Jeremy Gordon Norman (born 1947) is a British entrepreneur, whose ventures have included Burke's Peerage, Mayfair's Embassy nightclub, the gay 'ultradisco' Heaven, the clubs Embargo and Leopard Lounge on Fulham Broadway, the Power Station gym in Chelsea, in partnership with Richard Branson, and Soho Gyms. He is also an author, television presenter, and journalist, and has had many charitable commitments.
Jeremy Gordon Norman was born in Marylebone, Greater London, in 1947.[1] His parents were Wing Commander Roland Frank Holdway Norman and Muriel Johnson, known as Peggy, daughter of Percy Johnson.[2] They were living together in Marylebone in 1939[3] and were married in 1944. His father died in 1958, aged 62.[2]
A half-brother, Robert Norman (1922–1942), his father's son by a previous marriage, had been killed in action during the Second World War while serving in the Royal Navy.[4]
In 1974 Norman went into the wine business with his brother, under the name of La Reserve.[1] The same year, he became Chairman of Burke's Peerage, a publisher of genealogical reference works, of which his old school friend Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd was editor at the time.[6] He continued in this role until 1983, his fellow directors including Patrick, Lord Lichfield, and John Brooke-Little, Richmond Herald of Arms. Under his chairmanship new volumes were published on royal families, Irish genealogy, and country houses of the British Isles.[7] Norman’s stake in the business continued for ten years.[8] In 1984, the Burke's Peerage titles were separated and sold: Burke’s Peerage itself was acquired by Frederik Jan Gustav Floris, Baron van Pallandt (1934–94), while Burke's Landed Gentry and other titles were sold to other buyers.[7]
Norman's first nightclub, established in 1978, was the Embassy Club in Old Bond Street, which has been called "London's first modern New York-style nightclub". Other directors were the fashion designer Michael Fish and Derek Johns, a picture dealer and director of Sotheby's. Norman sold the Embassy to Lady Edith Foxwell. In 1979, he created an entirely new form of club, the ultradisco Heaven, near Charing Cross, which "quickly established itself as the centre of London gay nightlife" and became Europe's largest and "the world's most famous gay nightclub".[6] Norman's partner, Derek Frost, designed the "original hi-tech interior". Heaven introduced a new music style, Hi-NRG. After four years, Norman sold the club to Richard Branson of Virgin.
In 1983 Norman and Richard Branson became partners in Norman's first gym, Power Station in Chelsea (1983–1989). In 1994 he was founding Chairman of Ovalhouse Ltd., trading as Soho Gyms, a chain of ten gyms mainly in central London, a company sold to Pure Gym in 2018. He also owns two property investment companies, Blakenhall & Co. Ltd. and Citychance Ltd.
Norman originated two other successful clubs: Embargo (1990–94),[9] and Leopard Lounge on Fulham Broadway (1989–92). His other businesses included Pasta Pasta, a manufacturer and retailer of fresh pasta and sauces, with Derek Johns launched in 1984.
Writer and television presenter
In 2006, Norman described many encounters and experiences from his life in his autobiography No Make-up: Straight Tales from a Queer Life (2006). Matthew Parris wrote about this in The Times, calling it "A marvellous book. Startlingly candid, unblushingly funny about wealth, privilege. and the pursuit of fun. Mr. Norman … paints an unforgettable picture of gay life in an age of official prohibition."[8]
Norman has also written books about his adventures with Derek Frost aboard a private yacht, from their perspective as "Two Men in a Boat". The first, Two Men in a Boat: Chasing Spring, was inspired by a quotation, "Spring travels up through Britain at the pace of a walking man." This struck Norman as a romantic notion, and he and Frost set out to test the theory, which led them on a journey, chasing the arrival of spring up the west coast of Great Britain.[10] The follow-up, Two Men in a Boat: Illyrian Shores, is a "story of a romantic voyage in the wake of the Venetians... from Cofu to Venice."
Norman's "Two Men in a Boat" books developed into a 25-part Out TV television series, under the same title, which documented their odysseys and is narrated by the two men and their expert guests speaking about the history, archaeology, art, natural history, and landscape of the many places they visit.[10]
Norman entered the field of journalism with pieces in The Sunday Times, The Spectator and The Times of Malta. His articles are about food, politics, gay life, and his wide travels with Frost.
