Count Theodore Béla Rudolf Zichy de Zich et Vásonkeő ( hu, Zichi és Vásonkeői gróf Zichy Tivadar Béla Rudolf; 13 June 1908 – 30 December 1987) was a British actor, photographer, film director, producer and

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 ...

of Hungarian descent.

Early life

Born in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

in 1908, the son of Count Béla Mária Rudolf Zichy de Zich et Vásonkeő (1868–1944), a Hungarian aristocrat, and an American mother, Mabel Elizabeth Wright (1865–1926), his brother was Edward George Béla Mária Zichy de Zich et Vásonkeő (1898–1958). A great-nephew of

Mihály Zichy Mihály Zichy (; german: Michael von Zichy; 15 October 1827 – 28 February 1906) was a Hungarian painter and graphic artist. He is considered a notable representative of Hungarian romantic painting. He lived and worked primarily in St. Peter ...

, Theodore Zichy held British and Hungarian citizenship.

Career

In 1928, he started racing Bugattis, which he continued on and off until 1932. He learned to fly at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

in the late 1930s, owned a de Havilland Puss Moth registered G-AAXY and kept this at Brooklands from 1938 to 1939 and served in the

Air Transport Auxiliary The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factori ...

as a First Officer from 1940 to 1941. Some forty years later, he recalled his experiences as a ferry pilot in various articles published in Aeroplane Monthly magazine. As a photographer he mainly took pictures of women's legs, feet and shoes. His 1948 photograph portfolio ''Chiaroscuros'' (from the Italian "

chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...

") contained images of

foot The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

and

shoe fetishism Shoe fetishism is the attribution of attractive sexual qualities to shoes or other footwear as a matter of sexual preference, or an alternative or complement to a relationship with a partner. It has also been known as retifism, after the French no ...

.Theodore Zichy on 'Art & Popular Culture' website
/ref> In the mid-1950s he worked as a photographer for Baron Studios in London. His

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

''That Was No Gentleman, That Was Zichy'' was published in 1974.

Film career

As an actor Zichy appeared as 2nd in Command in ''

Gasbags ''Gasbags'' is a 1941 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and Marcel Varnel and starring The Crazy Gang as well as Moore Marriott. The film was a morale-booster in the early part of the Second World War. Production It was shot at the ...

'' (1941), Colonel Borg in ''

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'' is a 1943 British romantic drama war film written, produced and directed by the British film making team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It stars Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr and Anton Walbrook. ...

'' (1943), as the Duel Referee in the TV movie ''

Liebelei ' is a 1933 German period drama film directed by Max Ophüls and starring Magda Schneider, Wolfgang Liebeneiner, and Luise Ullrich. Production The film, based on a play of the same name ('' Liebelei'') by Arthur Schnitzler, describes an ill-f ...

'' (1954), and as a German Agent in ''

Private's Progress ''Private's Progress'' is a 1956 British comedy film based on the novel by Alan Hackney. It was directed and produced by John and Roy Boulting, from a script by John Boulting and Frank Harvey. Plot During the Second World War, young undergrad ...

'' (1956).Zichy
on the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Later, he directed and produced the

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the human pelvis, pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" b ...

''Death Was a Passenger'' (1958), ''Portrait of a Matador'' (1958) and ''Mingaloo'' (1958), also writing the latter, as well as directing and producing the films ''

Night Without Pity ''Night Without Pity'' is a 1961 British crime film directed by Theodore Zichy and starring Sarah Lawson, Neil McCallum, Alan Edwards and Michael Browning. Plot summary Two thieves take a woman and her injured son hostage while they attempt ...

'' (1961) and ''Doomsday at Eleven'' (1963). He produced the film ''

Bomb in the High Street ''Bomb in the High Street'' is a 1963 British drama film directed by Peter Bezencenet and Terry Bishop. It stars Ronald Howard, Terry Palmer, and Suzanna Leigh. Premise A gang of villains carry out a bank robbery disguised as soldiers, creati ...

'' (1961).

Personal life

On 20 February 1928, he married Xenia V. Howard Johnston (1904–1931) in Paris, France; the couple divorced in 1930. In 1964 he married Daphne Barker (previously of the Jack and Daphne Barker Cabaret duo) in London and stayed married to her until her death in 1987. Count Theodore Zichy committed suicide at home, 8 Sandwich Street, London WC1 on 30 December 1987. His death certificate was issued in 1988.Zichy on the Golden Era of GP Racing 1934-40 -Drivers website
/ref>"ZICHY count Theodore Bela Rudolf of 8 Sandwich Street London WC1 died 30 December 1987" in ''Wills and Administrations 1988 (England and Wales)'' (1989), p. 9248

References

External links

Examples of Zichy's Fetish Photography – ''Neutral Density Magazine''

Photographs by Zichy for Baron Studios
– National Portrait Gallery
Photographic portrait of Zichy (1960)
– National Portrait Gallery
Zichy
on the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Zichy, Theodore 1908 births 1987 deaths Suicides in London

Theodore Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Sask ...

English male film actors Photographers from Sussex English film directors English film producers English people of Hungarian descent 20th-century British male actors English people of American descent People from Eastbourne 1987 suicides 20th-century English businesspeople Air Transport Auxiliary pilots