Anouska Hempel
Encyclopedia
Anouska Hempel, Lady Weinberg (sometimes credited as Anoushka Hempel) (born 13 December 1941), born Anne Geissler, is a film and television actress turned hotelier and designer. She is also a noted figure in London society.
n and Swiss German
ancestry and claims to have been born on a boat en route from Papua New Guinea
to New Zealand
. Her father immigrated to New Zealand where he was a sheep
farmer; later her family moved to Cronulla, south of Sydney
where he owned a garage
. As a teenager in the mid-1950s, she attended Sutherland High School, left at 15 and then trained as a psychiatric nurse in Sydney. In 1962 she moved to the United Kingdom
with £10
to her name, and two years later married Constantine Hempel, a journalist
and property developer who later died in a car accident. From 1978 to 1980 she was married to theatrical producer Bill Kenwright
. In 1980 she married financier
Sir Mark Weinberg
, with whom she has a son, Jonathan. She appears in a photographic portrait by Bryan Wharton
in the National Portrait Gallery.
(1963), then in the 1969 James Bond
film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service
as one of the "angels of death". Thereafter she appeared in several films and TV programmes, including The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins
, Zodiac (TV Series) with Anton Rodgers
, the adaptation of comic strip Tales of Tiffany Jones, and Russ Meyer
's controversial soft pornographic Black Snake
. She auditioned for the part of Jo Grant
in Doctor Who
and later appeared in the TV series Space 1999. In 1998 she bought the UK rights to Tiffany Jones (1973) and Black Snake (1973) in order to keep them out of circulation. This effectively blocks any future UK television screenings or video releases.
(2002) as one of the top 100 interior designers and architects in the world.
was created in 1978 as one of the world's first luxury boutique hotels. Based in South Kensington, it is famous for its design, service and privacy. Additionally the restaurant in the hotel has become a destination in its own right, featuring a fusion of Anouska Hempel's own favorite cuisines – Japanese and Italian. Blakes Amsterdam
opened in 2002, and draws inspiration from Amsterdam's historic Dutch East India Company
. Her second hotel, The Hempel Hotel
in London
, was London's
first minimalist hotel She is currently a silent advisor in her hotel company.
Hempel is currently designing further landmark hotels in Brazil
, Goa
, Istanbul
, Las Vegas
, London and Oman. The first of these to open, in 2010, will be her hotel in Brazil, to be called Warapuru in Itacare, Bahia. The design will incorporate a spa and hotel set in the rainforest.
and Tom Aikens in London. She has designed retail stores for Van Cleef and Arpels(London, Paris, Monaco, Beverly Hills, Osaka and Geneva stores) and Louis Vuitton, for whom she designed their flagship Paris
store and items such as luxury fountain pens.
Hempel has taken private commissions for homes and landscapes, most recently a garden in honour of Princess Margaret in Oxford. Her own homes, Cole Park in Wiltshire and a large house in Holland Park, London, frequently appear in design magazines. Through a boutique in South Kensington, she has designed couture clothes for many famous and influential women - including Princess Diana and Princess Margaret of the British Royal family. Her designs are sold globally.
Personal life
Hempel is of RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n and Swiss German
Swiss German
Swiss German is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland and in some Alpine communities in Northern Italy. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are grouped together with Swiss German as well, especially the dialects of Liechtenstein and Austrian Vorarlberg...
ancestry and claims to have been born on a boat en route from Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Her father immigrated to New Zealand where he was a sheep
Domestic sheep
Sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...
farmer; later her family moved to Cronulla, south of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
where he owned a garage
Automobile repair shop
An automobile repair shop is a place where automobiles are repaired by auto mechanics and electricians.- Types :The automotive garage can be divided in so many category....
. As a teenager in the mid-1950s, she attended Sutherland High School, left at 15 and then trained as a psychiatric nurse in Sydney. In 1962 she moved to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
with £10
Pound (currency)
The pound is a unit of currency in some nations. The term originated in England as the value of a pound of silver.The word pound is the English translation of the Latin word libra, which was the unit of account of the Roman Empire...
to her name, and two years later married Constantine Hempel, a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and property developer who later died in a car accident. From 1978 to 1980 she was married to theatrical producer Bill Kenwright
Bill Kenwright
Bill Kenwright CBE is a leading West End theatre producer and film producer.He is also the Chairman of Everton Football Club, an English professional football club from the city of Liverpool....
. In 1980 she married financier
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
Sir Mark Weinberg
Mark Weinberg
-Early life and education:Weinberg was born in South Africa and educated at King Edward VII School in Johannesburg. He received degrees in Commerce and Law and practised as a barrister...
