![39-41 Dean Street (geograph 5702589)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/39-41_Dean_Street_%28geograph_5702589%29.jpg)
The Colony Room Club was a private members' drinking club at 41
Dean Street
Dean Street is a street in Soho, central London, running from Oxford Street south to Shaftesbury Avenue.
Historical figures and places
In 1764 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, then a young boy, gave a recital at 21 Dean Street.
Admiral Nelson stayed ...
,
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develop ...
, London. It was founded and presided over by
Muriel Belcher
Muriel Belcher (1908–1979) was an English nightclub owner and artist's model who founded and managed the private drinking club The Colony Room. The club opened in 1948 at 41 Dean Street, Soho, London and became known as "Muriel's". Its long ter ...
from its inception in 1948 until her death in 1979.
The artist
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
was a founder and lifelong member, and the club attracted a mixture of Soho's low-lifes and its alcoholic, artistic elite, including
George Melly
Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for ''The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with an e ...
,
Jeffrey Bernard
Jeffrey Joseph Bernard (; 27 May 1932 – 4 September 1997) was an English journalist, best known for his weekly column "Low Life" in ''The Spectator'' magazine, and also notorious for a feckless and chaotic career and life of alcohol abu ...
and
Lucian Freud
Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewis ...
. Visiting non-members included many names from aristocratic, political and artistic circles, including
Princess Margaret
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...
,
William Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultu ...
,
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
and
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson (; 22 August 1908 – 3 August 2004) was a French humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as cap ...
. The club attracted the
Young British Artists
The Young British Artists, or YBAs—also referred to as Brit artists and Britart—is a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London in 1988. Many of the YBA artists graduated from the BA Fine Art course at Goldsm ...
in the 1990s.
[Coffield, Darren; Koons, Emin.]
Drink-Up Pay-Up F-Off: Tales from the Colony – London’s Lost Bohemia
. ''Artlyst'', 9 May 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2022
1948–1979 Muriel Belcher
In 1948, Muriel Belcher secured a 3pm-to-11pm drinking licence for The Colony Room Club as a private members club (public houses had to close at 2.30pm). The room was operated by Belcher from that year until her death in 1979.
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
was a founding member, walking in the day after it opened. He was "adopted" by Belcher who called him "Daughter", and gave him free drinks and £10 a week to bring in friends and rich patrons.
The club was located in a tiny first-floor room in
Dean Street
Dean Street is a street in Soho, central London, running from Oxford Street south to Shaftesbury Avenue.
Historical figures and places
In 1764 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, then a young boy, gave a recital at 21 Dean Street.
Admiral Nelson stayed ...
,
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develop ...
, and was notorious for its decor as well as its clientele. Originally smartly decorated in a colonial style, it was repainted in the 1950s; its green walls became famous. Members described the staircase that led to the establishment as foul-smelling and flanked by dustbins, and talked of "going up the dirty stairs".
The club played an important role in Soho society. Members in Belcher's time also included
Daniel Farson
Daniel James Negley Farson (8 January 1927 – 27 November 1997) was a British writer and broadcaster, strongly identified with the early days of commercial television in the UK, when his sharp, investigative style contrasted with the BBC's mor ...
;
Michael Andrews;
John Deakin
John Deakin (8 May 1912 – 25 May 1972) was an English photographer, best known for his work centred on members of Francis Bacon (artist), Francis Bacon's The Colony Room, Soho inner circle. Bacon based a number of famous paintings on photogra ...
; and
Henrietta Moraes, whose portrait by Bacon sold for £21.3 million in February 2012.
Belcher's open attitude towards sexuality attracted many gay men to the club, many of them brought there by her Jamaican girlfriend, Carmel. Belcher had a knack for attracting or discovering interesting and colourful people, and the patronage of men such as
George Melly
Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for ''The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with an e ...
and Francis Bacon helped to establish the Colony Room Club's close-knit community. Bacon's friend
Lady Rose McLaren
Lady Rose Mary Primrose McLaren (née Paget; 21 July 1919 – 1 November 2005) was a British aristocrat, the fourth daughter of the 6th Marquess of Anglesey.
The Paget family (the Marquesses of Anglesey) resided in Plas Newydd and Beaudesert ...
was a habituée of the club in her London days.
According to the
Museum of London
The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall, London, Gui ...
website, "The Colony Room was one of many drinking clubs in Soho. The autocratic and temperamental owner Muriel Belcher created an ambiance which suited those who thought of themselves as misfits or outsiders". Belcher has been described as "an imperious lesbian with a fondness for insulting banter".
