Aloysius "Lucky" Gordon (5 July 1931 – 15 March 2017) was a British-based Jamaican jazz singer who came to public attention during the Profumo affair. He arrived in Scotland from Jamaica in 1948,[1] and moved to London after a few days.
Early years
Aloysius "Lucky" Gordon was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and stowed away to Britain in 1947, according to his account to the Jamaica Observer in a 1998 interview.[2]
Profumo affair
Joining his brother, "Psycho" Gordon, on the London jazz scene, Lucky became involved with nightclub hostess Christine Keeler, a relationship that ended acrimoniously, although Keeler disputed there was ever a relationship between them. According to Keeler, he raped her at knifepoint at his flat in St Stephen's Square, assaulted her in the street and held her hostage for two days. Keeler sought the protection of her lover, Johnny Edgecombe, which culminated in a public fight between Edgecombe and Gordon at the Flamingo Club in Wardour Street in October 1962. Gordon required 17 stitches after Edgecombe slit his face with a knife. He later posted the 17 used stitches to Keeler and warned her that for each stitch he had sent she would get two on her face in return.[3]
Fearful of reprisals from Gordon, Edgecombe asked Keeler to help him find a solicitor so he could surrender himself to police. But Keeler, jealous that Edgecombe (the man she called "the Edge") had taken another lover, refused to help him and said she planned to give evidence against him in court. This led to Edgecombe firing gunshots outside Keeler's "protector" Stephen Ward's flat in December 1962 that in turn set in motion a chain of events that would eventually result in the public revelations of the Profumo affair.[4]
In June 1963, Gordon was jailed for three years for assaulting Keeler, but she subsequently withdrew her accusations, and was convicted of perjury in December 1963.[3]
