The Steeple Times

Tag: 2000s

  • An Agusta Ape

    An Agusta Ape

    1978 Piaggio Ape ‘limousine’ used by the controversial Countess Agusta – a woman who either fell or was pushed to her death from her home above Portofino in 2001 – to be auctioned

    On 8th January 2001, “shop assistant turned model turned multi-millionairess many times over turned fugitive” (via a stretch in what American’s so pleasantly term ‘pokey’) Countess Francesca Vacca Agusta “disappeared” from the terrace of her Ligurian seaside home. The series of events that preceded and followed could have featured in an Agatha Christie novel or a Sherlock Holmes story.

     

    Situated dominant above the “requisite stop for billionaires” that is Portofino – a colourfully painted former fishing village now peppered with Salvatore Ferragamo and Louis Vuitton stores – Villa Altachiara became the residence of the “embodiment of La Dolce Vita” Francesca Graffagni after she met the “helicopter entrepreneur” Count Corradino Agusta in the 1960s.

     

    Graffagni saw off the business tycoon’s first wife, Pupetta Maresca, after a torrid affair and following their marriage in 1974, amongst other things, became chatelaine of a 40-room property complete with a helipad. It had been built in 1870 by George Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon – whose death was attributed by amongst others Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the “curse of King Tut” – as his holiday home and during the 1970s and 1980s guests to “jet-set parties” given at the house by the socialite Countess were ferried back and forth from their dock in Portofino harbour in a custom built 1978 Piaggio Ape coachbuilt ‘limousine.’ This vehicle, described as a “perfect yacht tender” with its opulently patterned interior and passenger-driver intercom, is now for sale.

     

    An Agusta Ape – £50k for Piaggio Ape used by Countess Francesca Agusta (1942 – 2001) – 1978 Piaggio Ape ‘limousine’ by Pavesi used by the controversial Countess Agusta – a very wealthy woman who either fell or was pushed to her death from her home above Portofino, Italy in 2001 – to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s as part of their ‘Driving Into Summer’ 21st to 29th May 2020 auction with an estimate of £37,000 to £49,000 ($45,000 to $60,000, €42,000 to €55,000 or درهم165,000 to درهم220,000).
    Countess Francesca Agusta (née Francesca Vacca Graffagni, 29th October 1942 – 8th January 2001). It is most surprising that the late Dominick Dunne did not make a television programme about her life and demise.
    An Agusta Ape – £50k for Piaggio Ape used by Countess Francesca Agusta (1942 – 2001) – 1978 Piaggio Ape ‘limousine’ by Pavesi used by the controversial Countess Agusta – a very wealthy woman who either fell or was pushed to her death from her home above Portofino, Italy in 2001 – to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s as part of their ‘Driving Into Summer’ 21st to 29th May 2020 auction with an estimate of £37,000 to £49,000 ($45,000 to $60,000, €42,000 to €55,000 or درهم165,000 to درهم220,000).
    Villa Altachiara (alternatively known as ‘Villa Alta Chiara’ or ‘Villa Carnarvon’) was one of Countess Agusta’s homes from the 1960s until her death in 2001; it was originally built as a holiday home for Lord Carnarvon (26th June 1866 – 5th April 1923) – the financier of Howard Carter’s explorations of Egypt’s Valley of the Kings that led to the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb. The Carnarvon family hosted many guests during their ownership, amongst them Brooke Astor and Evelyn Waugh.

    Count Agusta died in 1989 without divorcing his second wife in spite of separating from her in 1985. At that time, in addition to Villa Altachiara, he had given her four apartments in Milan, an estate in Cuernavaca, Mexico, family jewellery and an undisclosed cash sum. With his demise, she came into yet further fortune.

     

    This by-then “very wealthy woman” hit the headlines again in 1994 when she and her new lover, a “former Portofino playboy politician [named] Maurizio Raggio,” were discovered to have been part of a corruption scandal involving Bettino Craxi, the Prime Minister of Italy from 1983 to 1987. Before police could apprehend them to charge them with amongst other things money laundering, the pair fled to Mexico and lived on her estate until 1997 as fugitives. During this period, the Countess reportedly attempted suicide at least once.

     

    Upon her return to Italy, the Countess plea-bargained and spent just three months in Milan’s Opera prison for her crimes in spite of receiving a two-year jail sentence. After “some further time under house arrest” in the Villa Altachiara, the “retired” gadabout then took up with a Mexican, Tirso ‘Tito’ Chazaro (also known as ‘Tirso Di Ricardo’ and ‘Rafael Tirso Roncado Gonzales’), and lived in the style of Miss Havisham. She was rarely seen in public and having become dependent on drink and drugs, was known for her erratic behaviour and temper.

     

    “Considerably the worse for wear and muttering she would not be coming back” on the night of 8th January 2001, the Countess supposedly told her lover and two others present that she was going for a swim, but either slipped on wet leaves or was pushed off a veranda into the sea. A search followed, but after the only traces found were the Countess’s dressing gown on the seabed close to the Villa Altachiara and her slippers on nearby rocks, press reports suggested she had either committed suicide or, given her past form, staged an “elaborate disappearing act.”

     

    Countess Agusta’s badly decomposed body washed up three weeks later on a beach at Toulon on the French Riviera. Her feet had been gnawed off by fish, her skull was smashed and her face was disfigured. She could only be identified by two rings she was wearing and her exact cause of death could thus not be determined.

     

    As an autopsy found no trace of water in her lungs, she plainly did not die by drowning, but in in 2004 the Countess’s brother, Domenico Vacca Graffagni, was quoted in the Independent as stating: “The [original] inquiry was closed in a hasty fashion because of absence of proof, relying too readily on ‘reasonable doubt’ … It was manslaughter. He [Chazaro] was always beating her. He didn’t mean to kill her. But that evening things didn’t go the way the Carabinieri said, my sister was not drunk and she did not slip on wet leaves on the veranda.”

