Does the Story of John Aspinall Deserve a Dramatic Adaptation?
John Aspinall made a fortune running casinos and gambling groups before doing so was legal.
He also ran zoos and was caught in the middle of one of the most baffling, intriguing, and, if those in his clique are to be believed, horrifying deaths of one of the people he would consider to be his closest friends. His story has many twists and turns, and this is one of the reasons some people say that his life and story deserve a dramatic adaptation.
Creating a Small Fortune
While many do not consider him as wealthy as some of the people who surrounded him, John Aspinall still created a small fortune for himself, even opening a foundation to help manage it all in life and after his passing.
He made most of his money running casinos and then spent that money to open two zoos that became his pride and joy in the last years of his life. His involvement in casinos started as early as 1957 when he would organize gambling parties that were regularly raided by the police.
His arrest in 1957 would not amount to much because the court dismissed the charges. However, this incident taught him that unsanctioned gambling and gambling parties would be more trouble than they were worth. Once the Gambling Act of 1960 passed, he opened casinos where he could do things the right way.
His first casino was the Clermont Club at 44 Berkeley Square. Its success led to him opening Howletts, where the main issue he had to contend with was angry neighbours who did not like the racket the club and casino brought with it. He would go on to be successful with similar ventures, with his Hans Place casino making him £8 million in a single year at one point.
The gambling landscape was changing even back then, and things have moved on a lot since the days of Aspinall’s casinos. Now, players can access casinos like those found here from the comfort of their homes on their smartphones and computers; something Aspinall wouldn’t have been able to fathom when he got started in gambling.
Aspinall’s Zoos
After making his money in gambling, Aspinall decided he would turn his attention to another endeavour associated with a different kind of risk. His next passion project was zoos and animals. Several people say he treated his gorillas, tigers, and other animals better than he did people and that he preferred spending time with them instead of his friends.
He insisted that all animals in his zoos were not specimens that needed to be displayed, but friends who needed love and pampering. He tried to recreate the environment they would live in if they were in the wild, and also created special diets for them.
Experts were always skeptical about how he treated his animals, but they all looked at him in awe and admiration due to how much control he had over them.
Weird Deaths at His Zoos
Although Aspinall wanted people to believe his zoos were safe because of how well he managed them and his relationship with his animals, that was not the full picture. Instead, the zoos have been linked to five deaths. All in all, at Aspinall’s zoo, three people died after accidents involving tigers, and a further two lost their lives after being tragically crushed by elephants.
In addition to these tragic events, there were some maulings, too. The most horrifying of these is one of a 12-year-old boy in 1969, which caused a lot of public uproar and resulted in some people saying they would not be visiting anymore.
Relationship with Lord Lucan
One of the most intriguing parts of Aspinall’s life was his relationship with Lord Lucan, who was part of his casino group. Lord Lucan was suspected of having killed his nanny, mistaking her for his wife, with whom he had an issue at the time. Once he allegedly killed her, he disappeared and was never heard from or seen again.
Naturally, reporters and the police turned to the group he was part of and Aspinall in particular so they could tell them where Lord Lucan was and if he was capable of what the police suspected him of. No one knew where he was, but Aspinall and his friends came up with several theories at the time.
The most prominent one is that he took his boat out to sea and drowned himself. Lord Lucan did not seem like the kind of man to do that, so others theorized he shot himself. This theory was confirmed by Philippe Marcq, who was in his gambling group but with a twist. Phillippe says that his body was eaten by one of the tigers at Aspinall’s zoos once he committed suicide after being offered a gun by Aspinall.
It is an intriguing story that only came to light after 40 years and Aspinall’s passing. No one can be prosecuted for it because everyone says they were told this by someone else.
John Aspinall’s life was dangerous because of his businesses and how he lived. He has also been portrayed as a playboy and a man quick to anger. The most shocking thing about his life is his involvement with the death of Lord Lucan, whom he considered a friend and who was part of his inner circle. With how much happened in his life and around him, creating a dramatic adaptation of his life could be a successful undertaking.