It was easy to see why people were attracted to Jennifer Elliott. She managed to wrap together innocence, charisma and quite dazzling beauty into a beguiling and seductive mix. In 1992 I was lucky enough to succumb to these charms and I spent a few unforgettable, special months with her. And while our relationship was fleeting it was certainly memorable.
Jenny was the daughter of the legendary and Oscar-nominated British actor, Denholm Elliott (who died of AIDs in 1992, just after Jenny and I began our relationship – she was utterly devastated by his death) and I remember as though it was yesterday the first time going to her family home on Leighton Grove in north London’s Kentish Town. All over the walls were the usual family photos you’d find in any typical home but in the Elliott household they included international megastars such as Steven Speilberg, Harrison Ford and Christopher Reeve. This was Jenny’s world – an international jetset of actors, directors, Hollywood stars and villas in Ibiza. I was just some ex-punk rocker whose only brush with the rich and famous was sneaking backstage into the Clash’s changing room aged 13 (they weren’t there but we did see their guitars!).
Luckily for me I was with Jenny – who had suffered terrible problems with drugs and alcohol – during a period of her life when she was stone cold sober. It even appeared for a time like she had made genuine strides to escape these problems and she was blossoming into a stunning woman. I remember meeting her in Soho’s famous Bar Italia coffee shop one evening - she was dressed to the nines and when she walked in everyone in the place stopped and stared......read more
