The Queen and every American ambassador to Britain have dined at Rankin’s Bruton Place restaurant, Bellamy’s, since it opened in 2004 and of it A.A. Gill commented: “You could eat here once a week for the rest of your life”. More recently, this suave gentleman host has established Gavin Rankin Fine Art and deals in fine vintage posters. He learnt his art from none other than Mark Birley.
Category: CHARACTERS
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Gavin Rankin
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Marina Oswald Porter (born Marina Nikolayevna Prusakova, Russian: Марина Николаевна Прусакова)
Russian born and the wife of John F. Kennedy’s killer, Oswald Porter met Lee Harvey Oswald when he defected to the Soviet Union in 1961. The couple settled in Dallas, Texas in 1962 and after the murder, she married her neighbour Kenneth Porter in 1965. Helena Bomham Carter played her in the 1993 television film Fatal Deception: Mrs Lee Harvey Oswald and in 2013, on the fiftieth anniversary of the shooting, the understandably reclusive Oswald Porter sold her first husband’s wedding ring for £68,000 at auction. The lot was accompanied by a letter that stated: “This is the only item of Lee’s that has been returned to me, and it took almost 50 years… I’m remarried for many years now, raised my children and have been blessed with grandchildren… At this time of my life I don’t wish to have Lee’s ring in my possession because symbolically, I want to let go of my past that is connecting with Nov. 22, 1963”. -
Elena Salvoni (1920 – 2016)
This Clerkenwell born stalwart ran a Fitzrovia restaurant named after her until she turned 90 but was cruelly ejected by Corus Hotels. (more…) -
Sultan Kösen
A Turkish farmer, Kösen became the world’s tallest man in 2009 at 8’3” and also holds the record for the largest hands at 27.5cm and the largest foot at 36.5cm. He married in October 2013 and stated: “How unfortunate I could not find a suitable girl of my own size”. All he wants now is “a car big enough” to fit into. -
Boaty Boatwright (also known as Boaty Boatwright Baker)
This New York based casting director and talent agent has worked on The Man Who Would Be King, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, To Kill A Mockingbird and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Gore Vidal was a “great friend” and Michael Caine once described Boatwright’s Sunday lunch parties as “most interesting”. Hers is considered “one of the most fabulous names in showbiz”. -
Cedric Robinson MBE
The 25th individual since 1548 to be The Queen’s Guide to the Sands, Robinson is the royally appointed guide who has assisted thousands cross Morecambe Bay since 1963. Appointed by the Duchy of Lancaster, Robinson has written three books about his unpaid role and once stated: “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else”. -
Oliver Newton
This London based antiques expert has a captivating enthusiasm for silver and fine craftmanship. (more…) -
Don who's Donna at night
By day this Walton Street resident can be spotted drinking coffee and dressed quite conventionally. He is better known, however, for donning earrings and styling himself rather like the former Eastenders character Pat Butcher by night. His favoured watering hole was previously The Admiral Codrington but he hasn’t been seen there that often of late. -
Captain Pugwash (AKA ‘Captain’ Michael M. Maricic)
This old chap wanders the Fulham Road in a seafaring cap and claims to be a “restaurant consultant and promoter of new faces (models and actresses)”. He’s also “writing a biography that will be fascinating to read” and is “recognised by the late Honourable president [sic] of the United States Roland [sic] Regan”. Bonkers. -
Peter Grace OBE (1938 – 2013)
Grace by name and graceful by nature, New Zealander Peter Grace was one of the greatest men in polo and the owner of the Ascot Park Polo Club. (more…)