Former glamour model and actress
Fiona Richmond
|
---|
Born
| Julia Rosamund Harrison
(
1945-03-02
)
2 March 1945
(age 79)
|
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Other names
| Amber St. George,
[1]
Amber Harrison
|
---|
Spouse
| James Montgomery (1983-1998)
|
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Partner
| Paul Raymond
(1970-1977)
|
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Fiona Richmond
(born 2 March 1945) is an English former
glamour model
and actress who appeared in numerous risque plays, comedy revues, magazines and films during the 1970s.
[2]
She became Britain’s best-known
sex symbol
[3]
and she has been described as one of the "two hottest British sex film stars of the seventies", the other being
Mary Millington
.
[4]
Early life
[
edit
]
Richmond was born Julia Rosamund Harrison in
Hilborough
,
Norfolk
, the daughter of the Reverend John Harrison.
[5]
At school she qualified for university but chose to audition for drama schools with the aim of becoming an actress.
[1]
She initially worked as an air stewardess, then as a nanny for the actress
Diane Cilento
,
[3]
[2]
and subsequently as a
Playboy Club
croupier.
[6]
Acting career
[
edit
]
Richmond met the British strip-club owner and publisher
Paul Raymond
in 1970 when she auditioned for a part in the nude farce
Pyjama Tops
at the
Whitehall Theatre
in London.
[7]
She was awarded the part
[3]
and went on to star at the
Raymond Revuebar
strip club, appear in nude photo shoots and work as an adult entertainment journalist, writing articles about sex for the UK’s top shelf magazines. In 1970 she was the subject of a TV documentary
The Actress Said
.
[2]
Her column in Raymond's
Men Only
magazine, in which she described her supposed sexual adventures with men and women around the world,
[8]
brought her some fame. In 1974 she appeared as a regular sex adviser on the
London Broadcasting Company
, a British talk radio and phone-in station. In the same year she made the TV documentary
What the Actress said to the Bishop
which won a gold award at the
Atlanta International Film Festival
.
[1]
In 1976 the
News of the World
printed a picture of Richmond in the
Crystal Palace F.C.
players' bath with Crystal Palace’s manager
Malcolm Allison
, as a result of which Allison was charged with bringing the game in into disrepute by
The Football Association
.
[9]
She made her film debut (billed under the name Amber Harrison) in
Not Tonight, Darling
(1971),
[10]
which led to larger roles in
X-rated
movies such as the psychological thriller
Expose
(1976).
[11]
Others included
Hardcore
(1977) ? also titled
Frankly Fiona
? a sex comedy in which she played herself, partially based on an autobiography she had written, and
Let's Get Laid
(1977), a mistaken-identity comedy that had no connection to the stage show of the same name.
[12]
She also appeared in Raymond's
Electric Blue
video series,
[13]
hosting the first of them in 1979.
[14]
Her later roles included the Queen of France in the
Mel Brooks
comedy
History of the World, Part I
(1981),
[15]
an appearance in an episode of the TV comedy series
The Comic Strip Presents...
in 1983,
[16]
and the role of Fiona the
KGB
agent in the all-star black comedy
Eat The Rich
(1987).
[17]
She also recorded the spoken word album
Frankly Fiona
in 1973, in collaboration with
Anthony Newley
,
[18]
adding
erotic talk
to Newley's songs.
Richmond appeared in many of Paul Raymond's stage shows.
[7]
From 1970 until 1974 she starred as a nude swimmer in
Pyjama Tops
,
[20]
the
West End
's first nude production, which ran at the Whitehall Theatre
[21]
for five years from 1969.
[22]
The play, set around a transparent-sided swimming pool into which nude actresses periodically plunged, was an English version of the French farce
Moumou
.
[23]
Richmond also starred in the play's 1972 tour.
[24]
In 1974 she appeared on stage at the
Windmill Theatre
with
John Inman
in
Let's Get Laid
,
[2]
a sex sketch comedy written by
Victor Spinetti
.
The play was the first to be performed in the newly re-opened theatre, and to promote it she rode a horse through Piccadilly Circus in the style of
Lady Godiva
.
