Christine Keeler
Encyclopedia
Christine Margaret Keeler (born 22 February 1942) is an English former model and showgirl
. Her involvement with a British government minister discredited the Conservative
government of Harold Macmillan
in 1963, in what is known as the Profumo Affair
.
, Middlesex
, England, she was brought up by her mother and stepfather in two converted railway carriages in (what was then) the Buckinghamshire
village
of Wraysbury
. At the age of 15, she found work as a model at a dress shop in London's Soho
. At 17, she gave birth to a son after an affair with "Jim", an African-American sergeant
from Lakenheath Air Force base
. The child was born prematurely on 17 April 1959, and survived just six days.
That summer, Keeler left Wraysbury, staying briefly in Slough
with a friend before heading for London. She initially worked as a waitress at a restaurant on Baker Street
and there met Maureen O’Connor, a girl who worked at Murray’s Cabaret Club in Soho
. She introduced Keeler to the owner, Percy Murray, who hired her almost immediately as a topless showgirl. While at Murray's she met Stephen Ward
. Soon the two were living together with the outward appearance of being a couple, but according to her, it was a platonic "brother and sister" type of relationship.
, the British Secretary of State for War
, at a pool party at Cliveden
, the Buckinghamshire
mansion
owned by Lord Astor
. Profumo entered into an affair with Keeler, not realising that she was also sleeping with drug dealer Johnny Edgecombe
as well as Yevgeni Ivanov, a naval attaché
at the embassy of the Soviet Union
.
The affair was terminated by the government's Cabinet Secretary
, Sir Norman Brook
, who spoke to Profumo on the advice of Sir Roger Hollis
, the head of MI5
. On 9 August 1961, Profumo wrote to Keeler advising her he could no longer see her. However, when Johnny Edgecombe was arrested for shooting a gun at the door of Keeler's home, news of the affair became public, creating a scandal resulting in the resignation of Profumo. Keeler became a celebrity.
's Establishment Club, with Lewis Morley
was to promote a proposed film, The Keeler Affair, that was only distributed outside Britain. Keeler had previously signed a contract which required her to pose nude for publicity photos but was reluctant. The film producers insisted so Morley persuaded Keeler to sit astride a plywood chair so that whilst technically she would be nude, the back of the chair would obscure most of her body.
At the time, Morley and Keeler were already famous, but the photo propelled the Arne Jacobsen
model 3107 chair
to stardom. However, the actual chair used was an imitation, with a hand-hold aperture cut out of the back to avoid making it an exact and infringing copy.
titled The Truth at Last: My Story.
Keeler appears alongside Mandy Smith
in the promotion video for Bryan Ferry
's 1987 hit single Kiss and Tell.
film about the Profumo Affair entitled Scandal, actress Joanne Whalley
portrayed Keeler.
She is also the subject of songs by Dusty Springfield
and the Pet Shop Boys
called "Nothing Has Been Proved
", Phil Ochs
, the Glaxo Babies
,the Senseless things
, Kamphundar Överallt and Roland Alphonso
entitled "Christine Keeler", and her name appears in the Porcupine Tree
song "Piano Lessons
", in Street Songs by Hamish Imlach
and in "Post World War II Blues
" by Al Stewart
. She is mentioned in The Kinks
song "Where are they now?", from the album Preservation Act 1.
In Harry Harrison
's 1965 novel Bill, the Galactic Hero
, the story's hero, Bill, serves on the warship Christine Keeler.
A car she formerly owned is an exhibit at the Caister Castle & Car Collection, Great Yarmouth.
By others
Showgirl
A showgirl is a dancer or performer in a stage entertainment show. Showgirl is also often used as a term for a promotional model in trade fairs and car shows, etc...
. Her involvement with a British government minister discredited the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
government of Harold Macmillan
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
in 1963, in what is known as the Profumo Affair
Profumo Affair
The Profumo Affair was a 1963 British political scandal named after John Profumo, Secretary of State for War. His affair with Christine Keeler, the reputed mistress of an alleged Russian spy, followed by lying in the House of Commons when he was questioned about it, forced the resignation of...
.
Biography
Born in UxbridgeUxbridge
Uxbridge is a large town located in north west London, England and is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. It forms part of the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is located west-northwest of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, England, she was brought up by her mother and stepfather in two converted railway carriages in (what was then) the Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
of Wraysbury
Wraysbury
Wraysbury, traditionally spelt Wyrardisbury, is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is located in the very east of the county, in the part that was in Buckinghamshire until 1974...
. At the age of 15, she found work as a model at a dress shop in London's Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
. At 17, she gave birth to a son after an affair with "Jim", an African-American sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
from Lakenheath Air Force base
RAF Lakenheath
RAF Lakenheath, is a Royal Air Force military airbase near Lakenheath in Suffolk, England. Although an RAF station, it hosts United States Air Force units and personnel...
