LONDON — Paul Raymond, the British adult entertainment mogul often compared to Hugh Hefner and Larry Flynt, has died. He was 82.Rumored to be worth more than £650 million (about U.S. $1.39 billion), Raymond was credited with revolutionizing Britain’s adult entertainment industry. He opened Raymond Revuebar, a strip club in London’s West End, in 1958 after spotting a legislative loophole that allowed topless dancing in private clubs. The first club to offer live strip shows in the U.K., Raymond Revuebar’s meteoric rise to notoriety and success subsequently funded publishing and real estate empires. Men Only, Razzle, Mayfair and Club International are among the magazines Raymond founded beginning in 1971.
Raymond’s publishing company, the Paul Raymond Organisation, is credited with launching the careers of such notable models as Fiona Richmond, Joanne Guest, Aria Giovanni, and Veronica Zemanova.
Born Geoffrey Anthony Quinn in Liverpool in 1925, Raymond’s was a classic “poor boy makes good” story. The son of a haulage contractor, he left home at 15 vowing to make a name for himself in show business. He began his stage career with a mind-reading act and later became well-known as the producer of risqué vaudeville shows that featured nude models. After serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II, he returned to London and set about building an adult-entertainment kingdom.
During an economic downturn in the 1970s, Raymond formed a property holding company, Soho Estates, and began to buy up real estate in Soho and West London. Later he expanded his holdings with properties in Chelsea, Notting Hill and Kensington. His real estate interests, which in 2007 reported profits of just under £17 million (about $36.29 million) were said to be the reason for Raymond’s frequent appearance on the Sunday Times’ annual Rich List. He was the list’s No. 62 in 2004.
Real estate also kept Raymond’s porn empire afloat in the 1990s when it and most other traditional sex businesses began to falter due to increased competition from the internet and glossy mainstream magazines that increasingly encroached upon the line between “glamour” and “porn.”
Raymond, a showy character fond of Rolls Royce automobiles and fur coats, kept a high profile in the early years. However, following the death of his daughter and heir apparent Debbie from an accidental drug overdose in 1992 at age 36, he became reclusive. He lived his last days in a flat next door to London’s Ritz Hotel.
Raymond sold the Revuebar and a lease on its buildings to his former choreographer in 1997. The club closed in 2004.
Though his professional endeavors were impressive, Raymond’s personal life has been described as messy. Sexual affairs and liaisons as well as rifts among his children and grandchildren may tie up his estate for years. He is rumored to have promised his wealth to Debbie’s children, but sons Derry and Howard and nephew Mark Quinn (who managed Raymond’s businesses following Debbie’s death) are expected to challenge the distribution of Raymond’s fortune, according to the Financial Times.
Still, his legacy is inspiring.
“He was a great mentor for me,” restaurateur Mark Fuller, a family friend and joint owner of Embassy Restaurant and Members Club, told Reuters. “He was an icon of Britain and he is proof that you can come from nothing and do something with your life.”