     

    Adding further to speculation, much earlier, the Countess’s step-son, racing driver and team owner Rocky Agusta (1950 – 2018), told Corriere della Sera in 2001: “Francesca was a beautiful woman, simpatica, very rich… People have written that she inherited 500bn lire, but if it had been only 50 or 25, who commits suicide with 25bn lire set aside? … The people who were around her certainly did not help her…  It’s not up to me to formulate accusations, but Francesca was not alone that night. She was very upset. She should have been put to bed. Instead, they let her go out into a dark, wet, cold night, not even dressed.”

     

    In due course, the last of many wills left by Countess Agusta revealed Tirso Chazaro to be her sole beneficiary, but after this was challenged in court by her former lover, Maurizio Raggio, the pair split the legacy – reported to be worth as much as £165 million ($201 million, €186 million or درهم738 million) according to the Guardian in 2001 – sixty-forty between them.

     

    In 2009, the Villa Altachiara was offered for sale initially for £44 million ($54 million, €50 million or درهم198 million) and then for £30 million ($37 million, €34 million or درهم135 million) in 2014. It supposedly eventually sold for less than half that sum to a Russian billionaire a number of years later in spite of an estate agent remarking: “Some say the spirit of Countess Francesca Vacca Agusta still walks the estate looking for her husband and you can hear her shouting for him on the wind.”

     

    An estimate of £37,000 to £49,000 ($45,000 to $60,000, €42,000 to €55,000 or درهم165,000 to درهم220,000) for the Countess’s Piaggio Ape. Described as “sweet” and “[anything but] an Italian tuk-tuk” by RideApart, the one-off private taxi will be auctioned as part of the forthcoming RM Sotheby’s ‘Driving Into Summer’ 21st to 29th May 2020 online sale. One can only hope it finds a happier home than it encountered at that of its former mistress.

     

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    An Agusta Ape – £50k for Piaggio Ape used by Countess Francesca Agusta (1942 – 2001) – 1978 Piaggio Ape ‘limousine’ by Pavesi used by the controversial Countess Agusta – a very wealthy woman who either fell or was pushed to her death from her home above Portofino, Italy in 2001 – to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s as part of their ‘Driving Into Summer’ 21st to 29th May 2020 auction with an estimate of £37,000 to £49,000 ($45,000 to $60,000, €42,000 to €55,000 or درهم165,000 to درهم220,000).
    An Agusta Ape – £50k for Piaggio Ape used by Countess Francesca Agusta (1942 – 2001) – 1978 Piaggio Ape ‘limousine’ by Pavesi used by the controversial Countess Agusta – a very wealthy woman who either fell or was pushed to her death from her home above Portofino, Italy in 2001 – to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s as part of their ‘Driving Into Summer’ 21st to 29th May 2020 auction with an estimate of £37,000 to £49,000 ($45,000 to $60,000, €42,000 to €55,000 or درهم165,000 to درهم220,000).
    An Agusta Ape – £50k for Piaggio Ape used by Countess Francesca Agusta (1942 – 2001) – 1978 Piaggio Ape ‘limousine’ by Pavesi used by the controversial Countess Agusta – a very wealthy woman who either fell or was pushed to her death from her home above Portofino, Italy in 2001 – to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s as part of their ‘Driving Into Summer’ 21st to 29th May 2020 auction with an estimate of £37,000 to £49,000 ($45,000 to $60,000, €42,000 to €55,000 or درهم165,000 to درهم220,000).
    An Agusta Ape – £50k for Piaggio Ape used by Countess Francesca Agusta (1942 – 2001) – 1978 Piaggio Ape ‘limousine’ by Pavesi used by the controversial Countess Agusta – a very wealthy woman who either fell or was pushed to her death from her home above Portofino, Italy in 2001 – to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s as part of their ‘Driving Into Summer’ 21st to 29th May 2020 auction with an estimate of £37,000 to £49,000 ($45,000 to $60,000, €42,000 to €55,000 or درهم165,000 to درهم220,000).
    An Agusta Ape – £50k for Piaggio Ape used by Countess Francesca Agusta (1942 – 2001) – 1978 Piaggio Ape ‘limousine’ by Pavesi used by the controversial Countess Agusta – a very wealthy woman who either fell or was pushed to her death from her home above Portofino, Italy in 2001 – to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s as part of their ‘Driving Into Summer’ 21st to 29th May 2020 auction with an estimate of £37,000 to £49,000 ($45,000 to $60,000, €42,000 to €55,000 or درهم165,000 to درهم220,000).
    An Agusta Ape – £50k for Piaggio Ape used by Countess Francesca Agusta (1942 – 2001) – 1978 Piaggio Ape ‘limousine’ by Pavesi used by the controversial Countess Agusta – a very wealthy woman who either fell or was pushed to her death from her home above Portofino, Italy in 2001 – to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s as part of their ‘Driving Into Summer’ 21st to 29th May 2020 auction with an estimate of £37,000 to £49,000 ($45,000 to $60,000, €42,000 to €55,000 or درهم165,000 to درهم220,000).
    An Agusta Ape – £50k for Piaggio Ape used by Countess Francesca Agusta (1942 – 2001) – 1978 Piaggio Ape ‘limousine’ by Pavesi used by the controversial Countess Agusta – a very wealthy woman who either fell or was pushed to her death from her home above Portofino, Italy in 2001 – to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s as part of their ‘Driving Into Summer’ 21st to 29th May 2020 auction with an estimate of £37,000 to £49,000 ($45,000 to $60,000, €42,000 to €55,000 or درهم165,000 to درهم220,000).
    An Agusta Ape – £50k for Piaggio Ape used by Countess Francesca Agusta (1942 – 2001) – 1978 Piaggio Ape ‘limousine’ by Pavesi used by the controversial Countess Agusta – a very wealthy woman who either fell or was pushed to her death from her home above Portofino, Italy in 2001 – to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s as part of their ‘Driving Into Summer’ 21st to 29th May 2020 auction with an estimate of £37,000 to £49,000 ($45,000 to $60,000, €42,000 to €55,000 or درهم165,000 to درهم220,000).
    An Agusta Ape – £50k for Piaggio Ape used by Countess Francesca Agusta (1942 – 2001) – 1978 Piaggio Ape ‘limousine’ by Pavesi used by the controversial Countess Agusta – a very wealthy woman who either fell or was pushed to her death from her home above Portofino, Italy in 2001 – to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s as part of their ‘Driving Into Summer’ 21st to 29th May 2020 auction with an estimate of £37,000 to £49,000 ($45,000 to $60,000, €42,000 to €55,000 or درهم165,000 to درهم220,000).
    An Agusta Ape – £50k for Piaggio Ape used by Countess Francesca Agusta (1942 – 2001) – 1978 Piaggio Ape ‘limousine’ by Pavesi used by the controversial Countess Agusta – a very wealthy woman who either fell or was pushed to her death from her home above Portofino, Italy in 2001 – to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s as part of their ‘Driving Into Summer’ 21st to 29th May 2020 auction with an estimate of £37,000 to £49,000 ($45,000 to $60,000, €42,000 to €55,000 or درهم165,000 to درهم220,000).
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaGavF50j98
  • Toynbee Turns