George Melly said of her, "Muriel was a benevolent witch, who managed to draw in all London's talent up those filthy stairs. She was like a great cook, working with the ingredients of people and drink. And she loved money."
[Miles, Barry]
''London Calling: A Countercultural History of London since 1945''
Atlantic Books, 2010.
1979–1994 Ian Board
After Belcher's death in 1979, the club was passed to her long-time barman
Ian Board (known as "Ida"), who held it until his death in 1994.
Brian Patten
Brian Patten (born 7 February 1946) is an English poet and author. He came to prominence in the 1960s as one of the Liverpool poets, and writes primarily lyrical poetry about human relationships. His famous works include "Little Johnny's Confessio ...
described the Colony Room Club as "a small urinal full of fractious old geezers bitching about each other". For
Molly Parkin
Molly Parkin (born Molly Noyle Thomas, 3 February 1932) is a Welsh painter, novelist and journalist, who became most well-known for her work on ''Nova'' magazine, newspapers and television in the 1960s.
Early life
Parkin was born on 3 February ...
, the club was "a character-building glorious hellhole. Everyone left their careers at the roadside before clambering the stairs and plunging into questionable behaviour".
Clive Jennings says of regular clientele such as Jeffrey Barnard that "the lethal triangle of
The French,
The Coach & Horses and The Colony were the staging points of the Dean Street shuffle, with occasional forays into other joints such as
The Gargoyle or the Mandrake ...
The Groucho
The Groucho Club is a private members' club formed in 1985 located on Dean Street in London's Soho. Its members are mostly drawn from the publishing, media, entertainment and arts industries.
The club has rooms on several floors, including thr ...
or Blacks".
1994–2008 Michael Wojas
The club then passed to Ian Board's barman
Michael Wojas, whom he had employed since 1981. He had the club repainted in a "rather bilious green".
It became a cultural magnet for the Young British Artists group (YBAs), including
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst (; né
Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...
,
Sarah Lucas
Sarah Lucas (born 1962) is an English artist. She is part of the generation of Young British Artists who emerged during the 1990s. Her works frequently employ visual puns and bawdy humour by incorporating photography, collage and found objects.
...
,
Tracey Emin
Tracey Karima Emin, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Associate of the Royal Academy, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawi ...
and
Joshua Compston, as well as musicians such as
Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Jane Stansfield (born 11 April 1966) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her career began in 1980 when she won the singing competition ''Search for a Star''. After appearances in various television shows and releasing her first ...
. As a promotional device, Wojas persuaded famous members, including
Kate Moss
Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is a British model. Arriving at the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her to fas ...
and
Sam Taylor-Wood
Samantha Louise Taylor-Johnson OBE ( née Taylor-Wood; 4 March 1967) is a British filmmaker and photographer. Her directorial feature film debut was 2009's '' Nowhere Boy'', a film based on the childhood experiences of The Beatles songwriter ...
to serve drinks from behind the bar.
[ Hirst explained that the attraction of the club was "because artists like drinking".
]
Closure
In 2008, Wojas announced that financial pressure would result in his not renewing the lease of the club, and it would have to close.[ He auctioned off some works of art, including a large Michael Andrews painting, which Wojas argued were under his control. The sale raised £40,000.][ Wojas's actions triggered furious opposition from some members who believed that the assets belonged to the members, and took Wojas to court to freeze the proceeds of the auction. A new governing committee was elected, amidst scenes of conflict between pro- and anti-Wojas factions.]
A campaign to keep the club open was fronted by dandy and artist Sebastian Horsley
Sebastian Horsley (born Marcus A. Horsley; 8 August 1962 – 17 June 2010) was an English artist and writer. Horsley's writing often revolved around his dysfunctional family, his flamboyant and eccentric behavior, his drug addictions, sex, and ...
, attempting to secure the use of the premises in the future. According to Horsley: "it has been a vibrant, unique and historical drinking den for artists, writers, musicians, actors and their acolytes. There is nowhere else like it in the world." He also said: "The Colony is a living work of art, it's a tragedy what's happening. From Bacon to Beckett, Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he start ...
to Rotten
Rotten may refer to:
* Axl Rotten, ring name of American professional wrestler Brian Knighton (1971–2016)
* Bonnie Rotten, American former pornographic actress, feature dancer, fetish model, and director
* Ian Rotten, ring name of American profe ...
, the Colony must not be forgotten."
