. This Bleeding City, his first novel, was based on his own working experiences and analyses how the financial crash could be seen as “our subconscious revenge, our way of bringing down the system that had ensnared us”. His second, The Revelations, was described by A. N. Wilson as a “strange and compulsively readable tale of City slickers seduced by a promise of spiritual awakening”. He predicts a bleak future for financiers in suggesting that we are still in the midst of “a crisis that will take more than a few bankers paying back their bonuses to solve”. -
Petula Clark CBE
A singer, actress and composer who has been a star all her life. Brought up in Epsom, Surrey and best known for Downtown, Petula Clark surprisingly made her radio debut aged just 9 and appeared at the Royal Albert Hall when she was only 11. She now lives between Switzerland and Chelsea and can occasionally be spotted at La Brasserie in Brompton Cross. A lady of simple tastes, Clark modestly states: “The stretch limo with the blackout windows and the bodyguards are fun, but I prefer going out alone with just my bus fare in my pocket and catching a number 19 bus. The scenery’s the same whatever form of transport you’re using”. A Facebook page was created in 2012 as part of a campaign to make this legend a Dame. We back it with enthusiasm. -
Norman Balon
“London’s rudest landlord” enjoyed causing offence more than anything else. Following on from his father’s purchase of the lease of Soho’s The Coach & Horses pub in 1943 Norman “You’re Barred” Balon worked there and then later, as landlord, presided over “prostitutes, gays, lesbians and a bit of the theatre community”. When a visiting rugby player asked for a Snakebite, his response was: “We don’t do cocktails here. Get out!” A Sikh customer was asked: “You’re not a fackin’ Muslim are you?” When he answered no, the bombastic landlord answered: “All right, you can stay then”. Balon states he chose to retire in 2006 “because all my customers are my age and one by one they’re dropping off their bar stools” before concluding that he hoped more of them would die abroad as then he’d be able to avoid “the cheap shit they serve at wakes”. The hospitality industry (sadly) doesn’t allow for the existence of characters like this anymore.
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Bubble (2012 – 2013)
His life was short but he brought joy throughout it and wherever he went. He looked like Colonel Gadaffi, loved the voice of Radio 4’s Jenni Murray and was particularly partial to a visit to Chelsea’s Sette restaurant. He even liked travelling by bus. This boisterous Standard Poodle will be greatly missed. -
Morena Baccarin
She’s come to prominence as Homeland’s Jessica Brody but this Brazilian born actress has also appeared in Stargate, The O.C. and The Mentalist. Married to the director Austin Chick, when asked of her career wishes, Baccarin confidently responded: “I would love to be a Bond girl. That is on my bucket list, definitely”. -
Dr. Vanessa Neumann
This talented analyst and writer specialises in “Latin America, terrorism, oil, US foreign policy, global security, transnational criminal organisations, the Middle East and asymmetric warfare.” The British press nicknamed Neumann the “Cracker from Caracas” when news of a relationship with Mick Jagger surfaced and the epithet has stuck. Combining intellectual might with glamour, this jetsetter is as likely to be found on Mustique or in 5 Hertford Street as she is in her post as senior fellow at Philadelphia’s Foreign Policy Research Institute. -
Martin Miller (1946 – 2013)
The undisputed king of gin. Martin Miller didn’t like the gins he tried and so created his own, Martin Miller’s Gin. It is wonderful. This father of five and husband of Ioana Beju was also the genius behind Miller’s Antiques Guides and a brilliant hotelier. He enjoyed life to the full in true Dickensian style and truly knew how to put on a party.