    Toynbee Turns

    Left-wing firebrand Polly Toynbee does an about turn and brands government in Britain today worse than under her arch-enemy Thatcher in the 1980s

     

    Polly Toynbee was always amongst the loudest voices of the left in Britain. She has been known to rant and rave in support of atheism, the SDP and unilateral nuclear disarmament but on Saturday, this great-great niece of philanthropist and economic historian Arnold Toynbee surprisingly branded the government of Theresa May to be worse than that of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

     

    In a wide-ranging interview about working at The Guardian, when asked: “How does this political moment compare with others you have lived and worked through?” Umbrian villa owning Toynbee answered:

     

    “There has never been an austerity like this in my life-time. If Thatcher’s 1980’s cuts seemed savage, I would never have guessed a future Tory party would go so much further than she dared, in shrinking the state, crushing local government, squeezing the NHS as never before, leaving schools bereft. As for the shock Brexit vote, it has split the country in half in ways it may take decades to repair, if ever, as it sends Britain into a downward spiral. These are the darkest days I have known – plenty to write about, but very hard to think of optimistic themes.”

     

    #GodHelpUsAll

     

    Pictured above: Multi-millionairess Polly Toynbee in a Ferrari F430.

     

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  • Farrell Rolls

    Farrell Rolls

    1966 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III drophead coupé used by Colin Farrell in 2010 crime noir film ‘London Boulevard’ to be auctioned

     

    A 1966 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III drophead coupé first owned by the Malaysian royal family and more recently used in the 2010 crime noir motion picture London Boulevard – starring Colin Farrell, Keira Knightley and Ray Winstone – is to be auctioned in London in December.

     

    Professionally restored and featuring ‘Chinese Eye’ slanting headlamp nacelles, the car offered was the last off the production line to be registered and delivered new to Malaysia in June 1966. It remained there until the 2000s and was then registered in the UK by the managing director of the official Bentley dealership in Exeter in June 2009.

     

    The 6.2-litre V8 car – chassis number CSC81C – will be sold by Bonhams at their Collector’s Motor Cars and Automobilia sale on 6th December at London Olympia. It will be offered with an estimate of £300,000 to £350,000 ($397,000 to $463,000, €338,000 to €395,000 or درهم1.5 million to درهم1.7 million).

     

    Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes.

     

    Farrell Rolls – 1966 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III drophead coupé – To be sold by Bonhams at their Collector’s Motor Cars and Automobilia sale on 6th December 2017 with an estimate of £300,000 to £350,000 ($397,000 to $463,000, €338,000 to €395,000 or درهم1.5 million to درهم1.7 million) – Used by Colin Farrell in 2010 film ‘London Boulevard’ also starring Keira Knightley and Ray Winstone.Farrell Rolls – 1966 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III drophead coupé – To be sold by Bonhams at their Collector’s Motor Cars and Automobilia sale on 6th December 2017 with an estimate of £300,000 to £350,000 ($397,000 to $463,000, €338,000 to €395,000 or درهم1.5 million to درهم1.7 million) – Used by Colin Farrell in 2010 film ‘London Boulevard’ also starring Keira Knightley and Ray Winstone. Farrell Rolls – 1966 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III drophead coupé – To be sold by Bonhams at their Collector’s Motor Cars and Automobilia sale on 6th December 2017 with an estimate of £300,000 to £350,000 ($397,000 to $463,000, €338,000 to €395,000 or درهم1.5 million to درهم1.7 million) – Used by Colin Farrell in 2010 film ‘London Boulevard’ also starring Keira Knightley and Ray Winstone.Farrell Rolls – 1966 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III drophead coupé – To be sold by Bonhams at their Collector’s Motor Cars and Automobilia sale on 6th December 2017 with an estimate of £300,000 to £350,000 ($397,000 to $463,000, €338,000 to €395,000 or درهم1.5 million to درهم1.7 million) – Used by Colin Farrell in 2010 film ‘London Boulevard’ also starring Keira Knightley and Ray Winstone. Farrell Rolls – 1966 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III drophead coupé – To be sold by Bonhams at their Collector’s Motor Cars and Automobilia sale on 6th December 2017 with an estimate of £300,000 to £350,000 ($397,000 to $463,000, €338,000 to €395,000 or درهم1.5 million to درهم1.7 million) – Used by Colin Farrell in 2010 film ‘London Boulevard’ also starring Keira Knightley and Ray Winstone.Farrell Rolls – 1966 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III drophead coupé – To be sold by Bonhams at their Collector’s Motor Cars and Automobilia sale on 6th December 2017 with an estimate of £300,000 to £350,000 ($397,000 to $463,000, €338,000 to €395,000 or درهم1.5 million to درهم1.7 million) – Used by Colin Farrell in 2010 film ‘London Boulevard’ also starring Keira Knightley and Ray Winstone. Farrell Rolls – 1966 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III drophead coupé – To be sold by Bonhams at their Collector’s Motor Cars and Automobilia sale on 6th December 2017 with an estimate of £300,000 to £350,000 ($397,000 to $463,000, €338,000 to €395,000 or درهم1.5 million to درهم1.7 million) – Used by Colin Farrell in 2010 film ‘London Boulevard’ also starring Keira Knightley and Ray Winstone. Farrell Rolls – 1966 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III drophead coupé – To be sold by Bonhams at their Collector’s Motor Cars and Automobilia sale on 6th December 2017 with an estimate of £300,000 to £350,000 ($397,000 to $463,000, €338,000 to €395,000 or درهم1.5 million to درهم1.7 million) – Used by Colin Farrell in 2010 film ‘London Boulevard’ also starring Keira Knightley and Ray Winstone.

