Adrian Gerald Foley, 8th Baron Foley of Kidderminster (9 August 1923 – 12 February 2012), was a British peer, composer and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. Upon the death of his father, Gerald Foley, 7th Baron Foley, in 1927, Adrian Foley succeeded to his title at the age of three. He wrote ''London I Cannot Leave You'' (1940) at the age of 17, having spent his childhood in Eastbourne. In 1942, he supported Britain's Soviet ally with the composition of the song, "Wishing You Well, Mr Stalin". He composed music for the films ''

Piccadilly Incident ''Piccadilly Incident'' is a 1946 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding, Coral Browne, Edward Rigby and Leslie Dwyer. Wilcox teamed his wife Anna Neagle with Michael Wilding for the first time, e ...

'' (1946) and '' Bond Street'' (1947). He appeared on an episode of the American

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

'' To Tell the Truth'' in 1957.

Personal life

In 1958, he met a wealthy American heiress, Patricia Meek, née Zoelner, during a stage production of ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...

'', produced by

Huntington Hartford George Huntington Hartford II (April 18, 1911 – May 19, 2008) was an American businessman, philanthropist, stage and film producer, and art collector. He was also heir to the A&P supermarket fortune. After his father's death in 1922, Hartfor ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. On 23 December 1958, the couple married. They had two children: Alexandra Mary (born 1960) and Thomas Henry (born 1961), before divorcing in 1971. In 1972, he married another wealthy heiress, Ghislaine (née Dresselhuys; former wife of both the 6th Earl of Caledon and the 4th Baron Ashcombe), the only daughter of

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

-born Long Island resident and former Consul of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Cornelius William Dresselhuys and Edith Merandon du Plessis. His second wife died in 2000. On 15 December 2003, he married his third wife, Hannah Steinberg, a member of the

Wolfson family The Wolfson family is a British Jewish family known for its business, philanthropic, and political activities. The family owes its initial fame to Sir Isaac Wolfson, who built the Great Universal Stores retail empire and created the Wolfson Found ...

Death

Lord Foley enjoyed golf and maintained properties near to the golfing areas of the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

n region of Spain for several decades. He owned property in

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dang ...

, and lived in retirement near

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the reg ...

until his death in

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it ha ...

in 2012, aged 88.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Adrian Foley, 8th Baron 1923 births 2012 deaths English expatriates in Spain English film score composers English male film score composers English classical pianists English socialites People from Kidderminster

Adrian Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the mai ...

20th-century classical pianists 20th-century English musicians 8