Samantha Fox
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Samantha Karen Fox (born 15 April 1966) is an English pop singer and former
glamour model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though ...
from East London. She rose to public attention aged 16, when her mother entered her photographs in an amateur modelling contest run by ''
The Sunday People The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881. At one point owned by Odhams Press, The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the ' ...
'' tabloid newspaper. After she placed second in the contest, she received an offer from '' The Sun'' to model topless on
Page 3 Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model (known as a Page 3 girl) on the third page of mainstream red-top tabloids. '' The Sun'' introduced the feature, publishi ...
, where she made her first appearance on 22 February 1983. She continued to appear on Page 3 until 1986, becoming the most popular
pin-up girl A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion models ...
of her era, as well as one of the most photographed British women of the 1980s. Transitioning to pop music after three years as a Page 3 girl, Fox released the single "
Touch Me (I Want Your Body) "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)" is a song by English singer Samantha Fox from her debut studio album, '' Touch Me'' (1986). A successful topless model, Fox had been invited to attend an open audition for Jive Records, as the label was seeking ...
" on 10 March 1986. It reached number one in Australia, Canada, Finland, Greece, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland, and became the first of her three Top 10 singles on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. She released her debut studio album '' Touch Me'' on 7 July 1986, which was followed by the albums ''
Samantha Fox Samantha Karen Fox (born 15 April 1966) is an English pop singer and former glamour model from East London. She rose to public attention aged 16, when her mother entered her photographs in an amateur modelling contest run by ''The Sunday Peopl ...
'' in 1987 and ''
I Wanna Have Some Fun ''I Wanna Have Some Fun'' is the third studio album by English singer Samantha Fox. It was released in November 1988 by Jive Records. The album features production from previous collaborators Full Force, Stock Aitken Waterman, Steve Power and S ...
'' in 1988, each containing a number of international hit singles. In 1988, Fox received a
Brit Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
nomination for Best British Female Artist, although the award went to Alison Moyet. Fox's subsequent studio albums ''Just One Night'' (1991), ''21st Century Fox'' (1997), and ''
Angel with an Attitude ''Angel with an Attitude'' is the sixth studio album released by British recording artist Samantha Fox. Album information ''Angel with an Attitude'' was Fox's first studio album in seven years, following 1998's '' 21st Century Fox''. Fox wrote ...
'' (2005) were less commercially successful. Fox returned to Page 3 for a full week in 1995 as the feature celebrated its 25th anniversary, and subsequently appeared in the October 1996 edition of ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...
''. Fox has appeared in a number of films and reality television shows, and has occasionally worked as a television presenter. Although she dated a number of men in the early years of her career, including
Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
rhythm guitarist
Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popula ...
and Australian fraudster
Peter Foster Peter Clarence Foster (born 1962) is an Australian career criminal who has been imprisoned in Australia, Britain, the United States, and Vanuatu for a variety of offences related to weight loss and other scams as well as absconding from justic ...
, persistent rumours began circulating in the 1990s about her sexual orientation. In 2003, Fox publicly
came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
as a lesbian and acknowledged her romantic relationship with her then-manager, Myra Stratton, which lasted until Stratton's death from cancer in 2015. In 2020, Fox became engaged to her Norwegian tour manager, Linda Birgitte Olsen.


Early life

Fox was born on 15 April 1966 in
Mile End Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...
, East London, the oldest daughter of actress Carole Ann Wilken and John Patrick Fox. She has a sister, Vanessa, and two half-siblings from her father's second marriage, Frederica and Frankie. Fox comes from a family of market traders. Fox took an interest in the theatre from an early age; she first appeared on a theatre stage when she was three years old. She formed her first pop band with Richard Smart, Edward Gallagher and Bob Day when she was fourteen. She attended St Thomas More Catholic School, Wood Green; and was enrolled in the
Anna Scher Theatre The Anna Scher Theatre is an independent and co-educational performing arts school based in Islington, Greater London. It was founded in 1968 by Anna Scher. It is considered among the first schools of its kind geared towards working class studen ...
School from the age of fifteen. The next year she signed her first record deal, with Lamborghini Records.