     

  • Double Cher

    Double Cher

    Holmby Hills estate owned variously by Sonny and Cher and Tony Curtis for sale for double what it sold for in 2016

     

    A 12,201 square foot mansion on 10.1 acres in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles is on sale for £136 million or double the sum it sold for just a year ago.

     

    Featuring 9 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, ‘The Owlwood Estate’ or more simply 141 South Carolwood Drive is described as “easily one of the city’s most iconic and historically significant properties.” Built in 1937 to the designs of Robert D. Farquhar in a “classic European Italian Renaissance” style, the estate was owned by Tony Curtis and Sonny Bono and Cher in the 1960s and has also been home to Joe Schenck, the first president of United Artists and a chairman of 20th Century Fox.

     

    Double Cher – The Owlwood Estate, 141 South Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, CA 90077, United States of America – For sale for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million) through Adam Rosenfeld of <a href=

     

    Now offered with designs for redevelopment by Bob Shapiro, the head of Sturmer Pippin Investments and CEO of Woodbridge Luxury Homes, the property offered also includes a sunken tennis court, a swimming pool and two guest houses.

     

    Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine is the realtor handling the sale.

     

    The Owlwood Estate – The Numbers

     

    July 2017 – Placed on the market for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million).

     

    September 2016 – Sold for £68 million ($90 million, €76 million or درهم331 million) to developer Bob Shapiro.

     

    July 2012 – Placed on the market for £114 million ($150 million, €127 million or درهم551 million) by Dawn Arnall, “the widow of subprime mortgage profiteer Roland Arnall.”

     

    2002 – Sold for £25 million ($33 million, €28 million or درهم121 million).

     

    1999 – Listed for sale for £44 million ($58 million, €49 million or دره213 million) by Ghazi Aita complete with an adjacent property.

     

    1978 – Sold to a “shadowy businessman” named Ghazi Aita for £3.2 million ($4.2 million, €3.6 million or درهم15 million).

     

    1970 – Sold to Sonny and Cher for £568,000 ($750,000, €636,000 or درهم2.8 million).

     

    Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes.

     

    Double Cher – The Owlwood Estate, 141 South Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, CA 90077, United States of America – For sale for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million) through Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine – Former home of Sonny and Cher and Tony CurtisDouble Cher – The Owlwood Estate, 141 South Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, CA 90077, United States of America – For sale for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million) through Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine – Former home of Sonny and Cher and Tony Curtis Double Cher – The Owlwood Estate, 141 South Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, CA 90077, United States of America – For sale for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million) through Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine – Former home of Sonny and Cher and Tony CurtisDouble Cher – The Owlwood Estate, 141 South Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, CA 90077, United States of America – For sale for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million) through Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine – Former home of Sonny and Cher and Tony Curtis Double Cher – The Owlwood Estate, 141 South Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, CA 90077, United States of America – For sale for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million) through Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine – Former home of Sonny and Cher and Tony CurtisDouble Cher – The Owlwood Estate, 141 South Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, CA 90077, United States of America – For sale for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million) through Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine – Former home of Sonny and Cher and Tony Curtis Double Cher – The Owlwood Estate, 141 South Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, CA 90077, United States of America – For sale for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million) through Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine – Former home of Sonny and Cher and Tony CurtisDouble Cher – The Owlwood Estate, 141 South Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, CA 90077, United States of America – For sale for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million) through Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine – Former home of Sonny and Cher and Tony Curtis Double Cher – The Owlwood Estate, 141 South Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, CA 90077, United States of America – For sale for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million) through Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine – Former home of Sonny and Cher and Tony CurtisDouble Cher – The Owlwood Estate, 141 South Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, CA 90077, United States of America – For sale for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million) through Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine – Former home of Sonny and Cher and Tony CurtisDouble Cher – The Owlwood Estate, 141 South Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, CA 90077, United States of America – For sale for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million) through Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine – Former home of Sonny and Cher and Tony CurtisDouble Cher – The Owlwood Estate, 141 South Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, CA 90077, United States of America – For sale for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million) through Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine – Former home of Sonny and Cher and Tony Curtis Double Cher – The Owlwood Estate, 141 South Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, CA 90077, United States of America – For sale for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million) through Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine – Former home of Sonny and Cher and Tony Curtis Double Cher – The Owlwood Estate, 141 South Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, CA 90077, United States of America – For sale for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million) through Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine – Former home of Sonny and Cher and Tony CurtisDouble Cher – The Owlwood Estate, 141 South Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, CA 90077, United States of America – For sale for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million) through Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine – Former home of Sonny and Cher and Tony Curtis

     

  • Tax in Post

    Tax in Post

    Reliant Regal 3-wheeler used in the BBC’s ‘Only Fools and Horses’ in Monaco in 2002 to be offered for sale at auction

     

    A 1968 Reliant Regal 3-wheeler used in the 2002 ‘If only they could see us now’ episode of the hit BBC comedy series Only Fools and Horses is to be sold at auction in November.

