John Arthur Alexander Edgecombe (22 October 1932 – 26 September 2010) was a British jazz promoter, whose involvement with Christine Keeler inadvertently alerted authorities to the

Profumo affair The Profumo affair was a major scandal in twentieth-century Politics of the United Kingdom, British politics. John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative Party (UK), Conservative government, had an extramar ...

Early life

Edgecombe was born on 22 October 1932 in

St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda St. John's is the capital and largest city of Antigua and Barbuda, part of the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. With a population of 22,219, St. John's is the commercial centre of the nation and the chief port of the island of Antigua. Hi ...

, the youngest of eight children. He often accompanied his father on his schooner running petrol from Trinidad to Antigua. In 1942, his father took United States citizenship and disappeared. The young Edgecombe worked his passage aboard a British ship carrying sugar to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. From there he moved to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, where he stayed for some years, lodging at a mission for seamen. Searching for his missing father, he hid on a ship bound for

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, but on arrival was arrested and put back on board for the return trip. When he docked in Britain, magistrates jailed him for 28 days as a stowaway. After leaving prison, he made his way to London, where he became involved in petty crime, serving three months for an attempted jewel theft. He ran a drinking and drugs den in premises rented from

Peter Rachman Perec "Peter" Rachman (16 August 1919 – 29 November 1962) was a Polish-born landlord who operated in Notting Hill, London, England in the 1950s and early 1960s. He became notorious for his exploitation of his tenants, with the word "Rachmanism" ...

, and reportedly acted as a pimp to his girlfriend.

Profumo scandal

It was in this "

shebeen A shebeen ( ga, síbín) was originally an illicit bar or club where excisable alcoholic beverages were sold without a licence. The term has spread far from its origins in Ireland, to Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, the En ...

" that he first encountered Lucky Gordon, who threatened to tip off the police about the drinking den. Edgecombe closed it down, and moved into the jazz scene, driving musicians to gigs, and dealing small quantities of cannabis. In September 1962, he met a nightclub hostess, Christine Keeler, and moved into her flat in Sheffield Terrace. Keeler was involved with several men, and it was this web of relationships and jealousy that triggered the events that led to what became known as the

. Keeler told Edgecombe that Gordon had assaulted her and held her captive after she ended their relationship. Edgecombe confronted Gordon with a knife in the Flamingo Club on 27 October 1962, and Gordon required 17 stitches in the face. Edgecombe asked Keeler to help him find a solicitor before surrendering to the police, but she refused and said that she would give evidence against him. On 14 December 1962, Edgecombe took a taxi to the Marylebone home of osteopath

Stephen Ward Stephen Thomas Ward (19 October 1912 – 3 August 1963) was an English osteopath and artist who was one of the central figures in the 1963 Profumo affair, a British political scandal which brought about the resignation of John Profumo, the Sec ...

, where Keeler was in hiding along with Mandy Rice-Davies. When she refused to come out, he fired seven shots at the front door with a semi-automatic pistol in an unsuccessful attempt to shoot out the lock on the door. He fled from the scene before the police arrived, but was arrested later that evening. His subsequent arrest set in motion the unravelling of Keeler's relationship with Secretary of State for War

John Profumo John Dennis Profumo, CBE,( ; 30 January 1915 – 9 March 2006) was a British politician whose career ended in 1963 after a sexual relationship with the 19-year-old model Christine Keeler in 1961. The scandal, which became known as the Profumo a ...

and Russian naval attaché Yevgeny Ivanov, with Keeler's non-appearance at his trial at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

in March 1963 finally giving the British press the excuse it needed to publish the story.Martin, Douglas
"Johnny Edgecombe, British Scandal Figure, Dies at 77"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 9 October 2010. Accessed 11 October 2010. Edgecombe was acquitted of assaulting Gordon, but was convicted and sentenced to seven years for possession of a firearm with the intent to endanger life.Olden, Mark
Obituary: Johnny Edgecombe
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 30 September 2010 He served five years before being paroled. On his release in 1968, Edgecombe became a jazz promoter, running a club called Edges, and worked as a film and television extra. In 1987, he made an extended appearance on an edition of the live television discussion programme '' After Dark'' alongside

Tony Blackburn Anthony Kenneth Blackburn (born 29 January 1943) is an English disc jockey, singer and TV presenter. He first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s, before joining the BBC, on the BBC L ...

Peter Tatchell Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is a British human rights campaigner, originally from Australia, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey ...

Victoria Gillick Victoria D. M. Gillick (''née'' Gudgeon; born 1946, in Hendon) is a British activist and campaigner best known for the eponymous 1985 UK House of Lords ruling that considered whether contraception could be prescribed to under-16s without pare ...

and others. Edgecombe also appeared briefly in the 1989 TV documentary ''The Scandal Story'' where he described and reenacted the shooting incident outside the actual Marylebone house. He wrote and published his version of events of the Profumo Affair in a book titled ''Black Scandal'' in 2002. He died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

and

kidney cancer Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include spr ...

in London, aged 77, on 26 September 2010.

Cultural references

*In the 1989 film ''

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

'', Edgecombe was portrayed by singer

Roland Gift Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

. *Edgecombe was portrayed by Wayne Robinson in

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

's stage musical '' Stephen Ward the Musical'', which opened at the

Aldwych Theatre The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels. History Origins The theatre was constructed in th ...

on 19 December 2013. * He was portrayed by

Nathan Stewart-Jarrett Nathan Lloyd Stewart-Jarrett (born 4 December 1985) is a British actor, best known for starring as Curtis Donovan in the E4 series ''Misfits'' and as Ian in the Channel 4 series ''Utopia''. Early life Stewart-Jarrett was born in Wandsworth, ...

in the 2019 British TV drama ''

The Trial of Christine Keeler ''The Trial of Christine Keeler'' is a British television series based on the chain of events surrounding the Profumo affair in the 1960s. The six-part series premiered on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 29 December 2019. The series was adapte ...

''.

Notes

External links

Johnny Edgecombe obituary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edgecombe, Johnny 1932 births 2010 deaths 20th-century British criminals Antigua and Barbuda emigrants to England Deaths from kidney cancer Deaths from lung cancer in England British prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales British people convicted of assault