, with whom she has a son, Jonathan. She appears in a photographic portrait by Bryan Wharton
Bryan Wharton
Bryan Wharton is an internationally renowned photo-journalist and British photographer. He has won countless awards for his work for the Sunday Times...
in the National Portrait Gallery.
Film career
Her first film appearance was in the Hammer Horror film The Kiss of the VampireThe Kiss of the Vampire
The Kiss of the Vampire also known as Kiss of Evil, is a 1963 British vampire film made by the film studio Hammer Film Productions...
(1963), then in the 1969 James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the sixth spy film in the James Bond series, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. Following the decision of Sean Connery to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon Productions selected an unknown actor and model, George Lazenby...
as one of the "angels of death". Thereafter she appeared in several films and TV programmes, including The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins
The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins
The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins is a 1971 British comedy film directed and produced by Graham Stark. Its title is a conflation of The Magnificent Seven and the seven deadly sins. It comprises a sequence of seven sketches, each representing a sin and written by an array of British comedy-writing...
, Zodiac (TV Series) with Anton Rodgers
Anton Rodgers
Anton Rodgers was an English actor and occasional director. He performed on stage, in film and in television dramas and sitcoms.-Life and career:...
, the adaptation of comic strip Tales of Tiffany Jones, and Russ Meyer
Russ Meyer
Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer was a U.S. motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer....
's controversial soft pornographic Black Snake
Black Snake (film)
Black Snake is a 1973 American film directed by Russ Meyer. It was Meyer's return to self-financed projects, following the end of his brief deal at 20th Century Fox...
. She auditioned for the part of Jo Grant
Jo Grant
Josephine "Jo" Grant is a fictional character played by Katy Manning in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
in Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
and later appeared in the TV series Space 1999. In 1998 she bought the UK rights to Tiffany Jones (1973) and Black Snake (1973) in order to keep them out of circulation. This effectively blocks any future UK television screenings or video releases.
Hotel and design career
She is now a hotelier and designer of global repute, and is ranked by Architectural DigestArchitectural Digest
Architectural Digest is an American monthly magazine. Its principal subject is interior design, not — as the name of the magazine might suggest — architecture more generally. The magazine is published by Condé Nast Publications and was founded in 1920, by the Knapp family, who sold it in 1993...
(2002) as one of the top 100 interior designers and architects in the world.
Hotels
Anouska Hempel has so far created four hotels. Blakes HotelBlakes Hotel
Blakes Hotel is a 5-star hotel in London, England, credited as being one of the first two boutique hotels in the world. It is located at 33 Roland Gardens in South Kensington. The hotel was established by Anouska Hempel, the London hotelier and designer in an elegant style...
was created in 1978 as one of the world's first luxury boutique hotels. Based in South Kensington, it is famous for its design, service and privacy. Additionally the restaurant in the hotel has become a destination in its own right, featuring a fusion of Anouska Hempel's own favorite cuisines – Japanese and Italian. Blakes Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
opened in 2002, and draws inspiration from Amsterdam's historic Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
. Her second hotel, The Hempel Hotel
Hempel Hotel
Hempel Hotel is a luxury 5-star hotel in London, England. It is located at 31-35 Craven Hill Gardens to the north of Hyde Park off Bayswater Road. It is a small boutique hotel with Zen inspiration, designed by noted designer Anouska Hempel. The design of each of the hotel's 35 rooms centres around...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, was London's
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
first minimalist hotel She is currently a silent advisor in her hotel company.
Hempel is currently designing further landmark hotels in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, London and Oman. The first of these to open, in 2010, will be her hotel in Brazil, to be called Warapuru in Itacare, Bahia. The design will incorporate a spa and hotel set in the rainforest.
Other designs
Her restaurant designs range from modern minimalist to theatrical. Restaurant projects include Shy in JakartaJakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
and Tom Aikens in London. She has designed retail stores for Van Cleef and Arpels(London, Paris, Monaco, Beverly Hills, Osaka and Geneva stores) and Louis Vuitton, for whom she designed their flagship Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
store and items such as luxury fountain pens.
Hempel has taken private commissions for homes and landscapes, most recently a garden in honour of Princess Margaret in Oxford. Her own homes, Cole Park in Wiltshire and a large house in Holland Park, London, frequently appear in design magazines. Through a boutique in South Kensington, she has designed couture clothes for many famous and influential women - including Princess Diana and Princess Margaret of the British Royal family. Her designs are sold globally.
External links
- Anouska Hempel Design
- Blakes
- The Hempel
- Warapuru
- Anouska Hempel, Lady Weinberg — National Portrait Gallery