     

    The distinctive yellow car, registration ‘BWC 94F’ was used for filming in Monaco and features a tiger skin print interior and a remote control key start which can be operated from up to 50 metres away. It also has a smoke machine that emits smoke from the exhaust when a valve is opened on the dashboard, rubber mats with ‘Del Boy’ on the drivers side, air horns, a suitcase on the roof and ‘Rodney’ on the passenger side and inflatable dolls that show up in the back window.

     

    Sold last by Bonhams in 2008, the eccentric vehicle has amazingly covered a total of 71,778 miles and even participated in the London to Brighton rally in 2001 and 2004. The 598cc car is to be offered by Silverstone Auctions at their NEC Classic Motor Show sale on 11th and 12th November with no reserve. Lovely jubbly.

     

    Tax in Post – 1968 Reliant Regal, registration BWC 94F – Used in BBC TV series Only Fools and Horses, episode in Monaco – Del and Rodney – Offered with no reserve by Silverstone Auctions at their NEC Classic Motor Show sale on 11th and 12th November with no reserve. Tax in Post – 1968 Reliant Regal, registration BWC 94F – Used in BBC TV series Only Fools and Horses, episode in Monaco – Del and Rodney – Offered with no reserve by Silverstone Auctions at their NEC Classic Motor Show sale on 11th and 12th November with no reserve. Tax in Post – 1968 Reliant Regal, registration BWC 94F – Used in BBC TV series Only Fools and Horses, episode in Monaco – Del and Rodney – Offered with no reserve by Silverstone Auctions at their NEC Classic Motor Show sale on 11th and 12th November with no reserve. Tax in Post – 1968 Reliant Regal, registration BWC 94F – Used in BBC TV series Only Fools and Horses, episode in Monaco – Del and Rodney – Offered with no reserve by Silverstone Auctions at their NEC Classic Motor Show sale on 11th and 12th November with no reserve. Tax in Post – 1968 Reliant Regal, registration BWC 94F – Used in BBC TV series Only Fools and Horses, episode in Monaco – Del and Rodney – Offered with no reserve by Silverstone Auctions at their NEC Classic Motor Show sale on 11th and 12th November with no reserve. Tax in Post – 1968 Reliant Regal, registration BWC 94F – Used in BBC TV series Only Fools and Horses, episode in Monaco – Del and Rodney – Offered with no reserve by Silverstone Auctions at their NEC Classic Motor Show sale on 11th and 12th November with no reserve. Tax in Post – 1968 Reliant Regal, registration BWC 94F – Used in BBC TV series Only Fools and Horses, episode in Monaco – Del and Rodney – Offered with no reserve by Silverstone Auctions at their NEC Classic Motor Show sale on 11th and 12th November with no reserve.

  • A Bastard of a Basement

    A Bastard of a Basement

    Knightsbridge townhouse for sale for sum 11% lower than it sold for in 2011; it comes with a rather large hole in the garden that has been described as “almost as deep as the Führerbunker”

     

    To the poet and wit Henry Luttrell (1765 – 1861) “eating pâté de foie gras to the sound of trumpets” was his idea of heaven. Now, a very wealthy buyer has the opportunity to acquire what some might consider the very opposite of such with the sale of his former home – complete with a 4-storey hole in its garden – in Knightsbridge.

     

    Empty for many years and the subject of numerous critical articles about its dereliction in such titles as the Mirror and Daily Mail, Grade II listed 31 Brompton Square is on the market for £3 million less than it sold for in 2011. It was previously reportedly owned by the industrialist Lord Tanlaw and was also in the possession of the High Commission of Malaysia at some point.

     

    A Bastard of a Basement – 31 Brompton Square, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 2AE, United Kingdom – For sale through Savills for £25 million ($33.9 million, €28.4 million or درهم125 million) – Formerly owned by now jailed fraudster Achilleas Kallakis and also by Jonathan Hart, Lord Tanlow, the Hon. Michael Astor, Dora and Mary de Beer and Henry Luttrell.
    Fraudster Achilleas Kallakis was undoubtedly the most controversial owner of the building

    A Bastard of a Basement – 31 Brompton Square, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 2AE, United Kingdom – For sale through Savills for £25 million ($33.9 million, €28.4 million or درهم125 million) – Formerly owned by now jailed fraudster Achilleas Kallakis and also by Jonathan Hart, Lord Tanlow, the Hon. Michael Astor, Dora and Mary de Beer and Henry Luttrell.
    Philanthropists Dora and Mary de Beer (pictured with Esmond de Beer) were certainly more civilised residents

    A Bastard of a Basement – 31 Brompton Square, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 2AE, United Kingdom – For sale through Savills for £25 million ($33.9 million, €28.4 million or درهم125 million) – Formerly owned by now jailed fraudster Achilleas Kallakis and also by Jonathan Hart, Lord Tanlow, the Hon. Michael Astor, Dora and Mary de Beer and Henry Luttrell.
    Baron Tanlaw of Tanlawhill reportedly owned the house for a period also

     

    Aside from being home to the philanthropist sisters Dora and Mary de Beer (owners of the house between 1934 and 1981) and the Conservative Party politician the Hon. Michael Astor in addition, most controversially the property was bought by the now jailed businessman Achilleas Kallakis in the mid 2000s.

     

    Kallakis – who in spite of demanding he be called ‘His Excellency’ and ‘The Don’ was actually simply “Britain’s biggest mortgage fraudster” – began work on a scheme to create what he termed a “pleasure palace” at 31 Brompton Square in 2005. He employed contractors to dig four levels down beneath what had been a pretty garden and commenced both authorised and unauthorised works to create what could still ultimately become a 22,000 square foot, 8-floor “trophy home.”

     

    Construction stopped in 2008 after Kallakis’ arrest and in 2011, 31 Brompton Square was sold for £8 million more than sought to a Virgin Islands based company by receivers acting for Barclays Wealth. Said by locals to actually be owned at that time by a Dubai based businessman named Jonathan Hart, further planning schemes were submitted in October 2016 and now agents Savills seek £25 million for the unfinished building.