Career


Modelling and music

In 1983, when Fox was 16, she released her first single. Credited as S.F.X. and released on the Lamborghini Records label, "Rockin' with My Radio"/"My Old Man" was produced by
Ian Gillan Band The Ian Gillan Band were an English progressive jazz-rock band formed by singer Ian Gillan of Deep Purple in 1975. History After leaving Deep Purple in June 1973, Ian Gillan had retired from the music business to pursue other business ventures ...
and
Spencer Davis Group The Spencer Davis Group were a British band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (keyboards, guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). Their best known songs include the UK numbe ...
member
Ray Fenwick Raymond John Fenwick (18 July 1946 – 30 April 2022) was an English guitarist and session musician, best known for his work in The Syndicats and in The Spencer Davis Group in the 1960s, and as the lead guitarist of Ian Gillan's post- Deep Pu ...
, who also wrote the b-side. The collaboration with Fenwick continued into 1984 and her second single, "Aim to Win"/"17 and Holding", credited under her full name, where Fenwick again produced and wrote the song on the B-side. Also, in 1983, her mother submitted several photographs that she had taken of her daughter in
lingerie Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fash ...
to ''
The Sunday People The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881. At one point owned by Odhams Press, The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the ' ...
'' newspaper's Girl of the Year amateur modelling contest.Alt URL
/ref> She came in second place out of 20,000 entrants and the photographs drew her to the attention of the newspaper '' The Sun'', which invited her to pose for Page 3. Her parents gave their consent for her to pose
topless Toplessness refers to the state in which a woman's breasts, including her areolas and nipples, are exposed, especially in a public place or in a visual medium. The male equivalent is barechestedness, also commonly called shirtlessness. Expose ...
, and her first Page 3 photograph appeared in ''the Sun'' on 22 February 1983. She signed a four-year Page 3 modelling contract with the ''Sun'', and won its "Page 3 Girl of the Year" award for three consecutive years: 1984 to 1986. She is recognised today as the most popular
pin-up girl A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion models ...
of her era, as well as one of the most-photographed British women of the 1980s. Fox was invited to attend an open audition for
Jive Records Jive Records was an American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary to the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, an ...
, as the label was seeking "a British Madonna" to sing the song "Touch Me (I Want Your Body". She was successful and was offered a five album deal. In 1986, Fox retired from Page 3 modelling, at the age of 20, and made the transition into a career in pop music. In 1995, aged 29, she made a one-off appearance in ''The Sun'' to promote Page 3's 25th anniversary. After receiving an overwhelmingly positive reader response, she appeared in the slot every day of that week, with Friday's final topless picture given away as an A3-sized poster. The following year, she appeared in the October issue of ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...
'' magazine. In December 2009, her latest compilation album was issued, ''
Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...
'', both in single CD and double CD formats. In 2012 her first 4 albums were re-issued as double deluxe CDs by Cherry Red.