Wojas kept the keys to the club and closed the Colony Room Club at the end of 2008. Dick Bradsell
Richard Arthur Bradsell (4 May 1959 – 27 February 2016) was a British bartender noted for his innovative work with cocktails, including the creation of many new drinks now considered to be modern classics.
''The Observer'' described him as th ...
was working as barman at the time of closure.[
In his epitaph for the Colony Room Club, novelist ]Will Self
William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Sel ...
argued against the view that the closure demonstrated that "the old Soho is being killed off by smoking bans and other sanitising measures. The truth is that there was another criterion for membership: the hardcore members were first and foremost raging alcoholics."
Cultural depictions
* 1962: Michael Andrews painted ''Colony Room I'', which depicted Muriel Belcher, Ian Board, Daniel Farson, Lucian Freud
Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewis ...
and Francis Bacon. The painting, on loan from Pallant House, was included in the exhibition ''All Too Human: Bacon, Freud and a Century of Painting Life'' at Tate Britain
Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...
in 2018.
* 1998: Bacon, Belcher and the club were featured in John Maybury
John Maybury (born 25 March 1958) is an English filmmaker and artist. He first came to prominence as the director of the music video for the Pet Shop Boys 1984 single "West End Girls". In 2005 he was named as one of the 100 most influential gay ...
's film '' Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon'', in which Belcher was played by Tilda Swinton
Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...
.
* 2008: A fictionalised version appeared in the first story ("''Foie Humain''") of Will Self's collection ''Liver
The liver is a major Organ (anatomy), organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for ...
''.
* 2008: The club was used as the set/venue for the ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
show '' Suggs in the City''.
* 2012: ''The Colony Room Club 1948–2008: A History of Bohemian Soho'' was written and published by Sophie Parkin.
* 2013: ''Harpers & Queen
''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...
'' published Carla Borel's photo series ''Stillsoho'', which included documentation of the club and its members such as Sebastian Horsley.
* 2013: The club was parodied as "The Colonial Club" in Matt Berry
Matthew Charles Berry (born 2 May 1974) is an English actor, comedian, musician, and writer. He is best known for his roles in comedy series such as '' The IT Crowd'', ''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'', ''The Mighty Boosh'', ''Snuff Box'', ''What ...
's ''Toast of London
''Toast of…'' is a British television sitcom, known either as ''Toast of London'' (when it was set in London) or ''Toast of Tinseltown'' (with episodes set in America). It was created by Arthur Mathews and Matt Berry and stars Berry as Steve ...
''.
* 2018: The club under Ian Board was described in detail in Christopher Howse's ''Soho in the Eighties'', published by Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions.
Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...
.
* 2018: ''Tales From The Colony: The Lost Bohemia of Bacon, Belcher & Board'', was a history of the club based on interviews with former members, written by Darren Coffield.
The British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
holds a collection of prints, ''Colony Room Suite'', depicting Muriel Belcher, Francis Bacon and Ian Board, amongst other members of the club, made by the artist Michael Clark.
Notable members
Well-known members of the Colony Room Club included:
* Jankel Adler
Jankel Adler (born Jankiel Jakub Adler; 26 July 1895 – 25 April 1949) was a Polish Jewish painter and printmaking, printmaker.
Biography
Jankiel Jakub Adler was born as the seventh of ten children in Tuszyn, a suburb of Łódź. In 1912 he be ...
* Michael Andrews
* Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer, February 3, 1927) is an American underground experimental filmmaker, actor, and author. Working exclusively in short films, he has produced almost 40 works since 1937, nine of which have been grouped ...
* Frank Auerbach
Frank Helmut Auerbach (born 29 April 1931) is a German-British painter. Born in Germany, he has been a naturalised British subject since 1947. He is considered one of the leading names in the School of London, with fellow artists Francis Bacon ...
* Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
* Keith Bailey
* Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the Fourth Doctor, fourth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Wh ...
* George Barker
* Timothy Behrens
Timothy John Behrens (2 June 1937 – 2017) was a British painter who spent most of his professional life as a painter and a writer abroad, in Greece, Italy, and Spain.
Early life
Timothy John Behrens was born in London on 2 June 1937, the so ...
* Elinor Bellingham-Smith
Elinor Bellingham-Smith (28 December 1906 – 4 November 1988) was a British painter of landscapes and still life. Her paintings are in the collections of Tate, Museums Sheffield, the Government Art Collection, Arts Council Collection and other m ...