     

    Of the sale, one near neighbour told The Steeple Times:

     

    “This bastard of a basement has blighted this area of Knightsbridge for far too long.”

     

    “We have feared subsidence might cause the hole to cave in since 2005 and now hope a new owner will rectify the mess left by the conman Kallakis. We simply want to be able to live out our years in peace and would like a nice, quiet family rather than a brash billionaire be the purchasers.”

     

    31 Brompton Square – The Numbers

     

    September 2017 – For sale for £25 million ($33.9 million, €28.4 million or درهم125 million).

     

    June 2016 – Predicted to be worth £50 million ($67.8 million, €56.9 million or درهم249 million) if iceberg extension were to be completed.

     

    March 2011 – Sold for £28 million ($38 million, €31.9 million or درهم139.5 million) after a bidding war on an asking price of £20 million ($27.1 million, €22.7 million or درهم99.6 million).

     

    A Bastard of a Basement – 31 Brompton Square, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 2AE, United Kingdom – For sale through Savills for £25 million ($33.9 million, €28.4 million or درهم125 million) – Formerly owned by now jailed fraudster Achilleas Kallakis and also by Jonathan Hart, Lord Tanlow, the Hon. Michael Astor, Dora and Mary de Beer and Henry Luttrell.
    An aerial view of the giant hole behind 31 Brompton Square

    A Bastard of a Basement – 31 Brompton Square, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 2AE, United Kingdom – For sale through Savills for £25 million ($33.9 million, €28.4 million or درهم125 million) – Formerly owned by now jailed fraudster Achilleas Kallakis and also by Jonathan Hart, Lord Tanlow, the Hon. Michael Astor, Dora and Mary de Beer and Henry Luttrell.
    A closer view of the dormant site

    A Bastard of a Basement – 31 Brompton Square, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 2AE, United Kingdom – For sale through Savills for £25 million ($33.9 million, €28.4 million or درهم125 million) – Formerly owned by now jailed fraudster Achilleas Kallakis and also by Jonathan Hart, Lord Tanlow, the Hon. Michael Astor, Dora and Mary de Beer and Henry Luttrell.
    The front elevation of 31 Brompton Square

    A Bastard of a Basement – 31 Brompton Square, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 2AE, United Kingdom – For sale through Savills for £25 million ($33.9 million, €28.4 million or درهم125 million) – Formerly owned by now jailed fraudster Achilleas Kallakis and also by Jonathan Hart, Lord Tanlow, the Hon. Michael Astor, Dora and Mary de Beer and Henry Luttrell.
    A proposed floor plan for the building

    A Bastard of a Basement – 31 Brompton Square, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 2AE, United Kingdom – For sale through Savills for £25 million ($33.9 million, €28.4 million or درهم125 million) – Formerly owned by now jailed fraudster Achilleas Kallakis and also by Jonathan Hart, Lord Tanlow, the Hon. Michael Astor, Dora and Mary de Beer and Henry Luttrell.
    A CGI image of a proposed design for a reception room within the existing building

    A Bastard of a Basement – 31 Brompton Square, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 2AE, United Kingdom – For sale through Savills for £25 million ($33.9 million, €28.4 million or درهم125 million) – Formerly owned by now jailed fraudster Achilleas Kallakis and also by Jonathan Hart, Lord Tanlow, the Hon. Michael Astor, Dora and Mary de Beer and Henry Luttrell.
    A CGI image of a proposed design for a reception space in the proposed extension of the house

    A Bastard of a Basement – 31 Brompton Square, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 2AE, United Kingdom – For sale through Savills for £25 million ($33.9 million, €28.4 million or درهم125 million) – Formerly owned by now jailed fraudster Achilleas Kallakis and also by Jonathan Hart, Lord Tanlow, the Hon. Michael Astor, Dora and Mary de Beer and Henry Luttrell.
    A CGI image of a proposed design for a reception space backing onto the garden

    A Bastard of a Basement – 31 Brompton Square, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 2AE, United Kingdom – For sale through Savills for £25 million ($33.9 million, €28.4 million or درهم125 million) – Formerly owned by now jailed fraudster Achilleas Kallakis and also by Jonathan Hart, Lord Tanlow, the Hon. Michael Astor, Dora and Mary de Beer and Henry Luttrell.
    A CGI image of a proposed design for a swimming pool within the extension

    A Bastard of a Basement – 31 Brompton Square, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 2AE, United Kingdom – For sale through Savills for £25 million ($33.9 million, €28.4 million or درهم125 million) – Formerly owned by now jailed fraudster Achilleas Kallakis and also by Jonathan Hart, Lord Tanlow, the Hon. Michael Astor, Dora and Mary de Beer and Henry Luttrell.
    A CGI image of the proposed garden

    A Bastard of a Basement – 31 Brompton Square, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 2AE, United Kingdom – For sale through Savills for £25 million ($33.9 million, €28.4 million or درهم125 million) – Formerly owned by now jailed fraudster Achilleas Kallakis and also by Jonathan Hart, Lord Tanlow, the Hon. Michael Astor, Dora and Mary de Beer and Henry Luttrell.
    Another view of the space

    A Bastard of a Basement – 31 Brompton Square, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 2AE, United Kingdom – For sale through Savills for £25 million ($33.9 million, €28.4 million or درهم125 million) – Formerly owned by now jailed fraudster Achilleas Kallakis and also by Jonathan Hart, Lord Tanlow, the Hon. Michael Astor, Dora and Mary de Beer and Henry Luttrell.
    A drawing of the proposed redevelopment

  • A Cheap Mansion

    A Cheap Mansion

    Part refurbished Irish Georgian stately home for sale for just £136,000; it was originally built by the Fry family

     

    What could be one of the cheapest Georgian stately homes ever has been placed on the market for just £136,000 ($179,000, €150,000 or درهم658,000).

