Mandy Rice-Davies
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Mandy Rice-Davies, born October 1, 1944, is famous mainly for her minor role in the Profumo affair which discredited the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan in 1963.
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Born Marilyn Rice-Davies in Pontyates near Llanelli, Wales, before moving to Shirley in Birmingham. As a teenager, she appeared much older than her actual years and as such, at age 15 she got a job as clothes model at Marshall & Snelgrove, a department store in Birmingham. Rice-Davies came to London, where she met Christine Keeler and Stephen Ward. As a result of her involvement in Ward's social set, she became intimate with many powerful people, including the then Viscount Astor.
While giving evidence at the trial of Stephen Ward, Rice-Davies made the quip for which she is most remembered. When the prosecuting counsel pointed out that Lord Astor denied having an affair or having even met her, she replied, "Well, he would, wouldn't he?" (argument ad hominem). She traded on the notoriety the trial brought her, and went on to run night clubs in the Middle East.
In 1980, with Shirley Flack she co-wrote her autobiography, Mandy. In 1989, she authored a novel titled The Scarlet Thread. In the 1989 film about the Profumo affair titled Scandal, actress Bridget Fonda portrayed Rice-Davies.