Film and television

In the late 1980s, Fox appeared in television advertisements for a
Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
-based car dealership network with the slogan "Follow the Fox to Swithland Motors". Around the same time, she also appeared in television advertisements for
bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** Bi ...
in ''The Sun'' newspaper. In 1990, she appeared on the American sitcom ''
Charles in Charge ''Charles in Charge'' is an American sitcom television series that premiered on October 3, 1984, on CBS. The series was a production of Al Burton Productions and Scholastic Productions in association with Universal Television and starred Scott B ...
'' as Samantha Steele, a fictional rock star whose agent pushes her into a romance with Charles (
Scott Baio Scott Vincent James Baio (; born September 22, 1960) is an American actor. He is known for playing Chachi Arcola on the sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1977–1984) and its spin-off '' Joanie Loves Chachi'' (1982–1983), the title character on ...
) so the
paparazzi Paparazzi (, ; ; singular: masculine paparazzo or feminine paparazza) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people; such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities, typically while subjects ...
will print it in the tabloids. Her film career included roles in '' The Match'' (1999), written and directed by
Mick Davis Sir Michael Lawrence Davis (born 15 February 1958) is a British politician and former South African businessman, former Chief Executive and Treasurer of the Conservative Party and the chief executive (CEO) of Xstrata plc, an Anglo-Swiss multina ...
and starring Richard E. Grant,
Ian Holm Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert (12 September 1931 – 19 June 2020) was an English actor who was knighted in 1998 for his contributions to theatre and film. Beginning his career on the British stage as a standout member of the Royal Shakespeare Company ...
and
Tom Sizemore Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr. (; born November 29, 1961) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his supporting roles in films such as ''Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), ''Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man'' (1991), ''Passenger 5 ...
, ''7 Cases'' (2015) starring Steven Berkoff, and the comedy horror film '' Sharknado 5: Global Swarming'' (2017). In 1995, under the group name 'Sox', Fox took part in ''
A Song for Europe A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...
'', the UK heat for the
Eurovision Song Contest 1995 The Eurovision Song Contest 1995 was the 40th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 13 May 1995 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RTÉ) and presented by ...
. Her song ''Go for the Heart'' finished fourth of the eight shortlisted entries with 65,436 telephone votes and the single went on to reach No. 47 on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. Also that year, she guest starred in the Hindi film ''
Rock Dancer ''Rock Dancer'' is a 1995 Hindi drama film directed by Memon Roy and featured Govinda, Kamal Sadanah Shammi Kapoor and Javed Jaffrey as lead characters. Plot A passionate Jaya wants to build a charitable hospital for the poor people. But her da ...
''. In 2008, Fox and her partner Myra Stratton took part in ''
Celebrity Wife Swap ''Wife Swap'' is an American reality television program that was first broadcast on ABC in 2004 based on the British show with the same name. In the program, two families, usually from different social classes and lifestyles, swap wives/mothers ...
'', exchanging with
Freddie Starr Freddie Starr (born Frederick Leslie Fowell; 9 January 1943 – 9 May 2019) was an English stand up comedian, impressionist, singer and actor. Starr was the lead singer of Merseybeat rock and roll group the Midniters during the early 1960s, an ...
and his wife Donna. In November 2009, she took part in ITV's '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''; she was voted out on day 16. In 2010, she appeared in a celebrity episode of '' Come Dine with Me'' with
Calum Best Calum Milan Best (born February 6, 1981) is a British-American television personality. He is the only child of footballer George Best. Early life Best was born in San Jose, California, the son of parents from the United Kingdom: Angie Best (bo ...
,
Janice Dickinson Janice Doreen Dickinson (born February 16, 1955)As per Dickinson in NNDB aJanice Dickinson profilegives February 15, 1955, noting, "Although Dickinson has maintained in several interviews and her autobiography ''No Lifeguard on Duty'' that she ...
, and
Jeff Brazier Jeffrey Carl Brazier (born 27 May 1979) is an English television personality and presenter. Early life and education Brazier was brought up in Tiptree, near Colchester in Essex, and attended Thurstable School, a mixed state comprehensive scho ...
. In 2016, Fox became a participant in ''
Celebrity Big Brother 18 ''Celebrity Big Brother 18'' was the eighteenth series of the British reality television series ''Celebrity Big Brother'', hosted by Emma Willis and narrated by Marcus Bentley. The series launched on 28 July 2016, just two days after the conclus ...
'' and she just missed out on reaching the final finishing in seventh place.