     

    Three storey, five bay, mid-18th century Frybrook House in the centre of the town of Boyle in County Roscommon, Ireland – the birthplace of Maureen O’Sullivan (Jane in the Tarzan movies) – stands in 3 acres of land beside the River Boyle

     

    A Cheap Mansion – Georgian stately home Frybrook House, Bridge Street, Boyle, Macmoye, County Roscommon, F52 AP6, Ireland – For sale through REA Seamus Carthy for £136,000 ($179,000, €150,000 or درهم658,000).
    Frybrook House appeared to be in much better condition externally in the early 2000s

     

    Described recently by The Times as a “hot stately home,” the 8 bedroom, 8 bathroom mansion was built for Henry Fry, a merchant from Somerset, after he established a weaving operation on the site in the 1740s. It was run as a bed and breakfast in the early 2000s and last offered on the open market for £309,000 – with additional land and properties – in 2015.

     

    Period features include fine restored plasterwork, original cornicing, window shutters, marble fireplaces and roll top baths and though the property appears to be in some state of disrepair and dereliction, it is described as “partly restored and refurbished.” Sadly, pictures also show the setting is somewhat spoilt by a modern industrial building to the rear.

     

    Frybrook House is listed by REA Seamus Carthy.

     

    Frybrook House – The Numbers

    September 2017 – £136,000 ($179,000, €150,000 or درهم658,000) with 3 acres of land and various outbuildings.

     

    July 2015 – £309,000 ($406,000, €340,000 or درهم1.5 million) with 6 acres of land, 4 houses on an adjoining street and a “period building” housing a café.

     

    A Cheap Mansion – Georgian stately home Frybrook House, Bridge Street, Boyle, Macmoye, County Roscommon, F52 AP6, Ireland – For sale through REA Seamus Carthy for £136,000 ($179,000, €150,000 or درهم658,000). A Cheap Mansion – Georgian stately home Frybrook House, Bridge Street, Boyle, Macmoye, County Roscommon, F52 AP6, Ireland – For sale through REA Seamus Carthy for £136,000 ($179,000, €150,000 or درهم658,000).A Cheap Mansion – Georgian stately home Frybrook House, Bridge Street, Boyle, Macmoye, County Roscommon, F52 AP6, Ireland – For sale through REA Seamus Carthy for £136,000 ($179,000, €150,000 or درهم658,000).A Cheap Mansion – Georgian stately home Frybrook House, Bridge Street, Boyle, Macmoye, County Roscommon, F52 AP6, Ireland – For sale through REA Seamus Carthy for £136,000 ($179,000, €150,000 or درهم658,000).A Cheap Mansion – Georgian stately home Frybrook House, Bridge Street, Boyle, Macmoye, County Roscommon, F52 AP6, Ireland – For sale through REA Seamus Carthy for £136,000 ($179,000, €150,000 or درهم658,000). A Cheap Mansion – Georgian stately home Frybrook House, Bridge Street, Boyle, Macmoye, County Roscommon, F52 AP6, Ireland – For sale through REA Seamus Carthy for £136,000 ($179,000, €150,000 or درهم658,000).A Cheap Mansion – Georgian stately home Frybrook House, Bridge Street, Boyle, Macmoye, County Roscommon, F52 AP6, Ireland – For sale through REA Seamus Carthy for £136,000 ($179,000, €150,000 or درهم658,000).A Cheap Mansion – Georgian stately home Frybrook House, Bridge Street, Boyle, Macmoye, County Roscommon, F52 AP6, Ireland – For sale through REA Seamus Carthy for £136,000 ($179,000, €150,000 or درهم658,000).A Cheap Mansion – Georgian stately home Frybrook House, Bridge Street, Boyle, Macmoye, County Roscommon, F52 AP6, Ireland – For sale through REA Seamus Carthy for £136,000 ($179,000, €150,000 or درهم658,000).

  • Anything But Liberal

    Anything But Liberal

    Former Liberal Democrats headquarters for sale for somewhat reduced but still anything but liberal sum of £36 million (to include a Rodin)

     

    A building that was originally the London office of the North Eastern Railway Company and the headquarters of the Social Democratic Party and then their successors, the Liberal Democrats, between 1982 and 2011 has gone on sale for £36 million ($46.9 million, €41 million or درهم172.1 million) – with all furnishings and a bronze sculpture by Rodin said to be amongst the luxury items included in the price.

     

    Anything But Liberal – Mansion House, 4 Cowley Street, London, SW1P 3NB, United Kingdom – Former Liberal Democrats headquarters for sale for the somewhat reduced but still anything but liberal sum of £36 million ($46.9 million, €41 million or درهم172.1 million). Developed by Saigol DDC and price includes a Rodin bronze sculpture.
    Then Liberal Democratic Party leader Nick Clegg outside 4 Cowley Street in 2010

    Anything But Liberal – Mansion House, 4 Cowley Street, London, SW1P 3NB, United Kingdom – Former Liberal Democrats headquarters for sale for the somewhat reduced but still anything but liberal sum of £36 million ($46.9 million, €41 million or درهم172.1 million). Developed by Saigol DDC and price includes a Rodin bronze sculpture.
    A protest outside 4 Cowley Street during the Liberal Democrats’ tenure of occupation

     

    Offered to rent in 2011 for £225,000 per annum ($291,000, €256,000 or درهم1.1 million per annum) and then sold for around £10.8 million ($14 million, €12.3 million or درهم51.4 million), Mansion House – as it has now been rather grandly named – is situated in Cowley Street, Westminster. Constructed in 1905 and Grade II listed, this dark red brick terraced town house was designed by Horace Field and is described as being of “lavish late 17th century style, rather out of scale with its neighbours but with fine Arts and Crafts detailing.”

     

    Consisting of 7,000 square foot of accommodation whilst in use as offices, developers Saigol DDC have expanded the space provided to create an 11,075 square foot residence of mammoth proportions. Aside from 5 reception rooms, 7 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms, the 5-storey mansion has an 8-person lift, a wine room, an indoor swimming pool, a gym and a roof terrace.