[25]
[3]
In 1977 she starred opposite
Divine
in the women's prison comedy
Women Behind Bars
at the Whitehall Theatre.
[26]
In 1979 she went on tour as the star of
Yes, We Have No Pyjamas
,
[27]
another of Raymond's nude productions.
[28]
She starred in the 1980-81 Paul Raymond production of
Wot! No Pyjamas!
at the Whitehall Theatre and its subsequent tour.
[29]
Semi-naked photos of Richmond appeared on posters outside the Whitehall Theatre, and the
Greater London Council
took legal action against them.
In 1982 she starred in the nude stage farce
Space in My Pyjamas
[31]
[32]
which toured the provinces for over 15 weeks.
[33]
In a TV interview promoting the tour she expressed her intention to give up nude shows in favour of more serious acting.
[34]
Richmond has published many fictional and autobiographical books based on her sexual experiences, including
Fiona
(1976),
[35]
Story of I
(1978),
[36]
On the Road by Fiona
(1979),
[37]
Galactic Girl
(1980),
[38]
Remember Paris
(1980),
[39]
The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful
(1980),
[40]
From Here to Virginity
(1981),
[41]
In Depth
(1982)
[42]
and
Tell Tale Tits
(1987).
Her last showbusiness appearances were in the 1990s, including guest spots on
James Randi
: Psychic Investigator
(1991),
[44]
[
self-published source
]
The Truth About Women
(1992),
[
citation needed
]
and as an uncredited extra in
The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous
(1997).
[45]
Personal life
[
edit
]
By the time Paul Raymond met Fiona Richmond he was already separated from his wife Jean. Richmond became his girlfriend
[8]
and the pair were a celebrity couple
[2]
from 1970 until 1977, living together in London
[3]
in a flat in
Portman Square
.
[8]
Raymond admitted adultery with Richmond, and his wife divorced him in 1974
after 23 years of marriage, receiving a £250,000 settlement.
[47]
He gave Richmond a yellow
Jaguar E-Type
sports car with the
personalised number plate
FU2, and she became recognised driving it around the West End.
Despite his wealth she continued to work, as she valued her independence.
[8]
Following Raymond's death on 2 March 2008, Richmond gave an interview to the
Daily Mirror
about him:
We had fabulous times touring the world looking for acts for the Raymond Revue bar[
sic
] ... [Paul Raymond] had a boat on the south of France called
Veste Demitte
. The closest translation from the Latin is "Get ‘Em Off...." He was one of the last great showmen. Everyone today is just so much more boring.
[7]
Having become exhausted by the show business lifestyle she left Raymond, though they remained friends.
[8]
In 1978 she expressed her intention to marry James Montgomery, the presenter of
Southern Television
's regional news programme
Day by Day
.
[49]
Richmond had met Montgomery when she appeared on a TV show he was producing to promote a book she had written.
The pair were married in 1983 and had one daughter, Tara,
[3]
born in 1984.
[5]
In that year Richmond retired from show business, going on to run a fashion company and work as a journalist.
[7]
The couple were divorced in 1998
[5]
but she retained her married name of Julia Montgomery.
[7]
[8]
Richmond subsequently became a hotelier with her partner, former pig farmer Peter Pilbrow.
[7]
[3]
By 2001 they owned and ran two establishments: "Petit Bacaye Cottage Hotel" on the Caribbean island of
Grenada
, and "The Onion Store", an English
bed and breakfast
house in Hampshire.
[8]
[25]
[51]
She went on to spend time in both countries and raise funds for the charity Gift Grenada.
[3]
Richmond gave an interview after the release of the 2013 Paul Raymond biopic
The Look of Love
directed by
Michael Winterbottom
in which she was played by
Tamsin Egerton
.
[52]
She talked positively about the magazine modelling work she did in the 1970s, saying:
"I didn’t have any problems taking my top off. There is nothing wrong with the naked female form and my photo shoots for Men Only were always pretty. Nowadays they are more suitable for trainee gynaecologists."