* Bruce Bernard
Bruce Bernard (; 21 March 1928 – 29 March 2000) was an English picture editor, writer and photographer. He wrote for the '' Sunday Times'' and the ''Independent'' and photographed many influential artists in a career lasting nearly 40 years. ...
* Jeffrey Bernard
Jeffrey Joseph Bernard (; 27 May 1932 – 4 September 1997) was an English journalist, best known for his weekly column "Low Life" in ''The Spectator'' magazine, and also notorious for a feckless and chaotic career and life of alcohol abu ...
* Lady Caroline Blackwood
Lady Caroline Blackwood (16 July 1931 – 14 February 1996) was an English writer, and the eldest child of the 4th Marquess of Dufferin and Ava and the brewery heiress Maureen Guinness.
Active in the literary world through her journalism an ...
* Peter Blake
* Isabella Blow
Isabella "Issie" Blow (nee Delves Broughton; 19 November 1958 – 7 May 2007) was an English magazine editor. As the muse of hat designer Philip Treacy, she is credited with discovering the models Stella Tennant and Sophie Dahl as well as pr ...
* Carla Borel
* Maurice Bowra
Sir Cecil Maurice Bowra, (; 8 April 1898 – 4 July 1971) was an English classical scholar, literary critic and academic, known for his wit. He was Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, from 1938 to 1970, and served as Vice-Chancellor of the Univer ...
* Garech Browne
Garech Domnagh Browne (25 June 1939 – 10 March 2018) was an Irish art collector and a notable patron of Irish arts, traditional Irish music in particular. He was often known by the Irish designation of his name, Garech de Brún, or alternativel ...
* Robert Carrier
* Patrick Caulfield
Patrick Joseph Caulfield, (29 January 1936 – 29 September 2005), was an English painter and printmaker known for his bold canvases, which often incorporated elements of photorealism within a pared-down scene. Examples of his work are ''Po ...
* Michael Clark
* Darren Coffield
* Robert Colquhoun
Robert Colquhoun (20 December 1914 – 20 September 1962) was a Scotland, Scottish Painting, painter, printmaker and theatre Scenic design, set designer.
Colquhoun was born in Kilmarnock and was educated at Kilmarnock Academy. He won a s ...
* Joshua Compston
* Keith Coventry
Keith Coventry is a British artist and curator.Burgess, John, Coventry, Keith, Hale, Matt, Noble, Paul, Owen, Peter. "City Racing: The Life and Times of an Artist-Run Gallery ardcover. Black Dog Publishing Ltd; illustrated edition (11 November ...
* John Deakin
John Deakin (8 May 1912 – 25 May 1972) was an English photographer, best known for his work centred on members of Francis Bacon (artist), Francis Bacon's The Colony Room, Soho inner circle. Bacon based a number of famous paintings on photogra ...
* Tom Driberg
Thomas Edward Neil Driberg, Baron Bradwell (22 May 1905 – 12 August 1976) was a British journalist, politician, High Anglican churchman and possible Soviet spy, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1942 to 1955, and again from 195 ...
* Paul Duane
Paul Duane is an Irish-born writer and director of television and film.
Career
Duane has directed television programmes including: Ballykissangel, Casualty, The Royal, Small Potatoes and Footballer's Wives.
He has also made several short fi ...
* Denholm Elliott
Denholm Mitchell Elliott, (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor, with more than 125 film and television credits. His well-known roles include the abortionist in ''Alfie'' (1966), Marcus Brody in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981 ...
* Michael Elphick
Michael John Elphick (19 September 1946 – 7 September 2002) was an English film and television actor. He played the eponymous private investigator in the ITV series ''Boon'' and Harry Slater in BBC's ''EastEnders''. He was nominated for ...
* Tracey Emin
Tracey Karima Emin, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Associate of the Royal Academy, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawi ...
* Sandy Fawkes
* Daniel Farson
Daniel James Negley Farson (8 January 1927 – 27 November 1997) was a British writer and broadcaster, strongly identified with the early days of commercial television in the UK, when his sharp, investigative style contrasted with the BBC's mor ...
* Barry Flanagan
Barry Flanagan OBE RA (11 January 1941 – 31 August 2009) was an Irish-Welsh sculptor. He is best known for his bronze statues of hares and other animals.
Biography
Barry Flanagan was born on 11 January 1941 in Prestatyn, North Wales. ...
* E. M. Forster
Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...
* Robert Fraser
* Lucian Freud
Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewis ...
* Christian Furr
Christian Furr (born 1966, Heswall, Wirral, England) is an English painter. In 1995 he was commissioned to paint Queen Elizabeth II.