     

    Mansion House, which is for sale through Knight Frank, was previously listed earlier this year for the higher price of £42.28 million ($54.77 million, €48.22 million or درهم201.21 million). The effects of Stamp Duty hikes, Brexit uncertainties plainly might cause it to fall yet further.

     

    Anything But Liberal – Mansion House, 4 Cowley Street, London, SW1P 3NB, United Kingdom – Former Liberal Democrats headquarters for sale for the somewhat reduced but still anything but liberal sum of £36 million ($46.9 million, €41 million or درهم172.1 million). Developed by Saigol DDC and price includes a Rodin bronze sculpture.Anything But Liberal – Mansion House, 4 Cowley Street, London, SW1P 3NB, United Kingdom – Former Liberal Democrats headquarters for sale for the somewhat reduced but still anything but liberal sum of £36 million ($46.9 million, €41 million or درهم172.1 million). Developed by Saigol DDC and price includes a Rodin bronze sculpture.Anything But Liberal – Mansion House, 4 Cowley Street, London, SW1P 3NB, United Kingdom – Former Liberal Democrats headquarters for sale for the somewhat reduced but still anything but liberal sum of £36 million ($46.9 million, €41 million or درهم172.1 million). Developed by Saigol DDC and price includes a Rodin bronze sculpture.Anything But Liberal – Mansion House, 4 Cowley Street, London, SW1P 3NB, United Kingdom – Former Liberal Democrats headquarters for sale for the somewhat reduced but still anything but liberal sum of £36 million ($46.9 million, €41 million or درهم172.1 million). Developed by Saigol DDC and price includes a Rodin bronze sculpture.Anything But Liberal – Mansion House, 4 Cowley Street, London, SW1P 3NB, United Kingdom – Former Liberal Democrats headquarters for sale for the somewhat reduced but still anything but liberal sum of £36 million ($46.9 million, €41 million or درهم172.1 million). Developed by Saigol DDC and price includes a Rodin bronze sculpture.Anything But Liberal – Mansion House, 4 Cowley Street, London, SW1P 3NB, United Kingdom – Former Liberal Democrats headquarters for sale for the somewhat reduced but still anything but liberal sum of £36 million ($46.9 million, €41 million or درهم172.1 million). Developed by Saigol DDC and price includes a Rodin bronze sculpture. Anything But Liberal – Mansion House, 4 Cowley Street, London, SW1P 3NB, United Kingdom – Former Liberal Democrats headquarters for sale for the somewhat reduced but still anything but liberal sum of £36 million ($46.9 million, €41 million or درهم172.1 million). Developed by Saigol DDC and price includes a Rodin bronze sculpture. Anything But Liberal – Mansion House, 4 Cowley Street, London, SW1P 3NB, United Kingdom – Former Liberal Democrats headquarters for sale for the somewhat reduced but still anything but liberal sum of £36 million ($46.9 million, €41 million or درهم172.1 million). Developed by Saigol DDC and price includes a Rodin bronze sculpture.

  • Rotten Rolf

    Rotten Rolf

    As convicted paedo Rolf Harris walks free from court and his nutty supporters once again reveal themselves, it must be remembered he is still a convicted abuser of girls as young as eight

     

    Rolf Harris might well have walked free from court on Monday after a jury failed to reach a verdict on historical assault charges against three teenagers, but the public should remember one thing: This monster is still a monster and he is still a man convicted of 12 counts of indecent assault on victims as young as 8 years old.

     

    Outside the court and once again failing to show an ounce of compassion to those he had previously been jailed for molesting, a spokesman for Harris read out a statement. In it, Harris remarked:

     

    “While I’m pleased that this is all I over I feel no sense of victory, just relief. I’m 87 years old, my wife is in ill health and we simply want to spend our remaining time together in peace”.

     

    Rightly stripped of his MBE, OBE and CBE, the former television presenter and shockingly bad performer – best known for now seemingly rather inappropriate renditions such as Two Little Boys – should now do the decent thing. ‘Rotten Rolf’ should simply fade into obscurity and forever be consigned to social Siberia.

     

    Elsewhere, on Change.org, loopy ‘fans’ of the paedophile took the opportunity to brag about the verdict on a page titled: “A man who is innocent and knows he is innocent”. One, Cardiff based, Milford Haven School educated Sally Roberts, ridiculously commented: “This is as good as an innocent verdict considering there was no evidence to prove either way” before delusionally adding: “And an appeal over his first trial is imminent!!”

     

    Pictured above: Paedophile Rolf Harris with his “tireless [or ‘blind to his guilt’] supporter”, niece Jenny Harris.

     

    Rotten Rolf – Paedo Rolf Harris might be free but he’s still a paedo
    Rolf Harris was mobbed by the media as he left court with Jenny Harris on Tuesday 30th May 2017

  • Geoffrey Bayldon (1924 – 2017)

    Geoffrey Bayldon (1924 – 2017)

    Wacky Leeds born actor Geoffrey Bayldon was best known for playing Catweazle in the 1970s series of the same name as the Crowman in Worzel Gummidge. Bayldon also played ‘Q’ in Casino Royale in 1967, was gay, turned down the role of Dr Who twice thinking the series “too long” and enjoyed collecting watercolour paintings, gardening and walking.

     

    Wacky, gay actor and Catweazle star Geoffrey Bayldon (1924 – 2017) – Leeds born actor Geoffrey Bayldon was best known for playing Catweazle in the 1970s series of same name. He turned down playing Dr Who twice Wacky, gay actor and Catweazle star Geoffrey Bayldon (1924 – 2017) – Leeds born actor Geoffrey Bayldon was best known for playing Catweazle in the 1970s series of same name. He turned down playing Dr Who twice Wacky, gay actor and Catweazle star Geoffrey Bayldon (1924 – 2017) – Leeds born actor Geoffrey Bayldon was best known for playing Catweazle in the 1970s series of same name. He turned down playing Dr Who twice