Viv nicholson autobiography biography

British football pools winner

Viv Nicholson
Born	Vivian Asprey 3 April &#;() Castleford, Yorkshire, England
Died	11 April () (aged&#;79) Wakefield, Yorkshire, England
Spouse(s)	Matthew Johnson (&#;) Keith Howard Nicholson (&#;) Brian Stewart Wright (&#;) Peter Graham Ellison () Gary Shaw (&#;)
Children	4

Vivian "Viv" Nicholson (néeAsprey; 3 April – 11 April ) was a British woman who became famous when she told the media that she would "spend, spend, spend" after her husband Keith won £, (equivalent to £4,, in ) on the football pools in ^[1] Nicholson became the subject of tabloid news stories for many years because of the couple's subsequent rapid spending of their fortune and her later chaotic life.

Viv nicholson autobiography summary

Even today, when millionaires are generated two or three times a week by the National Lottery, the British public still prefer those who have wealth suddenly thrust upon them to respond with a cautiousness bordering on indifference, to be as level-headed in their spending as a stoic tycoon. Wealth fascinates us but money is vulgar, and if, watching safely from the moral high ground, we see it cost some lucky soul dear, that reassures us that we are better off without the jackpot that fate is probably never going to serve us up. She was unapologetic and brassy. She was a crowd all by herself, a gutsy champagne blonde would could eat men for breakfast and who believed life was about more than just cooking their tea. Vivian Asprey was born in Castleford, West Yorkshire in

Early life

Nicholson was born Vivian Asprey on 3 April in Castleford near Wakefield. Her father was a coal miner, but suffered from epilepsy, and was often unable to work. Her mother was asthmatic. As the oldest child, Asprey was expected to mind her younger brothers and sisters and scavenge for coal.

Spend spend spend full movie

Viv nicholson the smiths

How did keith nicholson die

Viv nicholson children

The tale of Viv Nicholson - the working class Yorkshire lass ...

Growing up in extreme poverty, she was not allowed to take up a scholarship that she had won to an art school. Having left school at age 14, she took work at the local liquorice factory making Pontefract cakes.

She became pregnant at age 16 and married Matthew Johnson, but left him to marry her neighbour, Keith Nicholson, two years later.

By , she had four children.^[2]

Wealth

Keith Nicholson won the football pools on 23 September ^[3] His and his wife's lavish spending sprees (including purchases of expensive sportscars, fur coats, clothing, home appliances, jewellery and holiday trips) over the next few years quickly depleted their fortune.^[4] By her own admission, Viv faced difficulty in coping with the psychological effects of the money that Keith had won.

Having no concept of how to manage and save money, she admitted that her spending was akin to a narcotics addiction.^{[citation needed]} She came to feel distanced from the people among whom she had lived, who in turn could no longer relate to her,^[2] and she developed an ever greater longing for a much more affluent lifestyle.

After Keith died after crashing his Jaguar on 30 October , Viv's fortune rapidly dwindled to nothing; banks and tax creditors deemed her bankrupt^[5] and declared that all the money, and everything that she had acquired with it, belonged not to her but to Keith's estate.^{[citation needed]}

In , Nicholson won a three-year legal battle to gain £34, from her husband's estate,^[6] but rapidly lost it all by more uncontrolled spending, as well as by taxes, legal fees, unpaid bills and bad investments.

Difficulties

In , Nicholson relocated to Malta, but the following year, after she was arrested for assaulting a policeman, the Maltese authorities deported her, and she returned to Britain.

Viv nicholson autobiography youtube Her father was a coal miner , but suffered from epilepsy , and was often unable to work. Her mother was asthmatic. As the oldest child, Asprey was expected to mind her younger brothers and sisters and scavenge for coal. Growing up in extreme poverty, she was not allowed to take up a scholarship that she had won to an art school. Having left school at age 14, she took work at the local liquorice factory making Pontefract cakes.

She remarried, but her new husband Brian Wright was later also killed in a car crash. She entered a mental home to escape from her next husband Graham Ellison, who abused her during the four days in which they lived together; the marriage lasted 13 weeks. Her fifth and final husband, Gary Shaw, died of a drug overdose.^[2]

Nicholson's alcoholism became serious during her wealthy years but continued for many years after she had lost all of her money.

She eventually achieved sobriety.^{[citation needed]}

She made many unsuccessful attempts to regain both her public profile and her lost wealth, such as recording a song (titled "Spend Spend Spend", written by her brother) and appearing in a strip club singing "Big Spender."^[5] After opening a short-lived boutique, she ended up penniless,^[2] and by claimed that she could not even afford to bury her fourth husband (they had broken up three years earlier)^{[citation needed]} when he died.

In , Nicholson co-wrote an autobiography with Stephen Smith titled Spend, Spend, Spend^[7] that was dramatised for the BBC's Play for Today series by Jack Rosenthal. Spend, Spend, Spend () was directed by John Goldschmidt (who won a BAFTA award for the filmed play) and stars Susan Littler and John Duttine.

Viv nicholson autobiography images

Viv nicholson autobiography book

Viv nicholson autobiography biography

Nicholson died at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield at age 79 on 11 April after having a stroke and suffering from dementia.^[4]

In culture

A photograph of Nicholson was used on the sleeve of the Smiths' single "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now." Morrissey had previously borrowed a line from Nicholson's autobiography for the song "Still Ill" ("Under the iron bridge we kissed, and although I ended up with sore lips").

Another picture of Nicholson taken at Wheldale Colliery, Castleford, West Yorkshire was used on the German release of "Barbarism Begins at Home" and on the programme for the Meat Is Murder tour. A photo of Nicholson painting at an easel was used for the cover of a re-release of "The Headmaster Ritual."^[8] However, as she had become a Jehovah's Witness in ,^[9] Nicholson objected to the use of her image for the single's cover because of an expletive in the song's lyrics ("Spineless bastards all").^[10]

In her autobiography, guitarist Viv Albertine of The Slits says that their song "Spend, Spend, Spend" by was inspired by Viv Nicholson.

A successful musical based on Nicholson's life called Spend Spend Spend debuted in and subsequently ran in the West End.^[11]

References