Christine Keeler

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Christine Keeler during a television appearance in 1988

Christine Margaret Keeler (born February 22, 1942 in Uxbridge , London - † December 4, 2017 in Locksbottom , Greater London ) was a British model and dancer . Keeler had an affair with the British War Minister John Profumo and at the same time a relationship with the Soviet naval attaché and GRU agent Yevgeny Ivanov . This love triangle later came to be known as the Profumo Affair and was one of the reasons behind the fall of the Harold Macmillan government in 1963 .

Life

Born in Uxbridge, Middlesex, England in 1942, Christine Keeler was raised by her mother and stepfather. At that time they lived in two converted railroad cars in Wraysbury , Berkshire . Because she appeared to be poorly fed, she was sent from school to a cottage in Littlehampton in 1951 . At 15, she found work as a demonstration model in a clothing store in London's Soho . She gave birth to a boy on April 17, 1959, at the age of 17. It was a premature baby and the boy only lived six days. All that is known about the child's father is that he was an American sergeant named Jim.

1959 Keeler turned his back on Wraysbury. She stayed with a friend in Slough for a short time before moving to London. There she worked temporarily as a waitress on Baker Street , where she eventually met Maureen O'Connor, who worked at Murray's Cabaret Club in Soho and introduced her to the club owner Percy Murray. Murray hired her practically on the spot as a topless dancer. There she met the osteopath Stephen Ward (1912–1963) and moved in with him. According to Keeler, the relationship was a platonic brother-sister relationship, although on the outside it looked like a couple.

Profumo affair

In July 1961, Ward introduced the then British Secretary of War, John Profumo. This was done at a garden party at Lord Astor's country estate in Cliveden , Buckinghamshire . Profumo began an affair with Keeler , not knowing that Keeler was also in a relationship with Yevgeny Ivanov, a naval attaché at the embassy of the Soviet Union .

Profumo ended the affair at the behest of Cabinet Secretary Sir Norman Brook after MI5 director Sir Roger Hollis informed him. On August 9, 1961, Profumo Christine Keeler wrote a letter that they can no longer see each other. The affair and Profumo's false statements on this before the House of Commons led to his resignation.

Relationship with Gordon and Edgecombe

Christine Keeler's lovers included two men from the Caribbean, Aloysius 'Lucky' Gordon and Johnny Edgecombe. Gordon fell in love with Keeler, who later claimed he kidnapped her on the street and held her for two days. Gordon's brother persuaded her to withdraw the complaint.

Keeler eventually rejected Gordon's advances and bought a revolver to protect himself from him, with Edgecombe serving as an intermediary. On October 27, 1962, Edgecombe and Gordon got into a scuffle at the Flamingo Club in Soho, with Edgecombe cutting Gordon's face with a knife. The wound had to be sutured with 17 stitches and Edgecombe went underground. Fearing Gordon, Keeler moved. Edgecombe contacted her, hoping Keeler would help him find a criminal lawyer. However, Keeler told him to testify against him in court.

On December 14, 1962, Edgecombe appeared in front of Ward's apartment in Wimpole Mews, where Keeler was staying with her friend Mandy Rice-Davies , who was living with Stephen Ward. Keeler refused to let Edgecombe in, whereupon he started shooting in front of the door. Shortly afterwards, when the police and reporters swarmed, he fled, but was later arrested at his home.

Keeler was imprisoned for nine months for perjury in a trial against Gordon. Stephen Ward has since been charged with pimping , including statements from Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies. Ward poisoned himself with barbiturate on the last day of the trial and did not regain consciousness at the time of the sentencing. He died three days later.

The portrait

At the height of the Profumo affair in 1963, Keeler was the model for photographer Lewis Morley . The pictures of the photo session, which were then intended to promote a film called The Keeler Affair , which was then not distributed , became world famous. Keeler had originally contracted to pose for nude photos to get the film more publicity, but was no longer enthusiastic about it. Photographer Morley eventually convinced her to take a seat astride a plywood chair. She was naked and the contract fulfilled, but most of her body was covered by the backrest.

Morley and Keeler were already known, but the photo catapulted the internationally recognized designer Arne Jacobsen and the model 3107 chair he designed to fame. The chair actually used, however, did not come from Jacobsen, but was a copy that Morley had previously purchased cheaply.

Private life

Keeler, who lived under the name Sloane for many years, was married twice. Both marriages were short-lived and ended in divorce. Both marriages produced a son.

After suffering from severe lung disease ( COPD ) for several months , she died on December 4, 2017 at Princess Royal University Hospital in Locksbottom, Greater London.

Keeler in popular culture

Christine Keeler has been the subject of popular culture on several occasions. In 1963 produced film I, Christine Keeler took Yvonne Buckingham her role.

In 1989 the film Scandal was made with John Hurt , Ian McKellen and Bridget Fonda . Joanne Whalley played the role of Keeler in this film .

Both Phil Ochs and the Glaxo Babies and Skatalites recorded songs called Christine Keeler . Her name is also used in Piano Lessons by Porcupine Tree , in Street Songs by Hamish Imlach , in Post World War II Blues by Al Stewart , in Margootje by Wim Sonneveld and in Where Are They Now? called by the kinks .

In 1987 she worked with Mandy Smith in the video for Bryan Ferry's single Kiss and Tell .

The BBC began broadcasting the 6-part miniseries The Trial of Christine Keeler in late December 2019 .

literature

  • Christine Keeler, Robert Meadley: Sex Scandals . Xanadu Publications, London 1985, ISBN 0-947761-03-9
  • Christine Keeler: Scandal . Xanadu Publications. 1989 ISBN 0-947761-75-6
  • Richard Basini, Christine Keeler: The Businessperson's Guide to Intelligent Social Drinking . Congdon & Weed. 1989. ISBN 0-312-92070-9
  • Christine Keeler, Ivanov Yevgeny and Sokolov Gennady: The Naked Spy . Blake Publishing. 1992. ISBN 1-85782-092-4
  • Christine Keeler with Douglas Thompson: The Truth At Last: My Story . Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd. 2001. ISBN 0-283-07291-1
  • Tara Hanks: Wicked baby . PADB. 2004 ISBN 1-904929-45-1
  • Paul Nicholas, Alex Holt, Gill Adams: Keeler . Stage Production. 2007
  • Christine Keeler with Douglas Thompson : Secrets and Lies. Blake Publishing 2012, ISBN 978-1843587552

Web links

Commons : Christine Keeler  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Caroline Davies: Christine Keeler, former model at heart of Profumo affair, dies at 75 . In: The Guardian , December 5, 2017, accessed December 7, 2017.
  2. ^ Lewis Morley: Christine Keeler photograph: a modern icon. Victoria and Albert Museum , archived from the original on July 2, 2012 ; accessed on December 7, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Nina Merli: Background: "Every man who met her wanted her" . In: Tages-Anzeiger , February 22, 2012, accessed December 7, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Keeler, Christine
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Keeler, Christine Margaret (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British model and showgirl
DATE OF BIRTH February 22, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Uxbridge , Middlesex
DATE OF DEATH 4th December 2017
Place of death Locksbottom , Greater London