Personal life

Fox's father Patrick, a former carpenter, managed her career until 1991, when she hired accountants to trace over £1 million (£ million today) that she believed he had
embezzled Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...
from her accounts. She sued her father, who by then had divorced and remarried, and in May 1995, she was awarded a £363,000 (£ million today) court settlement. Patrick Fox died in 2000, at that time they had not spoken to each other for nearly a decade. In the late 1980s, Fox became romantically linked with Australian
career criminal A habitual offender, repeat offender, or career criminal is a person convicted of a crime who was previously convicted of crimes. Various state and jurisdictions may have laws targeting habitual offenders, and specifically providing for enhanced o ...
Peter Foster Peter Clarence Foster (born 1962) is an Australian career criminal who has been imprisoned in Australia, Britain, the United States, and Vanuatu for a variety of offences related to weight loss and other scams as well as absconding from justic ...
. They began dating but she turned down his marriage proposal. She also had a relationship with
Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popula ...
, the rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of rock band
Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
. Rumours regarding Fox's
sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
began to surface in 1999 when she judged a lesbian
beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...
, and rumours circulated that the woman with whom she resided,
Cris Bonacci Cristina "Cris" Bonacci (born 15 October 1964) is an Australian-born producer, songwriter, and musician. She was the lead guitarist in the British heavy metal band Girlschool (1984 to 1992, 2004) and has also provided session guitar work for ot ...
, the Australian former lead guitarist for the rock band
Girlschool Girlschool are a British rock band that formed in the new wave of British heavy metal scene in 1978. Frequently associated with contemporaries Motörhead, they are the longest-running all-female rock band, still active after more than 40 ye ...
, was her lover. The relationship was confirmed later by Bonacci in an interview. In 2003, Fox made a statement about her personal life: "I have slept with other women but I've not been in love before Myra Stratton. People say I'm gay. All I know is that I'm in love with Myra tratton, my manager I love her completely and want to spend the rest of my life with her." Fox said that she had been reluctant to come out because, having already dealt with obsessed fans and stalkers, she feared fans' possible reactions.She's still up front
Harriet Lane, ''
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 ...
'', 2 February 2003, retrieved 27 May 2009.
In 2009, she announced her plans to form a
civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
with Stratton. In 2015, at 60 years old, Stratton died of
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
, at which point she and Fox had been in a relationship for 16 years. After that Fox began a relationship with her tour manager Linda Birgitte Olsen, a native of Norway. Olsen proposed and the couple became engaged on
Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...
in 2020. They married on 18 June 2022.


Charitable activity

In 2008, Fox donated her favourite bra to a charity auction. In 2011, she appeared as part of a campaign for
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
charity the Albert Kennedy Trust.


Discography

Studio albums * '' Touch Me'' (1986) * ''
Samantha Fox Samantha Karen Fox (born 15 April 1966) is an English pop singer and former glamour model from East London. She rose to public attention aged 16, when her mother entered her photographs in an amateur modelling contest run by ''The Sunday Peopl ...
'' (1987) * ''
I Wanna Have Some Fun ''I Wanna Have Some Fun'' is the third studio album by English singer Samantha Fox. It was released in November 1988 by Jive Records. The album features production from previous collaborators Full Force, Stock Aitken Waterman, Steve Power and S ...
'' (1988) * '' Just One Night'' (1991) * '' 21st Century Fox'' (1997) * ''
Angel with an Attitude ''Angel with an Attitude'' is the sixth studio album released by British recording artist Samantha Fox. Album information ''Angel with an Attitude'' was Fox's first studio album in seven years, following 1998's '' 21st Century Fox''. Fox wrote ...
'' (2005)


Awards and recognition


Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)

Source:


References


External links

*
Official Website
and CIS * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Samantha 1966 births Living people English women pop singers English dance musicians English house musicians English female models Page 3 girls Glamour models LGBT models LGBT musicians from England LGBT singers from the United Kingdom People from Mile End Alumni of the Anna Scher Theatre School Singers from London English Protestants Converts to Protestantism LGBT Protestants English female adult models 20th-century English women singers 20th-century English singers 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants Jive Records artists Sony Music UK artists English lesbian actresses