EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Peter Cook’s former wife Judy is targeted in stalker hell
As a Sixties starlet, Judy Huxtable’s radiant beauty captivated pretty well every man she met — including comic genius Peter Cook.
She became his second wife, remaining married to him until she could no longer cope with his infidelities and addictions.
But, today, Huxtable, now 80, is contending with a personal crisis infinitely more traumatic than anything she experienced during 16 extraordinary years with Cook.
Speaking from her home in Somerset, she tells me that, for the past 18 months, she has been pushed to breaking point by a stalker.
As a Sixties starlet, Judy Huxtable’s radiant beauty captivated pretty well every man she met — including comic genius Peter Cook. She became his second wife, remaining married to him until she could no longer cope with his infidelities and addictions
Initially, says Judy, he knocked on the window — and repeatedly tapped on her house’s flat roof in the dead hours of the night.
‘Knocks, knocks, knocks, to let me know he’s there,’ she explains. But that was just one facet of his campaign.
‘Drawings of men appeared on the paving stones,’ adds Judy.
Worse followed. ‘He’s been in my bedroom three times. So frightening. You just lie doggo, thinking: ‘As long as he gets out and doesn’t kill me…’.’
She made horrifying discoveries. ‘He’d been cutting little marks in my knickers and my bras.
‘The third night, I stayed awake until quarter to four. I don’t remember anything until 7.45am.
‘There were notches in the wooden bedhead. My pyjama bottoms were lying beside me on the bed.
Today, Huxtable, now 80, is contending with a personal crisis infinitely more traumatic than anything she experienced during 16 extraordinary years with Cook
‘I knew I had to get out. I couldn’t sleep there again. The police just said: ‘Keep calling us at night.’
‘The trouble was that, when they came round, they’d have their lights flashing and he’d scarper from the roof.’
Since then, Judy — who has appeared in such films as Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines and Les Bicyclettes De Belsize — is spending less time in her house, often spending the night with a female friend — ‘a tough Londoner’ — who lives nearby.
But, she says, her stalker remains. ‘He lives nearby. He has shoulder-length hair. He’s known to the police. A burglar, thief, addict. He steals things to fund his habit.
‘He’s stolen scarves and perfume — things that are highly intimate.’
Judy’s relationship with the police has frayed. ‘I couldn’t take the pressure of not being believed — of being told: ‘Oh, you heard a cat, dear. Or a pigeon.’ ‘
Avon and Somerset Police assure me that they take ‘all reports of stalking and harassment seriously’, adding that they are ‘committed to safeguarding victims and protecting them from any potential risk of harm’.
Cleese: Woke is not for ever
Monty Python star John Cleese might bang on about our increasingly woke society placing restrictions on the creation of comedy, but he doesn’t believe it will last for ever.
‘I think it may blow over because if you start being too woke in comedy, it’s going to stop being funny and people will stop watching it,’ says the 83-year-old.
‘I think the trouble with the wokes is they don’t see a very important point.
‘All humour is critical. If you have someone who is wise, kind, intelligent and always behaves appropriately, there’s nothing funny.’
It would appear King Charles’s passion for horticulture is leading to an overhaul of his gardening team. Just a month after advertising for a £40,000-a-year gardens manager at Buckingham Palace, he’s now on the lookout for a gardener at Windsor Castle, too. The job advert on the royal website stresses the gardens ‘that are seen by thousands of visitors and guests every year’ need to be ‘maintained to the highest of standards’. The Windsor role is less financially appealing, however, with a salary starting at £23,000, depending on experience.
Jack Whitehall’s parents, Michael and Hilary, appear to have been the butt of a long-standing joke about their ownership of a Volkswagen Beetle.
However, former theatrical agent Michael, 82, says he hopes actor and comedian Jack will now stop one of his tiresome habits. ‘He likes to bombard me with images of Hitler promoting the Beetle as the ‘People’s car’ in the Thirties,’ he says.
TV’s Ellie has got a style all of her own
Actress Ellie Bamber brought a touch of half-tuck chic to the 43rd London Critics Circle Film Awards Nominations announcement, held at the May Fair hotel in London yesterday.
The Trial Of Christine Keeler star, 25, who played Welsh model Mandy Rice Davies in the BBC series, showed off her own style credentials by pairing a faux fur coat with white trousers and wore her shirt in the said style, which as you can see means only partially tucked in.
The fashionista daughter of Surrey financier David Bamber has a partnership with Chanel and says: ‘You choose what you wear and you get creative freedom with what you wear.
‘I love fashion, and whether I’m wearing a sweatsuit/tracksuit or a dress on the red carpet, I feel just as comfortable in either outfit.’
I hope the French fashion house are au fait with her comments.
Actress Ellie Bamber brought a touch of half-tuck chic to the 43rd London Critics Circle Film Awards Nominations announcement, held at the May Fair hotel in London yesterday
Turns out that Kathleen Grade — widow of broadcasting tycoon Lew Grade — who died on New Year’s Day at the age of 100, left behind rather a lot of money. Newly released probate documents reveal that the woman credited with introducing Lew to his trademark large cigars bequeathed almost £6 million to various family members. Perhaps the most interesting detail is the six seats in a box at the Royal Albert Hall which Lady Grade, a former actress, singer and dancer, left to her niece Elizabeth.
It’s always good to catch up with family at this time of the year but it would seem one of Nadiya Hussain’s nearest and dearest is taking things too far.
Bake Off winner Nadiya says her grandmother won’t go to sleep until she sees her, no matter what time of day or night. ‘She looks out the window and waits for me — she will not go to bed,’ says the 37-year-old of her granny.
‘I once had to go and see her at one o’clock in the morning because she said that if she didn’t know that I was OK, she couldn’t sleep.’
Top dog in Isla’s family
Actress Isla Fisher, who’s married to British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, believes their sheepdog Maisy is the real talent in the family.
Oscar nominee Sacha, 51, might be best known for playing larger than life characters like Ali G and Borat, but Isla, 46, thinks their mutt can do a mean impersonation herself.
‘When we play Ed Sheeran songs, Maisy joins in and dances along with us,’ says former Home and Away star Isla.
‘She taps out a rhythm with her paws and barks along to the sound of the notes.
‘I think Maisy would make an exceptional doggy film star — although she can be rather shy in the spotlight.’
Not remotely like Sacha then.
Actress Isla Fisher, who’s married to British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, believes their sheepdog Maisy is the real talent in the family
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