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.
Category: WILDCARDS
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Bubble (2012 – 2013)
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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. -
Lady Docker (Norah Docker, née Norah Turner and also Norah Callingham and Lady Collins, 1905 – 1983)
Thrice married Norah Docker lived life to the full and did it in style. (more…) -
Beverly Cohen
Co-owner of the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills with her husband R. J., Cohen is of surprisingly humble origins. She grew up on a chicken farm in Cleveland, Ohio but moved to LA with her divorced mother aged 13 when she opened a Kosher chicken killing plant on Santa Monica Boulevard. This hardworking lady now instead hosts the likes of Rod Stewart, John Tavolta, Quentin Tarrantino, Mel Gibson, Britney Spears and Ryan Seacrest. On an occasion Matthew McConaughey has even been known to park his Airstream on the front lot to barbeque steak for passersby. -
Patricia Kluge (née Rose)
The rise and fall of the “wealthiest divorcee in history” has been extraordinary. A former nude model for her first husband’s Knave magazine and star of adult films such as “The Nine Acres of Nakedness,” Patricia Kluge is the daughter of an Englishman and a Scots-Iraqi. She married her second husband, the late John Kluge, chairman of Metromedia and once the richest man in America, in 1981 after belly dancing for him at a dinner party in New York. As part of her plan to dovetail herself into the top drawer of American society, the couple built a 24,000 square foot mock 18th century English-style mansion, Albermarle, in Virginia and stuffed it full of Chippendale furniture. She got this as part of her $100 million divorce settlement in 1990 and wisely invested part of the payoff in a highly successful business trading football cards but then vanity struck. The Kluge Estate Winery project that she started with her third husband, William Moses, bankrupted the pair in June 2011 and the Bank of America foreclosed on her properties. A lifeline came from “longtime friend” Donald Trump who purchased the vineyard and employed her, but even he’s now uttered the words: “You’re fired!” and sent her packing. Of her newfound predicament Kluge commented: “What did we lose? Material things, nothing too important. When something like this happens you really see who your friends are, those you can rely on, and we have many friends.” Here is a lady with fortitude that can only be described as admirable. It’s probably best, however, to keep her away from the cash register. -
Charmian Brent (better known as Charmian Biggs)
In the autumn of 2012, an ITV1 series, Mrs Biggs, dramatised the life story of this headmaster’s daughter from Reigate, Surrey. In it, Sheridan Smith (pictured here with the real Mrs Biggs) portrayed a lady of steely reserve who is intelligent, articulate and courageous. The former wife of the Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs has now built a new life for herself in Melbourne, Australia as an editor, publisher and journalist and on crime, her views are simple: “[It] doesn’t pay in any way, shape or form.” -
David Nalbandian
This aggressive Argentinean is truly the Joey Barton of tennis. Kicking a panel in the 2012 Queen’s final resulted in a linesman being injured and him being disqualified. He’s neither a McEnroe nor a Becker in the making. -
April Ashley MBE (born Toni Jamieson)
This Liverpudlian sex-swap pioneer was the first British person to be outed as a transsexual in 1961. Ashley endured electric shock treatment and painful surgery but this didn’t stop her becoming a successful fashion model who appeared in such titles as Vogue. A marriage to the Hon. Arthur Corbett was brief but alleged affairs with Michael Hutchene, Sir Peter O’Toole, Grayson Perry and Omar Sharif are well documented. A true wildcard, Ashley now spends her time campaigning for social equality and lives in Fulham. -
Scott Disick
This reality television star commented of himself: “I may be a douche to some people, but I actually do run companies. I make a lot of money, and I’m more than capable of supporting myself.” The father of a child by Kourtney Kardashian, Disick owns a restaurant in New York’s Meatpacking District, generally sports Tod’s and boasts an extensive car collection. Sadly one is chrome wrapped.