Education
Furr was educated at Ladymount Primary School, Heswall and St Anselm's College, Birkenhead. He lat ...
* Allan Hall
* Nina Hamnett
Nina Hamnett (14 February 1890 – 16 December 1956) was a Welsh artist and writer, and an expert on sailors' chanteys, who became known as the Queen of Bohemia.
Early life
Hamnett was born in Shirley House, Picton Road in the small c ...
* Michael Heath
* Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst (; né
Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...
* Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...
* Eric Hobsbawm
Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm (; 9 June 1917 – 1 October 2012) was a British historian of the rise of industrial capitalism, socialism and nationalism. A life-long Marxist, his socio-political convictions influenced the character of his work. H ...
* Michael Horovitz
Michael Yechiel Ha-Levi Horovitz (4 April 1935 – 7 July 2021) was a German-born British poet, editor, visual artist and translator who was a leading part of the Beat Poetry scene in the UK. In 1959, while still a student, he founded the "t ...
* Sebastian Horsley
Sebastian Horsley (born Marcus A. Horsley; 8 August 1962 – 17 June 2010) was an English artist and writer. Horsley's writing often revolved around his dysfunctional family, his flamboyant and eccentric behavior, his drug addictions, sex, and ...
* Trevor Howard
Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith (29 September 1913 – 7 January 1988) was an English stage, film, and television actor. After varied work in the theatre, he achieved star status with his role in the film ''Brief Encounter'' (1945), followed by ''T ...
* Barry Humphries
John Barry Humphries (born 17 February 1934) is an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He is best known for writing and playing his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He is also a film prod ...
* John Hurt
Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...
* Alex James
* Augustus John
Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...
* Christine Keeler
Christine Margaret Keeler (22 February 1942 – 4 December 2017) was an English model and showgirl. Her meeting at a dance club with society osteopath Stephen Ward drew her into fashionable circles. At the height of the Cold War, she became s ...
* Mary Kenny
Mary Kenny (born 4 April 1944) is an Irish journalist, broadcaster and playwright. A founding member of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement, she was one of the country's first and foremost feminists, often contributes columns to the ''Irish I ...
* R. B. Kitaj
Ronald Brooks Kitaj (; October 29, 1932 – October 21, 2007) was an American artist who spent much of his life in England.
Life
He was born in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, United States. His Hungarian father, Sigmund Benway, left his mother, Jeanne ...
* Burt Kwouk
Herbert Tsangtse Kwouk, (; ; 18 July 1930 – 24 May 2016) was a British actor, known for his role as Cato in the ''Pink Panther'' films. He made appearances in many television programmes, including a portrayal of Imperial Japanese Army Ma ...
* Kit Lambert
Christopher Sebastian "Kit" Lambert (11 May 1935 – 7 April 1981) was a British record producer, record label owner and the manager of The Who.
Biography
Early life
Kit Lambert was born on 11 May 1935, the son of composer Constant Lamb ...
* Jay Landesman
Irving Ned "Jay" Landesman (July 15, 1919 – February 20, 2011) was an American publisher, nightclub owner, writer, and long-time expatriate resident in London, England.
With the Beats
He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of the fo ...
* Peter Langan
Langan's Brasserie is a restaurant situated on Stratton Street in Mayfair, London. Opened by the Irish entrepreneur Peter Langan on 20 October 1976 in partnership with the actor Michael Caine, the Brasserie (which had previously housed the ornat ...
* Ben Langlands
* Sarah Lucas
Sarah Lucas (born 1962) is an English artist. She is part of the generation of Young British Artists who emerged during the 1990s. Her works frequently employ visual puns and bawdy humour by incorporating photography, collage and found objects.
...
* Robert MacBryde
Robert MacBryde (5 December 1913 – 6 May 1966) was a Scotland, Scottish still-life and figure painter and a theatre Scenic design, set designer. Early life and career
MacBryde was born in Maybole, Ayrshire, to John MacBryde, a cement laboure ...
* Colin MacInnes
Colin MacInnes (20 August 1914 – 22 April 1976) was an English novelist and journalist.
Early life
MacInnes was born in London, the son of singer James Campbell McInnes and novelist Angela Mackail, who was the granddaughter of the Pre-Rap ...
* Lady Rose McLaren
Lady Rose Mary Primrose McLaren (née Paget; 21 July 1919 – 1 November 2005) was a British aristocrat, the fourth daughter of the 6th Marquess of Anglesey.