[3]
However, she was critical of the film saying that it portrayed a sleazy side of her life that never happened,
[53]
and that most of the script changes she had suggested to make the film more accurate had not been taken up.
[3]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
Year
|
Title
|
Publisher
|
ISBN
|
Pages
|
Notes
|
1977
|
Fiona
|
Star Books (imprint of
W.H. Allen
)
|
978-0-352-39877-2
|
208
|
First edition by Fiona Press Inc. / Club Paperback 1976
|
1978
|
Story of I
|
Star Books
|
978-0-352-30520-6
|
208
|
|
1979
|
On the Road
|
Star Books
|
978-0-426-18809-4
|
204
|
|
1980
|
Galactic Girl
|
Star Books
|
978-0-352-30748-4
|
140
|
|
1980
|
The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful
|
Star Books
|
978-0-352-30556-5
|
157
|
|
1981
|
From Here to Virginity
|
Star Books
|
978-0-352-30964-8
|
145
|
|
1982
|
In Depth
|
Arrow Books
|
978-0-099-29880-9
|
190
|
|
1987
|
Tell Tale Tits: Her Revealing Autobiography
|
Cassell Illustrated
|
978-0-713-71896-6
|
192
|
|
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Iredale, Paul (26 November 1974).
"Minister's Daughter Sex Program Hostess"
.
The Leader-Post
. Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Reuters. p. 6.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Fiona Richmond at her Pleasure"
.
British Film Institute
. Retrieved
25 February
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
Levin, Angela (19 April 2013).
"King of Soho's muse: Coogan has invaded my privacy"
.
The Telegraph
.
- ^
Upton, Julian (2004).
Fallen stars: tragic lives and lost careers
. Headpress/Critical Vision. p. 39.
ISBN
9781900486385
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Person Page 26112,
Julia Rosamund Harrison
"
.
thePeerage.com
. Lundy, Darryl. 21 January 2008
. Retrieved
25 January
2010
.
- ^
Curtis, Nick (5 April 2013).
"
'Paul Raymond made his living off sex. I make my living by being funny,' says Steve Coogan"
.
Evening Standard
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Webster, Nick (8 March 2008).
"70s porn queen Fiona Richmond on her lover Paul Raymond"
.
Daily Mirror
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Brewis, Kathy (17 August 2008).
"The real Paul Raymond"
.
The Times
. London. Archived from
the original
on 15 June 2011.
- ^
Taylor, Daniel (15 October 2010).
"Malcolm Allison was the best coach this country has ever had, says Mike Summerbee"
.
The Guardian
.
- ^
"Not Tonight, Darling (1971)"
.
IMDb
. Retrieved
25 March
2021
.
- ^
Normanton, Peter (2012).
"Expose"
.
The Mammoth Book of Slasher Movies
. Hachette UK.
ISBN
9781780330419
.
- ^
Willetts, Paul (2010).
Members Only: The Life and Times of Paul Raymond
. Profile Books. pp. 320?321.
ISBN
9781847653024
.
- ^
Ronay, Barney (2010).
The Manager: The absurd ascent of the most important man in football
. Hachette.
ISBN
9780748117703
.
- ^
Halligan, Benjamin (2022).
Hotbeds of Licentiousness: The British Glamour Film and the Permissive Society
. Berghahn Books. p. 155.
ISBN
9781800734876
.
- ^
"History of the World: Part I (1981) ? Full Cast & Crew"
.
IMDb
. Retrieved
30 March
2021
.
- ^
"Fiona Richmond"
.
British Comedy Guide
. Retrieved
18 May
2022
.
- ^
"Eat the Rich (1987) ? Full Cast & Crew"
.
IMDb
. Retrieved
8 April
2021
.
- ^
"Paul Raymond Presents Fiona ? Frankly Fiona (1973, Vinyl)"
.
Discogs
. Retrieved
12 April
2021
.
- ^
Sierz, Aleks (2019).
Good Nights Out: A History of Popular British Theatre 1940-2015
. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 70.
ISBN
9781350046238
.
- ^
Lister, David (4 October 2015).
"Whitehall pulls up its trousers for a listing"
.
The Independent
.
