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EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Friends mourn Richard Northcott, the dazzling 9½ Weeks visionary, after he dies aged 76

EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Richard Northcott, who has died aged 76 after a battle with cancer , made the most startling switch of his life aboard a cruise ship.

He made a series of fortunes by carving out a career path that seems unlikely ever to be emulated, beginning by erecting warehouses stocked with DIY kit, before vaulting into the dazzling world of Old Etonian jeweller Theo Fennell, whose blingtastic creations find favour with the Beckhams and Sir Elton John. The director, Adrian Lyne, who achieved further acclaim for Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal, explained that he made a point of involving himself in Basinger and Rourke's most intimate moments, 'a little bit like a cheerleader'. Of his final illness, the Marquess of Reading's brother, film producer Lord Antony Rufus Isaacs, a collaborator on both 9½ Weeks and When Harry Met Sally, tells me: 'Richard was incredibly courageous.'

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