The Paget family (the Marquesses of Anglesey) resided in Plas Newydd and Beaudesert ...
* Louis MacNeice
Frederick Louis MacNeice (12 September 1907 – 3 September 1963) was an Irish poet and playwright, and a member of the Auden Group, which also included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis. MacNeice's body of work was widely a ...
* John McVicar
John McVicar (21 March 1940 – 6 September 2022) was a British journalist and convicted one-time armed robber who escaped from prison.
Career As a criminal
McVicar's criminal career began in his teens with shop break-ins and car thefts. In 1 ...
* John Maybury
John Maybury (born 25 March 1958) is an English filmmaker and artist. He first came to prominence as the director of the music video for the Pet Shop Boys 1984 single "West End Girls". In 2005 he was named as one of the 100 most influential gay ...
* George Melly
Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for ''The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with an e ...
* John Minton
* Henrietta Moraes
* Kate Moss
Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is a British model. Arriving at the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her to fas ...
* Rodrigo Moynihan
* Tim Noble and Sue Webster
Timothy Noble (born 1966) and Susan Webster (born 1967), are British artists who work as a collaborative duo. They are associated with the post-YBA generation of artists.
Early lives and careers
Noble and Webster attended fine art foundation ...
* Frank Norman
Frank Norman (9 June 1930 – 23 December 1980) was a British novelist and playwright.
His reputation rests on his first memoir ''Bang to Rights'' (1958) and his musical play ''Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be'' (1960), but much of the remainder ...
* Molly Parkin
Molly Parkin (born Molly Noyle Thomas, 3 February 1932) is a Welsh painter, novelist and journalist, who became most well-known for her work on ''Nova'' magazine, newspapers and television in the 1960s.
Early life
Parkin was born on 3 February ...
* Thea Porter
* Cedric Price
Cedric Price FRIBA (11 September 1934 – 10 August 2003) was an English architect and influential teacher and writer on architecture.
The son of an architect (A.G. Price, who worked with Harry Weedon), Price was born in Stone, Staffordshire ...
* David Remfry
David Remfry (born 1942 in Worthing, England) is a British painter and curator. He was the Eranda Professor of Drawing at the Royal Academy Schools from 2016 - 2018 and a Judge for the Royal Academy of Arts Charles Wollaston Award 2021. In ...
* Jo Self
Jo Self (née Lee; born 15 January 1956) is an English contemporary artist and poet.
Background
Self was born and grew up on a Hertfordshire rural housing estate. Before becoming an artist, she worked in various jobs including as a croupier ...
* Will Self
William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Sel ...
* Elizabeth Smart
Elizabeth Ann Gilmour (née Smart; born November 3, 1987) is an American child safety activist and commentator for ABC News. She gained national attention at age 14 when she was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City by Brian David Mitchell. ...
* Stephen Spender
Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by the ...
* Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Jane Stansfield (born 11 April 1966) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her career began in 1980 when she won the singing competition ''Search for a Star''. After appearances in various television shows and releasing her first ...
* Janet Street-Porter
Janet Vera Street-Porter (''née'' Bull; born 27 December 1946) is an English broadcaster, journalist, writer, and media personality. She began her career as a fashion writer and columnist at the ''Daily Mail'' and was later appointed fashion e ...
* Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...
* David Sylvester
Anthony David Bernard Sylvester (21 September 1924 – 19 June 2001) was a British art critic and curator. Although he received no formal education in the arts, during his long career he was influential in promoting modern artists, in particula ...
* Patrick Swift Patrick may refer to:
*Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name
*Patrick (surname), list of people with this name
People
*Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint
*Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick or ...
* Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...
* Gavin Turk
Gavin Turk (born 1967) is a British artist from Guildford in Surrey, and is considered to be one of the Young British Artists.Tate Modern. (2009)'Pop Life: Art in a Material World' Retrieved 14 August 2012. Turk's oeuvre deals with issues of aut ...
* Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith (12 May 1957 – 10 December 2022) was a British film, television and radio producer, a television and restaurant critic, a satirist and newspaper columnist. He was executive producer of the ITV1 Annual National Food & Drin ...
* Keith Vaughan
John Keith Vaughan (23 August 1912 – 4 November 1977), was a British painter.
Biography
Born at Selsey in West Sussex, Vaughan attended Christ's Hospital school. He worked in an advertising agency until the World War II, when as an intending ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
360' of interior
60th birthday essay by Sophie Parkin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colony Room Club, The
2008 disestablishments in England
Nightclubs in London
Former pubs in London
Pubs in Soho