Voluntary work
Norman's pro bono and charity appointments have focused on HIV/AIDS. He was the founding chairman of Crusaid in 1985, Trustee of the National AIDS Trust in 1986, a founding Trustee of Aids Ark, and a Trustee of the University Pitt Club, Cambridge, from 1994 to 2009.
Norman has been in a relationship with Derek Frost since 1978. They became civil partners on 21 December 2006, the first day the law of the United Kingdom made this possible. They currently reside in Malta.
Books and publications
No Make-Up, Straight Tales from a Queer Life, Elliott & Thompson Limited (6 Oct 2006) ISBN978-1904027508[8]
Two Men in a Boat – Chasing Spring
Two men in a Boat – Illyrian Shores
Films and Documentaries
Two Men in a Boat – Chasing Spring
Two men in a Boat – Illyrian Shores
Related Research Articles
Ivo Francis Walter Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley, styled The Honourable Ivo Bligh until 1900, lord of the manor of Cobham, Kent, was a British nobleman, parliamentarian and cricketer.
Clement Herbert Gibson twice won fleeting fame as a cricketer.
Charles Hambro, Baron Hambro was a British merchant banker and political fundraiser. He was the Chairman of Hambros Bank from 1972 until its merger with Société Générale in 1998. He was the senior honorary treasurer of the Conservative Party from 1993 to 1997.
Mark Doty is an American poet and memoirist best known for his work My Alexandria. He was the winner of the National Book Award for Poetry in 2008.
Heaven is a gay superclub in Charing Cross, London, England. It has played a central role and had a major influence in the development of London's LGBT scene for over 40 years and is home to long-running gay night G-A-Y. The club is known for Paul Oakenfold's acid house events in the 1980s, the underground nightclub festival Megatripolis, and for being the birthplace of ambient house.
Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham, of Merton Hall, Norfolk, was an English politician and amateur entomologist.
Douglas Gabriel Rotello is an American musician, writer and filmmaker. He created New York's Downtown Divas revues in the 1980s, was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of OutWeek magazine, became the first openly gay columnist at a major American newspaper, New York Newsday, and authored the book Sexual Ecology. He now makes documentaries for HBO, The History Channel and other networks.
Sheridan Frederick Terence Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 5th Marquess of Dufferin and Ava was a British patron of the arts. Less formally, he was usually called Sheridan Dufferin.
William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley, known as The Lord Ward from 1835 to 1860, was a British landowner and benefactor.
CRUSAID was a British charity that provided financial assistance during the AIDS epidemic to institutions and to people suffering from HIV/AIDS. In 1996, the charity had close to £11 million in assets
George Augustus Frederick Cavendish-BentinckPC JP, known as George Bentinck and scored in cricket as GAFC Bentinck, was a British barrister, Conservative politician, and cricketer. A member of parliament from 1859 to 1891, he served under Benjamin Disraeli as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade from 1874 to 1875 and as Judge Advocate General from 1875 to 1880.
Edward Richard Assheton Penn Curzon, 6th Earl Howe,, styled Viscount Curzon from 1929 to 1964, was a British peer.
Arthur Temple Lyttelton was an Anglican Bishop from the Lyttelton family. After studying at Eton College and Cambridge University, he was ordained as a priest in 1877, and was a curate at St Mary's in Reading. He later served as vicar in Eccles, before being appointed as the third Suffragan Bishop of Southampton. He gave and published a number of lectures relating to his faith, and was the Hulsean Lecturer in 1891. He was also one of eleven members of the Lyttelton family to play first-class cricket.
Arthur William Ridley was an English first-class cricketer. Ridley was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm underarm medium pace. He also played occasionally as a wicket-keeper.
Lieutenant General Sir John Richard Alexander MacMillan, is a Scottish officer in the British Army who served as General Officer Commanding Scotland. While he was at university, he was a rower and represented Great Britain at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Major Eric Tremayne Buller was an English cricketer and decorated British Army officer.
John Moyer Heathcote was an English barrister and real tennis player. He was one of the committee members at the Marylebone Cricket Club responsible for drafting the original rules of lawn tennis and is credited with devising the cloth covering for the tennis ball.
Sir George Wombwell, 2nd Baronet was an English first-class cricketer with amateur status who played for the Marylebone Cricket Club.
Soho Gyms was a British chain of gyms spread out across central London.
George Trevor Branston was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire and Oxford University from 1903 to 1913.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
