The British Grandma and The Wolf of Wall Street
It is the tale of a modern-day Ozymandias, of greed, excess, hubris and a vast financial empire that eventually crumbled to dust.
In the 1990s, Jordan Belfort, a dentalschool failure, built from scratch a billion-dollar stockbroking firm. His methods, however, would have given the jitters to even the most rapacious bankers of today. Belfort squandered dizzying fortunes on hedonistic parties, drugs and millionaire’s playthings, and in 2003, he was jailed for securities fraud.
His dramatic true story, told in his bestselling memoir, is now a Hollywood blockbuster, The Wolf Of Wall Street. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese, it is tipped to win a clutch of Oscars.
But while Belfort, played by DiCaprio, was the mastermind behind the criminal moneymaking scheme, which involved artificially inflating share prices before dumping them at a huge profit, the story also involves a modest London ‘grandma’ named Patricia.
Patricia, brought to life by Joanna Lumley in the new film, was Belfort’s wife’s aunt, an English, 65-year-old former private schoolteacher. She had grown up during the Blitz, before marrying an RAF test pilot named Teddy, one of the first men to fly the Harrier jet. By the time Belfort met her at his opulent Caribbean wedding, she was divorced and living in Notting Hill, and seemed at first glance like an unlikely accomplice for the Wolf. But then that was the whole point.
Belfort, after all, had no problem making money. What he needed, with the FBI now sniffing around his accounts, was someone to help him launder it. And so a plan was hatched to open a Swiss bank account in Patricia’s (squeaky clean) name, through which his millions could be channelled.
But how on earth did The Wolf Of Wall Street convince this otherwise innocent pensioner to buy into his plan?
Well, if Belfort’s memoir is to be believed – and some are sceptical – it seems the two shared a special bond. In fact, Belfort suggests Patricia soon became one of his closest confidantes as well as one of his most valuable assets.
In his book, Belfort writes that he found her ‘a calming influence’ and ‘incredibly soothing’. He adds that she was ‘…beautiful. But it wasn’t the sort of beauty you see in a 65-year-old woman in Town & Country magazine, the supposed barometer of what it means to age gracefully. Patricia was infinitely more beautiful than that. What she had was an inner beauty… It was the beauty of perfectly still water, the beauty of cold mountain air.’
Again, if Belfort’s account is to be believed, Patricia certainly appears to have profited financially from the arrangement. In his book, Belfort reveals how he gave her an American Express card with no limit and arranged for a private jet to fly her to the Continent on her assignations. He writes that he told her during one meeting, ‘I want you to promise me you’re going to spend at least £10,000 per month.’
But it seems that money was never Patricia’s motive. ‘I am only doing this because it helps you – not because of the money,’ she says to Belfort in his book. ‘One thing you’ll find as you grow older is that, sometimes, money can be more trouble than it’s worth.
‘Money is the tool, my child, not the mason,’ she adds. ‘It can help you make acquaintances but not true friends; and it might buy you a life of leisure but not a life of peace.’
Instead, Belfort suggests that she was more excited by the challenge, the adventure of it all. ‘I feel like a character in an Ian Fleming novel,’ she confesses to him, ‘…and when you get to my age, a little bit of raciness is what keeps you young.’
Despite his reputation as a cut-throat tycoon, it appears Belfort did agonise over whether he should involve this otherwise innocent woman. But the arrangement went ahead, and she seems to have played a key role in squirrelling away his millions.
The partnership only came to an end when Patricia died of a stroke in 1999. And not long afterwards, the law caught up with Belfort. His company was closed and he served time in prison, before penning his memoirs – and inspiring Martin Scorsese’s new film.
We’ll never know what role Patricia really played in the making of The Wolf Of Wall Street, but if she was looking for a little late-life drama, she has certainly now found her way on to the big screen.
The Wolf Of Wall Street, by Jordan Belfort (Hodder paperback, £7.99). The film of the same name is on general release in cinemas.
In the 1990s, Jordan Belfort, a dentalschool failure, built from scratch a billion-dollar stockbroking firm. His methods, however, would have given the jitters to even the most rapacious bankers of today. Belfort squandered dizzying fortunes on hedonistic parties, drugs and millionaire’s playthings, and in 2003, he was jailed for securities fraud.
His dramatic true story, told in his bestselling memoir, is now a Hollywood blockbuster, The Wolf Of Wall Street. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese, it is tipped to win a clutch of Oscars.
But while Belfort, played by DiCaprio, was the mastermind behind the criminal moneymaking scheme, which involved artificially inflating share prices before dumping them at a huge profit, the story also involves a modest London ‘grandma’ named Patricia.
Patricia, brought to life by Joanna Lumley in the new film, was Belfort’s wife’s aunt, an English, 65-year-old former private schoolteacher. She had grown up during the Blitz, before marrying an RAF test pilot named Teddy, one of the first men to fly the Harrier jet. By the time Belfort met her at his opulent Caribbean wedding, she was divorced and living in Notting Hill, and seemed at first glance like an unlikely accomplice for the Wolf. But then that was the whole point.
Belfort, after all, had no problem making money. What he needed, with the FBI now sniffing around his accounts, was someone to help him launder it. And so a plan was hatched to open a Swiss bank account in Patricia’s (squeaky clean) name, through which his millions could be channelled.
But how on earth did The Wolf Of Wall Street convince this otherwise innocent pensioner to buy into his plan?
Well, if Belfort’s memoir is to be believed – and some are sceptical – it seems the two shared a special bond. In fact, Belfort suggests Patricia soon became one of his closest confidantes as well as one of his most valuable assets.
In his book, Belfort writes that he found her ‘a calming influence’ and ‘incredibly soothing’. He adds that she was ‘…beautiful. But it wasn’t the sort of beauty you see in a 65-year-old woman in Town & Country magazine, the supposed barometer of what it means to age gracefully. Patricia was infinitely more beautiful than that. What she had was an inner beauty… It was the beauty of perfectly still water, the beauty of cold mountain air.’
Again, if Belfort’s account is to be believed, Patricia certainly appears to have profited financially from the arrangement. In his book, Belfort reveals how he gave her an American Express card with no limit and arranged for a private jet to fly her to the Continent on her assignations. He writes that he told her during one meeting, ‘I want you to promise me you’re going to spend at least £10,000 per month.’
But it seems that money was never Patricia’s motive. ‘I am only doing this because it helps you – not because of the money,’ she says to Belfort in his book. ‘One thing you’ll find as you grow older is that, sometimes, money can be more trouble than it’s worth.
‘Money is the tool, my child, not the mason,’ she adds. ‘It can help you make acquaintances but not true friends; and it might buy you a life of leisure but not a life of peace.’
Instead, Belfort suggests that she was more excited by the challenge, the adventure of it all. ‘I feel like a character in an Ian Fleming novel,’ she confesses to him, ‘…and when you get to my age, a little bit of raciness is what keeps you young.’
Despite his reputation as a cut-throat tycoon, it appears Belfort did agonise over whether he should involve this otherwise innocent woman. But the arrangement went ahead, and she seems to have played a key role in squirrelling away his millions.
The partnership only came to an end when Patricia died of a stroke in 1999. And not long afterwards, the law caught up with Belfort. His company was closed and he served time in prison, before penning his memoirs – and inspiring Martin Scorsese’s new film.
We’ll never know what role Patricia really played in the making of The Wolf Of Wall Street, but if she was looking for a little late-life drama, she has certainly now found her way on to the big screen.
The Wolf Of Wall Street, by Jordan Belfort (Hodder paperback, £7.99). The film of the same name is on general release in cinemas.