- ^
Brown, Colin (2009).
Whitehall: The Street that Shaped a Nation
. Simon and Schuster.
ISBN
9781847377388
.
- ^
Willetts, Paul (2013). "Chapter 27: Yes, We Have No Pyjamas".
The Look of Love: The Life and Times of Paul Raymond, Soho's King of Clubs
. Profile Books.
ISBN
9781847659941
.
- ^
Hayward, Anthony (31 March 2015).
"Roger Kitter: Stand-up comedian and actor best known for taking over the role of Captain Bertorelli in
Allo 'Allo!'
"
.
The Independent
.
- ^
a
b
"British mores stripped bare"
.
Herald Scotsman
. 29 June 2001.
- ^
Jay, Bernard (1994).
Not Simply Divine
. Simon and Schuster. pp. 40?41.
ISBN
9780671884673
.
- ^
Laws, Roz (10 November 2016).
"The Full Monty is coming to Birmingham Hippodrome but who else has been naked on stage in the city?"
.
Birmingham Mail
.
- ^
Lawrence; Goldman, eds. (2013).
"Raymond, Paul"
.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005-2008
. Oxford University Press. p. 940.
ISBN
9780199671540
.
- ^
"Wot! No Pyjamas! - Leaflet, 1981"
.
Our Theatre Royal
. Nottingham
. Retrieved
31 March
2021
.
- ^
"Day 3: how an Irishman in drag saved the Pavilion"
.
Evening Times
. Glasgow. 15 November 2006 – via pressreader.
- ^
"Poster advertising 'Space in My Pyjamas' at Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, 1982"
.
Victoria & Albert Museum
.
- ^
Marshall, Ray (26 September 2007).
"Remember When: Naughty but not so nice for Fiona; 70s sex siren who fell out with the city and the Chronicle"
.
Evening Chronicle
. Newcastle – via Free Online Library.
- ^
"Central News: 09.09.1982: Fiona Richmond"
.
Central Television
. 9 September 1982.
- ^
Hunt, Leon (2013).
British Low Culture: From Safari Suits to Sexploitation
. Routledge. p. 127.
ISBN
9781136189364
.
- ^
Richmond, Fiona (1979).
Story of I
. Star.
ISBN
9780352305206
.
- ^
Richmond, Fiona (1979).
On the Road by Fiona
. Star.
ISBN
978-0426188094
.
- ^
Richmond, Fiona (1980).
Galactic Girl
. Star Books.
ISBN
9780352307484
.
- ^
Richmond, Fiona (1980).
Remember Paris
. Time Off.
- ^
Richmond, Fiona (1980).
The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful
. Ebury Publishing.
ISBN
9780352305565
.
- ^
Richmond, Fiona (1981).
From Here to Virginity
. Star Books.
ISBN
978-0352309648
.
- ^
Richmond, Fiona (1982).
In Depth
. Arrow.
ISBN
978-0099298809
.
- ^
"James Randi Psychic Investigator"
.
The VHiStory Project
. 7 August 2014
. Retrieved
21 June
2021
.
- ^
"The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous (1997): Full Cast & Crew"
.
IMDb
. Retrieved
22 June
2021
.
- ^
Barker, Dennis (3 March 2008).
"Paul Raymond (obituary)"
.
The Guardian
.
- ^
"Fiona's Leading Man"
.
Evening Times
. Glasgow. 11 September 1978. p. 4 – via Google Books.
- ^
Hamilton, Alex (2012).
Writing Talk
. Troubador Publishing. p. 160.
ISBN
9781780883397
.
- ^
Dowd, Vincent (23 April 2013).
"Remembering the King of Soho"
.
BBC News
.
- ^
"The Look of Love: Press"
.
British Comedy Guide
. Retrieved
9 June
2021
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema
by Simon Sheridan (fourth edition) (Titan Publishing, London) (2011)
External links
[
edit
]
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Legislation
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Regulation
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Book censorship
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Pornography channels
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Television shows
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Pornographic actors
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Film directors
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Awards
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Magazine publishers
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Magazines
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Opposition
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International
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National
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Artists
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