VARIETY LOSES LIFE PRESIDENT JARVIS ASTAIRE OBE
On Saturday 21st August 2021, Jarvis Astaire, aged 97, Life President of Variety, the Children’s Charity, died after a battle with dementia. His funeral took place on Sunday 22nd August.
Tributes have poured in from across the world of entertainment for the charismatic former Sports Promoter, who was part of Variety since its start in 1949.
Jarvis persuaded Audrey Hepburn to get involved with International Variety, as well as his friend Frank Sinatra, who joked at London’s Savoy Hotel, that he was glad Jarvis sang in his key.
He enjoyed trips to Los Angeles, where he was a favourite guest at parties of film producers and the glitterati. In 1979 he produced the film Agatha, which starred Vanessa Redgrave as Agatha Christie, together with Dustin Hoffman, who he managed for four years, and Timothy Dalton.
In 2013, Karen Phillipps chaired a glamorous dinner for Variety at London’s Claridge’s Hotel in Mayfair to honour Jarvis Astaire by awarding him with the Life Presidency of Variety. He was surrounded by his family and friends, many of whom are pictured below.
He was awarded an OBE by the Queen, for his charity work with London’s Boys Clubs and Variety. A Sunshine Coach was donated to Variety to honour Jarvis Astaire’s work for disadvantaged children. Jarvis was also a Trustee of the London Symphony Orchestra, Chairman of the Greyhound Racing Association, and a member of Queens Club, where he loved to play tennis, naming a horse Virginia Wade. He also loved cricket.
Born in Stepney in London’s East End, the son of Jewish parents, his grandparents had fled persecution in Russia. His mother Esther had a passion for Music Hall acts and the cinema, while his father Max encouraged cricket, football, and sports, an interest that remained with Jarvis throughout his life. During the Second World War, he was involved in the making of surgical instruments and artificial limbs for the war effort. His aptitude for promoting boxers crystallised at the age of 20 with his first boxing show, and he remained the principal force in boxing throughout the 50’s and 60’s. He brought Muhammad Ali to Britain to fight Henry Cooper in 1966.
Jarvis Astaire will be greatly missed.
Pictures by Edward Lloyd
SubEditor Diana Austin
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