. The child was born prematurely on 17 April 1959, and survived just six days.
That summer, Keeler left Wraysbury, staying briefly in Slough
Slough
Slough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London...
with a friend before heading for London. She initially worked as a waitress at a restaurant on Baker Street
Baker Street
Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid the street out in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, who lived at a fictional 221B...
and there met Maureen O’Connor, a girl who worked at Murray’s Cabaret Club in Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
. She introduced Keeler to the owner, Percy Murray, who hired her almost immediately as a topless showgirl. While at Murray's she met Stephen Ward
Stephen Ward
Stephen Thomas Ward was an osteopath and artist who became notorious as one of the central figures in the 1963 Profumo affair, a British public scandal which profoundly affected the ruling Conservative Party government...
. Soon the two were living together with the outward appearance of being a couple, but according to her, it was a platonic "brother and sister" type of relationship.
The Profumo Affair
In July 1961, Ward introduced her to John ProfumoJohn Profumo
Brigadier John Dennis Profumo, 5th Baron Profumo CBE , informally known as Jack Profumo , was a British politician. His title, 5th Baron, which he did not use, was Italian. Although Profumo held an increasingly responsible series of political posts in the 1950s, he is best known today for his...
, the British Secretary of State for War
Secretary of State for War
The position of Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a British cabinet-level position, first held by Henry Dundas . In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854...
, at a pool party at Cliveden
Cliveden
Cliveden is an Italianate mansion and estate at Taplow, Buckinghamshire, England. Set on banks above the River Thames, its grounds slope down to the river. The site has been home to an Earl, two Dukes, a Prince of Wales and the Viscounts Astor....
, the Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
owned by Lord Astor
William Waldorf Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor
William Waldorf Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician and a member of the prominent Astor family.-Biography:...
. Profumo entered into an affair with Keeler, not realising that she was also sleeping with drug dealer Johnny Edgecombe
Johnny Edgecombe
John Arthur Alexander "Johnny" Edgecombe was a British jazz promoter and criminal, whoseinvolvement with Christine Keeler inadvertently alerted authorities to the Profumo Affair.-Early life:...
as well as Yevgeni Ivanov, a naval attaché
Military attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...
at the embassy of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
The affair was terminated by the government's Cabinet Secretary
Cabinet Secretary
A Cabinet Secretary is almost always a senior official who provides services and advice to a Cabinet of Ministers. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powers, including general responsibility for the entire civil service...
, Sir Norman Brook
Norman Brook, 1st Baron Normanbrook
Norman Craven Brook, 1st Baron Normanbrook GCB, PC , known as Sir Norman Brook between 1946 and 1964, was a British civil servant...
, who spoke to Profumo on the advice of Sir Roger Hollis
Roger Hollis
Sir Roger Henry Hollis, KBE, CB was a British journalist and secret-service agent, who was Director General of MI5 from 1956 to 1965.-Early years:...
, the head of MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
. On 9 August 1961, Profumo wrote to Keeler advising her he could no longer see her. However, when Johnny Edgecombe was arrested for shooting a gun at the door of Keeler's home, news of the affair became public, creating a scandal resulting in the resignation of Profumo. Keeler became a celebrity.
The portrait
At the height of the Profumo Affair in 1963, Keeler sat for a portrait that became famous. The photoshoot, at a studio on the first floor of Peter CookPeter Cook
Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...
's Establishment Club, with Lewis Morley
Lewis Morley
Lewis Morley, born in Hong Kong, 1925, to English and Chinese parents, is a photographer. He was interned in Stanley Internment Camp during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong between 1941 and 1945, when he was released and went to the United Kingdom with his family. He studied at Twickenham Art...
was to promote a proposed film, The Keeler Affair, that was only distributed outside Britain. Keeler had previously signed a contract which required her to pose nude for publicity photos but was reluctant. The film producers insisted so Morley persuaded Keeler to sit astride a plywood chair so that whilst technically she would be nude, the back of the chair would obscure most of her body.
At the time, Morley and Keeler were already famous, but the photo propelled the Arne Jacobsen
Arne Jacobsen
Arne Emil Jacobsen, usually known as Arne Jacobsen, was a Danish architect and designer. He is remembered for contributing so much to architectural Functionalism as well as for the worldwide success he enjoyed with simple but effective chair designs.-Early life and education:Arne Jacobsen was born...
model 3107 chair
Model 3107 chair
The Model 3107 chair is one of the most popular chairs in Danish design history. It was designed by Arne Jacobsen, using a new technique in which plywood could be bent in two dimensions. Over 5 million units have been produced exclusively by Fritz Hansen ever since its invention in 1955...
to stardom. However, the actual chair used was an imitation, with a hand-hold aperture cut out of the back to avoid making it an exact and infringing copy.
