David Litvinoff
[2] He entertained his showbiz friends with stories of the Krays' activities[3] and his niece Vida described him as "the court jester to the rich, smart Chelsea set of the sixties".
He knew George Melly who he first met at Cy Laurie's jazz club in Great Windmill Street[7] and he was also associated with Mick Mulligan.
[4] His friend George Melly, in Owning Up, described him as The fastest talker I ever met, full of outrageous stories, at least half of which turned out to be true, a dandy of squalor, a face either beautiful or ugly, I could never decide which, but certainly one hundred percent Jewish, a self-propelled catalyst who didn't mind getting hurt as long as he made something happen, a sacred monster, first class.
[7]Keith Richards wrote of Litvinoff that he "was on the borders of art and villainy, a friend of the Kray brothers, the East End gangsters.
[15] Mim Scala recalls that around 1960, Litvinoff was the Faginesque head of a small group based at the Temperance Billiard Hall, 131-141 King's Road, Chelsea, that included Eddie Dylan, Brian Masset and Tommy Waldron.
"[16] Scala described him as "physically quite ugly: thin lips, a huge nose and a prematurely bald head" but with the ability to "talk the birds out of the trees, money out of pockets, boys into bed, and gangsters out of killing him".
[17] In 1967, Litvinoff was living at The Pheasantry, 152 King's Road, then dilapidated flats with a club in the basement that was in the process of turning into a form of artistic commune.
[18] Eric Clapton and Martin Sharp of Oz magazine shared a studio there and other residents included Germaine Greer, Robert Whitaker and Nicky Kramer.
[19] In February 1967 the British police raided Keith Richards' home at Redlands in West Wittering after having received a tip-off that illegal drugs were being used at a party there.
Nicky Kramer, a member of the trendy Chelsea set, immediately came under suspicion and Litvinoff and hard-man John Bindon interrogated him fairly roughly before deciding that he was not the man they were looking for.
He had been a friend of Cammell since childhood, and through knowledge gained from his friendship with the Kray twins, he was able to introduced the cast and crew to London's underworld.
A stream of notable 60s figures seem to have stayed at the cottage including Eric Clapton, the artist Martin Sharp who designed the album covers for Cream, and Nigel Waymouth who was one of the owners of boutique Granny Takes a Trip.
Although this network is believed to have only been operating from 1969, and there is no evidence of any involvement by Litvinoff, media reports have linked it with his time in Llanddewi Brefi and the music industry figures that he brought to the village.
[24][25] From 1972 until his death in April 1975[26] from an overdose of sleeping pills, Litvinoff lived at Davington Priory, Faversham, Kent, (current home of Bob Geldof)[27] which was then owned by the art dealer Christopher Gibbs.
Gerry Goldstein said that Litvinoff had once supplied material for the "William Hickey" column in the Daily Express newspaper, and his friend the film producer Sandy Lieberson later asked him to write a biography of the comedian Lenny Bruce but that was never completed.
[29] Litvinoff was in the habit of recording his phone calls for amusement and the sound of the different voices and he was fascinated by the earliest phone-in radio shows.
[29] Iain Sinclair wrote in 1999 that it was hard to find anyone who remembered Litvinoff as the cost of joining that club was "burn-out, premature senility or suicide.
