"Bee
Gee's boss flees inferno"
(Daily
Mail, 25 October 2007)
No one has been watching the Californian firestorms, in which hundreds of homes have been destroyed, with more sympathy than music mogul Robert Stigwood.
For the former manager of the Bee Gees and mentor to Lord Lloyd-Webber and Sir Tim Rice has, I can disclose, just had an astonishing escape from a raging inferno that tore through his seven-bedroom Ascot mansion.
During the terrifying ordeal, the 73-year-old Australian-born tycoon narrowly missed being hit by a bolt of electricity which shot out of a fuse box.
Fortunately, Stigwood and his beloved dogs, golden retriever Marmaduke and mongrel Milly, were saved by the timely intervention of his butler Khalid.
The eagle-eyed servant had raised the alarm after spotting smoke billowing from the fuse box shortly before it caught fire.
Now recovering at the nearby mansion of his Bee Gee friend Barry Gibb, Stigwood tells me: "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There were electrical bolts leaping from the fuse box to a metal sink many feet away.
"The stairs were about to go up. There was smoke everywhere. It was terrifying. Two more feet or a couple of seconds later and my butler and I would not be here."
Stigwood, who is worth £200 million, had moved into the Edwardian mansion only last year, after spending a fortune on refurbishments.
The house, called Clavering, boasted an indoor pool, gym and even a party annexe — an essential for an impresario famed for his star-studded parties.
"I'm afraid we did lose quite a few things," says Stigwood. "But the fire brigade was brilliant and saved the house. I don't have a clue about the cost at this stage, but we are insured."
Stigwood, a close friend of the Duke and Duchess of York, is now ensconced happily in Gibb's 20-room home in Beaconsfield — which he rented from the singer before moving to Clavering.
One of Gibb's other homes, a lakeside villa in Tennessee once owned by the late country singer Johnny Cash, was destroyed by fire in April.
"Fortunately the property was available and Barry has been very good to me. Obviously he has had his own problems with fire recently, so it is all very poignant," Stigwood tells me.
"He has 40 acres here, so my dogs have plenty of room to run around in. I couldn't be in a better place."
