Helen O'Brien
Helen O'Brien (née Elena Constantinescu, 14 December 1925 – 16 September 2005), was a British nightclub owner and spy. The daughter of a landowner and an aristocrat, she fled the communists in her native Romania, and in 1953 co-founded what was the most daring London nightclub of its era, where she worked as a spy for the UK's MI5 and MI6.
Helen O'Brien | |
|---|---|
| Born | Elena Constantinescu 14 December 1925 Bucharest, Romania |
| Died | 16 September 2005 France |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | Nightclub owner and spy |
| Spouses | Kenneth Archer
(m. 1946; died 1946)Jimmy O'Brien
(m. 1948; died 1994) |
| Children | 2 |
Early life
Helen O'Brien was born Elena Constantinescu on 14 December 1925, the daughter of a Romanian estate owning father, and an aristocratic mother who was the daughter of an exiled Russian Duchess.[1] She was born and grew up in Bucharest.[2]
First brief marriage
In early 1946, she married Kenneth Archer, an RAF officer.[2] Archer was on his wife's arm when he was shot dead a month later, by a British soldier who believed that there was a Russian behind the door.[2] In 1944, she had fled from the advancing Russians on a racehorse, and in 1947, she had to leave the country as a refugee, as landowners were not welcome under communism.[1]
London, second marriage and Eve nightclub
She made her way to London, and found work at Murray's Cabaret Club in Beak Street, Soho, as a cigarette girl and dancer, where the general manager, Jimmy O'Brien, who had started as a cloakroom attendant, became infatuated with her.[1][3] They married in 1948.[2] Together they opened a nightclub called Eve on nearby Regent Street on St Valentine's Day in 1953.[4] As a members only club charging a guinea a year, it did not have to comply with the usual licensing laws and served alcohol until 3am.[3] Members included kings, ambassadors, sultans and a bishop.[3]
As the hostess of Eve, Helen introduced topless girls and strippers to the club's entertainment, performing on the world's "first-ever illuminated glass floor" in what was the "most daring show" in London's West End.[1][5] The club was known for "its unique appeal of glamour, intrigue, sex, sophistication, daring floorshows and mystery".[5]
The club was popular with senior civil servants and Eastern European diplomats, and as O'Brien was anti-Communist she passed on information. She refused an offer from a Romanian secret agent to allow her parents to come to London if she would spy for them, and when she was spotted meeting Romanian embassy staff in 1958, she received an invitation from the War Office, and was recruited by British intelligence.[3] As well as Romanian and English, she was fluent in Russian.[1] She was recruited into MI5 by Charles Elwell.[5] When Helen's father was finally able to come to London, Elwell found him to be a "goldmine of intelligence" about Romania.[5]
Later life
The club closed in 1992, and in 1993, they retired to the south of France.[1] Jimmy died in 1994.[1] Helen O'Brien died on 16 September 2005, and was survived by her two daughters.[1]
References
- "Helen O'Brien". The Daily Telegraph. 20 September 2005. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
- Bouleanu, Elisabeth (17 January 2016). "Helen O'Brien, superba spioană româncă din Marea Britanie care l-a dat afară pe Nicu Ceauşescu din clubul ei, pentru că i-a pipăit animatoarele". Adevarul.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 3 September 2023.
- Horwell, Veronica (29 September 2005). "Obituary Helen O'Brien". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
- Thompson, Douglas (2013). "5. Doctor on the move". Stephen Ward: Scapegoat - They All Loved Him... But When It Went Wrong They Killed Him. Kings Road Publishing. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-78219-931-1.
- Hollingsworth, Mark (2023). Agents of influence: how the KGB subverted western democracies. London: Oneworld. p. 170. ISBN 9780861545339. Retrieved 8 September 2023.