Recent appearances
In 2001, already the author of several books on the affair, Keeler worked with journalist Douglas Thompson to write her autobiographyAutobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
titled The Truth at Last: My Story.
Keeler appears alongside Mandy Smith
Mandy Smith
Mandy Smith is an English dance-pop singer, former model and aspiring counsellor.-Early life:In 1983, at age 13 she started dating 47-year-old The Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman, with the consent of her mother...
in the promotion video for Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry, CBE is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to public prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in...
's 1987 hit single Kiss and Tell.
Cultural associations
In the 19891989 in film
-Events:* Batman is released on June 23, and goes on to gross over $410 million worldwide.* Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million...
film about the Profumo Affair entitled Scandal, actress Joanne Whalley
Joanne Whalley
-Early life:Whalley was born in Salford but brought up in Stockport where she studied at the Braeside School of Speech and Drama, Marple.Whalley first appeared as a child in How We Used To Live and bit parts in soap operas, especially Coronation Street and Emmerdale...
portrayed Keeler.
She is also the subject of songs by Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
and the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
called "Nothing Has Been Proved
Nothing Has Been Proved
"Nothing Has Been Proved" is a song and a single release by British singer Dusty Springfield, produced by the Pet Shop Boys. The song was the second collaboration between Springfield and Pet Shop Boys, following their UK #2 and US #2 hit duet "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" in 1987...
", Phil Ochs
Phil Ochs
Philip David Ochs was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice...
, the Glaxo Babies
Glaxo Babies
Glaxo Babies were a Bristol-based UK post-punk group, formed in late 1977. There were three distinct phases in the bands life and after initially breaking up in 1980, they reformed in 1985, only to finally break-up again in 1990.-First phase:...
,the Senseless things
Senseless Things
Senseless Things were a British indie punk band, who were active on the UK festival circuit in the late 1980s and early 1990s.-Career:Senseless Things formed around the musical partnership of songwriter Mark Keds and Morgan Nicholls , who as eleven year old schoolboys in Twickenham, Middlesex put...
, Kamphundar Överallt and Roland Alphonso
Roland Alphonso
Roland Alphonso O.D. or Rolando Alphonso aka The Chief Musician was a Jamaican tenor saxophonist, and one of the founding members of The Skatalites....
entitled "Christine Keeler", and her name appears in the Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
song "Piano Lessons
Piano Lessons (single)
"Piano Lessons" is a single by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, from their album Stupid Dream, released in April 1999. It came in two formats: a regular CD and a 7" vinyl...
", in Street Songs by Hamish Imlach
Hamish Imlach
Hamish Imlach was a folksinger. He was born in Calcutta but claimed to have been conceived in Glasgow, Scotland. Although his commercial success was limited he influenced many other artists, including most notably John Martyn and Billy Connolly. In Central and Northern Europe Imlach enjoyed a...
and in "Post World War II Blues
Past, Present and Future
Past, Present and Future is Al Stewart's fifth studio album, released in October 1973 in the UK and in May 1974 in the US. This album is considered Stewart's first "major album" and it reached #133 on the Billboard Rock Album chart in 1974. He had taken on a different approach from his previous,...
" by Al Stewart
Al Stewart
Al Stewart is a Scottish singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician.Stewart came to stardom as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s, and developed his own unique style of combining folk-rock songs with delicately woven tales of the great characters and events from history.He is...
. She is mentioned in The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
song "Where are they now?", from the album Preservation Act 1.
In Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! , the basis for the film Soylent Green...
's 1965 novel Bill, the Galactic Hero
Bill, the Galactic Hero
Bill, the Galactic Hero is a satirical science fiction novel by Harry Harrison, first published in 1965.Harrison reports having been approached by a Vietnam veteran who described Bill as "the only book that's true about the military."...
, the story's hero, Bill, serves on the warship Christine Keeler.
A car she formerly owned is an exhibit at the Caister Castle & Car Collection, Great Yarmouth.
Publications
By Christine Keeler- 1985: Sex Scandals by Christine Keeler and Robert Meadley; Xanadu Publications ISBN 0-947761-03-9
- 1989: Scandal! by Christine Keeler; London: Xanadu Publications ISBN 0-947761-75-6 (basis of the movie of the same name)
- 1989: The Businessperson's Guide to Intelligent Social Drinking by Richard Basini and Christine Keeler; Congdon & Weed ISBN 0-312-92070-9
- 1992: The Naked Spy by Christine Keeler, Yevgeny Ivanov and Gennady Sokolov; Blake Publishing ISBN 1-85782-092-4
- 2001: The Truth At Last: My Story by Christine Keeler with Douglas Thompson; London: Sidgwick & Jackson ISBN 0-283-07291-1
By others
- 2004: Wicked Baby by Tara Hanks; PADB ISBN 1-904929-45-1
- 2007: Keeler by Paul Nicholas, Alex Holt, Gill Adams; Stage Production