He made a series of fortunes by carving out a career path that seems unlikely ever to be emulated, beginning by erecting warehouses stocked with DIY kit, before vaulting into the dazzling world of Old Etonian jeweller Theo Fennell, whose blingtastic creations find favour with the Beckhams and Sir Elton John.
But Richard Northcott, who has died aged 76 after a protracted battle with cancer, made the most startling switch of his life aboard a cruise ship. A chance encounter with a fellow passenger, who handed him a film script, prompted him to set himself up as a producer – and immediately strike gold with 9½ Weeks.
Filmed in 1984, it starred Kim Basinger, then 31, and Mickey Rourke, 32, but its intense eroticism, which involved Basinger being on the receiving end of everything from jalapeno peppers to horsewhips, meant that it was two years before it was released.
Despite faring poorly in the USA, it became an international box office sensation, propelling Basinger to sex-symbol stardom.
![EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Friends Pay Tribute to Richard Northcott, Visionary Behind 9½ Weeks, Following His Passing at 76 1 Courageous: Richard Northcott is pictured with his Canadian ex-wife Kirsten in 1997](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/10/21/79863495-12948829-image-m-28_1704921452925.jpg)
Courageous: Richard Northcott is pictured with his Canadian ex-wife Kirsten in 1997
![EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Friends Pay Tribute to Richard Northcott, Visionary Behind 9½ Weeks, Following His Passing at 76 3 Northcott has died aged 76 after a battle with cancer. Pictured: Northcott at the Royal Ascot in 2009](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/10/21/79863799-12948829-image-m-52_1704921833555.jpg)
Northcott has died aged 76 after a battle with cancer. Pictured: Northcott at the Royal Ascot in 2009
![EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Friends Pay Tribute to Richard Northcott, Visionary Behind 9½ Weeks, Following His Passing at 76 5 9½ Weeks was filmed in 1984 and starred Kim Basinger (pictured) and Mickey Rourke](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/10/21/79863805-12948829-image-m-54_1704921941133.jpg)
9½ Weeks was filmed in 1984 and starred Kim Basinger (pictured) and Mickey Rourke
The director, Adrian Lyne, who achieved further acclaim for Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal, explained that he made a point of involving himself in Basinger and Rourke’s most intimate moments, ‘a little bit like a cheerleader’.
Northcott, whose cinematic credentials were less obvious, didn’t hang back either. ‘I used to go on the set,’ he said, adding that Basinger was ‘just breathtaking’.
He went on to co-produce two more blockbusters – When Harry Met Sally, starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, and A Few Good Men, with Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise and Demi Moore.
Living latterly in a £17.5million house in Chelsea, he reflected: ‘It was pure luck that the first one worked. Absolutely zero skill and pure luck.’
But if fortune favoured him in Hollywood, it deserted him at home when his beautiful Canadian wife, Kirsten, with whom he had three children, walked out. She subsequently enjoyed an affair with former cricketer turned commentator, Mark Nicholas – marrying him after receiving a ‘vast’ divorce settlement from Northcott.
Happily, Northcott, who became a key shareholder in Theo Fennell’s eponymous business, found consolation with Joanna Kurpiers, a Polish fashion student in her twenties.
Of his final illness, the Marquess of Reading’s brother, film producer Lord Antony Rufus Isaacs, a collaborator on both 9½ Weeks and When Harry Met Sally, tells me: ‘Richard was incredibly courageous.’
Bridgerton star Phoebe gets set for Bafta drama
She captured viewers’ attention as Daphne in Netflix’s racy Bridgerton in 2020, yet Phoebe Dynevor’s star is still on the rise.
The Manchester-born actress, 28, is among five, including Saltburn actor Jacob Elordi, to be nominated for an EE Bafta Rising Star award.
Phoebe, nominated for the film Fair Play, is the daughter of Coronation Street star Sally Dynevor.
She says: ‘I couldn’t wait to tell my mum because she’s in the industry too and she has been in a soap for a long time, and she gets really excited about my wins.’ She adds: I’m going to be nervous [on the night] but I already know what I’m going to wear.’
![EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Friends Pay Tribute to Richard Northcott, Visionary Behind 9½ Weeks, Following His Passing at 76 7 Star: Phoebe Dynevor captured viewers' attention as Daphne in Netflix's racy Bridgerton in 2020](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/10/21/79863485-12948829-image-a-29_1704921467512.jpg)
Star: Phoebe Dynevor captured viewers’ attention as Daphne in Netflix’s racy Bridgerton in 2020
![EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Friends Pay Tribute to Richard Northcott, Visionary Behind 9½ Weeks, Following His Passing at 76 9 On the rise: The Manchester-born actress, 28, is among five, including Saltburn actor Jacob Elordi, to be nominated for an EE Bafta Rising Star award](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/10/21/79863487-12948829-image-m-31_1704921482126.jpg)
On the rise: The Manchester-born actress, 28, is among five, including Saltburn actor Jacob Elordi, to be nominated for an EE Bafta Rising Star award
Jeff Bezos makes waves on holiday
Yearning to spend January under sun-kissed skies? Perhaps worth inquiring if they’re short of a deckhand aboard the Koru, the £400 million, 417ft classic yacht that multi-billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos launched last year.
The three-masted beauty has been moored off St Lucia in the West Indies. ‘You could see Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, his fiancee, at one end, on the upper aft deck, and the crew at the other,’ an awed local tells me.
Later, they moored close to the Great House built by the late Lord Glenconner. But the couple didn’t stay on land for long, opting for ‘glider surfboards that elevate you above the water’, my spy says.
Surely Bezos walks on it?
Birthday is a drag for Lottie
With a cigarette between her fingers and a face mask on, Lottie Moss appears unruffled by the latest apparent snub by her half-sister, Kate.
While the supermodel is celebrating her forthcoming 50th birthday in Mustique, Lottie, who turned 26 on Tuesday, marked the occasion by flying to Mexico with pals.
Alongside this picture Lottie shared of herself relaxing at the five-star resort, La Casa de la Playa, she wrote online: ‘Birthday Bi***’.
![EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Friends Pay Tribute to Richard Northcott, Visionary Behind 9½ Weeks, Following His Passing at 76 11 Birthday: With a cigarette between her fingers and a face mask on, Lottie Moss appears unruffled by the latest apparent snub by her half-sister, Kate Moss](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/10/21/79863489-12948829-image-a-32_1704921499942.jpg)
Birthday: With a cigarette between her fingers and a face mask on, Lottie Moss appears unruffled by the latest apparent snub by her half-sister, Kate Moss
![EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Friends Pay Tribute to Richard Northcott, Visionary Behind 9½ Weeks, Following His Passing at 76 13 Model: While supermodel Kate Moss is celebrating her forthcoming 50th birthday in Mustique, Lottie, who turned 26 on Tuesday, marked the occasion by flying to Mexico with pals](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/10/21/79863547-12948829-image-m-34_1704921519532.jpg)
Model: While supermodel Kate Moss is celebrating her forthcoming 50th birthday in Mustique, Lottie, who turned 26 on Tuesday, marked the occasion by flying to Mexico with pals
Sir Paul McCartney’s acting apparently leaves a lot to be desired. He had just one line during a cameo on 1980s Liverpool sitcom Bread. Co-star Peter Howitt tells Carla Lane’s Comedy Classics: ‘After about four or five takes, I could feel this thing welling inside of me and I said, ‘Paul, do you think we have endless film to waste while you continually f*** up?’
Laura Tobin is clearly still smarting at Richard Madeley’s jibe on Good Morning Britain last week that she’d ‘put on weight’. Yesterday, Madeley tried to sweet-talk the weather girl by saying, ‘You’re happy with a hug, aren’t you, Laura?’ She replied: ‘As long as you can get your arms round me, Richard.’
Follow me on X @richardaeden and on Instagram @edenconfidential richard.eden@dailymail.co.uk