Biography

She is best known as the mistress and muse of Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. Noël Coward was one of her closest friends; a character in his 1956 play "Volcano" was based on her.

Her ancestors were Sephardic Jews who fled persecution in Portugal and eventually settled in Jamaica. Her father owned property and a rum distillery there. She had private tutors and attended finishing school in England.

She and her husband Joseph Blackwell, heir to the Crosse & Blackwell food fortune, are parents of producer Chris Blackwell, who, among other jobs in the film business, was the location manager for Dr. No (1962), arranged by his mother with author Ian Fleming. Crosse & Blackwell was sold to Nestlé in 1960, and again in 2002, when it was split among three owners worldwide, but has been owned in North America by The JM Smucker Company, Princes Group in Europe, and Tiger Brands in Southern Africa (including countries other than the Union of South Africa), all since 2002.

I love men - they make such good pets.

Ian [Fleming] was an angel. Errol [Flynn] was another angel. Both lovely men - both exceptionally manly and definitely not for domesticating!