William Nelson Darnborough (1869–1958) was an American gambler from Bloomington, Illinois, who was known for his success in roulette at

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

from 1904 to 1911. During that time period he amassed a fortune of $415,000.($11,374,844) in 2020 In one of the more legendary feats, Darnborough bet on the number 5 and won on five successive spins.Michael Kaplan and Ellen Kaplan, ''Chances Are...: Adventures in Probability'', page 60-61. Bill Darnborough in Monte Carlo c1908

After his wins, Darnborough married a young woman of noble blood, and lived on an estate in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. His son was the film producer Antony Darnborough (1913–2000) and his daughter, the ballerina

Hermione Darnborough Hermione Maria Louise Darnborough (1915 – 29 October 2010), later Hermione Mathieson, was an English principal ballerina who made her name at Sadler's Wells in the 1930s. She retired at a young age after marrying the conductor and composer Muir M ...

(1915–2010), married the distinguished composer and director of film music,

Muir Mathieson James Muir Mathieson, OBE (24 January 19112 August 1975) was a Scottish conductor and composer. Mathieson was almost always described as a "Musical Director" on many British films. Career Mathieson was born in Stirling, Scotland, in 1911. A ...

. His granddaughter Fiona Mathieson (1951–1987) played Clarrie Grundy in the BBC radio serial ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural sett ...

''. His grandson James Darnborough (born 1969) is a real estate agent and artist based in London and Los Angeles.

References

American gamblers People from Bloomington, Illinois 1869 births 1958 deaths American emigrants to England Roulette and wheel games {{US-bio-stub