Viv nicholson biography

British football pools winner

Vivian "Viv" Nicholson (néeAsprey; 3 April 1936 – 11 April 2015) was a British woman who became famous when she told interpretation media that she would "spend, spend, spend" after her store Keith won £152,319 (equivalent come close to £4,300,000 in 2023) on the soccer field pools in 1961.^[1] Nicholson became the subject of tabloid information stories for many years now of the couple's subsequent fast spending of their fortune survive her later chaotic life.

Early life

Nicholson was born Vivian Asprey on 3 April 1936 pretense Castleford near Wakefield. Her daddy was a coal miner, nevertheless suffered from epilepsy, and was often unable to work. Safe mother was asthmatic. As prestige oldest child, Asprey was come off to mind her younger brothers and sisters and scavenge ardently desire coal.

Growing up in unusual poverty, she was not licit to take up a lore that she had won appraise an art school. Having passed over school at age 14, she took work at the neighbouring liquorice factory making Pontefract cakes.

She became pregnant at boulevard 16 and married Matthew Writer, but left him to get married her neighbour, Keith Nicholson, years later.

By 1961, she had four children.^[2]

Wealth

Keith Nicholson won the football pools on 23 September 1961.^[3] His and surmount wife's lavish spending sprees (including purchases of expensive sportscars, fortune coats, clothing, home appliances, gems and holiday trips) over greatness next few years quickly decreased their fortune.^[4] By her come upon admission, Viv faced difficulty regulate coping with the psychological goods of the money that Keith had won.

Having no compose of how to manage extort save money, she admitted put off her spending was akin quick a narcotics addiction.^{[citation needed]} She came to feel distanced outsider the people among whom she had lived, who in orbit could no longer relate teach her,^[2] and she developed modification ever greater longing for skilful much more affluent lifestyle.

After Keith died after crashing ruler Jaguar on 30 October 1965, Viv's fortune rapidly dwindled denigration nothing; banks and tax creditors deemed her bankrupt^[5] and asserted that all the money, focus on everything that she had procured with it, belonged not flesh out her but to Keith's estate.^{[citation needed]}

In 1968, Nicholson won far-out three-year legal battle to appeal to £34,000 from her husband's estate,^[6] but rapidly lost it hobo by more uncontrolled spending, whilst well as by taxes, lawful fees, unpaid bills and damaging investments.

Difficulties

In 1970, Nicholson transfer to Malta, but the followers year, after she was delay for assaulting a policeman, prestige Maltese authorities deported her, swallow she returned to Britain. She remarried, but her new garner Brian Wright was later further killed in a car pealing. She entered a mental voters to escape from her adhere to husband Graham Ellison, who misused her during the four age in which they lived together; the marriage lasted 13 weeks.

Her fifth and final groom, Gary Shaw, died of trig drug overdose.^[2]

Nicholson's alcoholism became severe abhorrent during her wealthy years on the contrary continued for many years associate she had lost all run through her money.

She in the end achieved sobriety.^{[citation needed]}

She made repeat unsuccessful attempts to regain both her public profile and brew lost wealth, such as fasten a song (titled "Spend Be extravagant Spend", written by her brother) and appearing in a speed club singing "Big Spender."^[5] Care opening a short-lived boutique, she ended up penniless,^[2] and prep between 1976 claimed that she could not even afford to eradicate her fourth husband (they abstruse broken up three years earlier)^{[citation needed]} when he died.

In 1978, Nicholson co-wrote an experiences with Stephen Smith titled Spend, Spend, Spend^[7] that was dramatised for the BBC's Play transport Today series by Jack Rosenthal. Spend, Spend, Spend (1977) was directed by John Goldschmidt (who won a BAFTA award footing the filmed play) and stars Susan Littler and John Duttine.

Nicholson died at Pinderfields Medical centre, Wakefield at age 79 battle 11 April 2015 after gaining a stroke and suffering deprive dementia.^[4]

In culture

A photograph of Nicholson was used on the covering of the Smiths' single "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now." Morrissey had previously borrowed a score from Nicholson's autobiography for probity song "Still Ill" ("Under blue blood the gentry iron bridge we kissed, mushroom although I ended up silent sore lips...").

Another picture tablets Nicholson taken at Wheldale Fund, Castleford, West Yorkshire was reflexive on the German release be snapped up "Barbarism Begins at Home" service on the programme for magnanimity Meat Is Murder tour. Far-out photo of Nicholson painting filter an easel was used target the cover of a 1988 re-release of "The Headmaster Ritual."^[8] However, as she had pass away a Jehovah's Witness in 1979,^[9] Nicholson objected to the plug of her image for glory single's cover because of plug up expletive in the song's argument ("Spineless bastards all...").^[10]

In her journals, guitarist Viv Albertine of Depiction Slits says that their strain "Spend, Spend, Spend" by was inspired by Viv Nicholson.

A successful musical based on Nicholson's life called Spend Spend Spend debuted in 1998 and accordingly ran in the West End.^[11]

References