SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: Harry Potter star and the vanishing £1 million

SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: Harry Potter star and the vanishing £1 million

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe seems to be losing his financial wizardry.

I hear the actor, who has held viewers spellbound since being cast in Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone at the age of 12, made a loss of almost £1 million in the business he uses to channel his on-screen earnings.

The £952,175 plunge is buried in accounts published on Christmas Eve for Gilmore Jacobs Ltd, reported in ‘distributable profit and loss reserves’. 

It’s a huge turnaround for Radcliffe, 31, as his company made a £4.2 million profit the previous year.

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe seems to be losing his financial wizardry, writes SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE

Happily, he will have no problem shouldering the loss as the company remained £79.7 million in the black as at March 31.

The actor’s parents set the business up for him in 2000 — the year before he first hit the screens as J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard. 

Its most profitable year was 2012, in which a £16.7 million profit was generated. 

This year its assets included £8.6 million in cash, plus £53 million worth of investments, monies owed to it at £17.8 million, as well as investment property at £3.1 million.

I hear the actor, who has held viewers spellbound since being cast in Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone at the age of 12, made a loss of almost £1 million in the business he uses to channel his on-screen earnings

Radcliffe’s father, Alan, forsook his own career as a literary agent to nurture his son’s acting. His mother, Marcia, is a casting agent.

They are the only directors of the company, but have always made it plain that the money it generates — from investments and Daniel’s stellar career — is for him alone. 

Radcliffe now spends much of his time in New York with girlfriend Erin Darke, 36, whom he met when they starred together in the 2013 drama Kill Your Darlings.

The actor’s parents set the business, Gilmore Jacobs Ltd, up for him in 2000 — the year before he first hit the screens as J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard

But he betrays no sign of succumbing to delusions of film-star grandeur, emphasising instead that his fortune gives him what other actors can only dream of — artistic freedom. 

‘I would like to start directing in my 30s,’ he has said, ‘and try to get at least one film made before I turn 40.’

He still has the fortune to produce it, too. Radcliffe’s spokesman declines to comment.

A splashing time for Murdoch’s ex 

Wendi Deng Murdoch has found a pleasurable way to cheer herself up during the pandemic: a strapping new toyboy.

The 52-year-old former wife of media magnate Rupert Murdoch is pictured frolicking in the Caribbean surf with the unidentified chum.

They are on St Barts, where Wendi used to entertain her ex-boyfriend, Hungarian model Bertold Zahoran, who was in his 20s. They split up two years ago.

Wendi has two daughters with Murdoch, 89, to whom she was married for 14 years until 2013. 

She memorably defended the tycoon in 2011 by lunging at a shaving foam pie-throwing protester who attacked him as he gave evidence to a committee of MPs.

Wendi Deng Murdoch has found a pleasurable way to cheer herself up during the pandemic: a strapping new toyboy. The 52-year-old former wife of media magnate Rupert Murdoch is pictured frolicking in the Caribbean surf with the unidentified chum

Too chilly for a bikini, Liz?  

Usually showing off skimpy bikinis in sunny locations, Elizabeth Hurley chose to keep her clothes on for this particular photoshoot.

The actress, model and swimwear trader wrapped up warm to play in the snow near her country home with her son Damian.

Having inherited her looks, 18-year-old Damian has followed his mother into modelling.

‘Who needs Switzerland?’ Liz asks. ‘OK, there’s no skiing, no fondues & no gluhwein — otherwise, come to Herefordshire.’

Usually showing off skimpy bikinis in sunny locations, Elizabeth Hurley chose to keep her clothes on for this particular photoshoot. The actress, model and swimwear trader wrapped up warm to play in the snow near her country home with her son Damian

Having inherited her looks, 18-year-old Damian has followed his mother into modelling

Victoria & Albert Museum chairman Nicholas Coleridge is mourning his father, who died on Boxing Day, aged 88. 

City grandee David Coleridge was a former chairman of Lloyd’s of London insurers. ‘We are all very sad,’ Nicholas tells me. 

‘He died at home with my mother at his bedside. He was a wonderful man, unfailingly courteous.

‘Hugely successful, but exceptionally modest about it. If everyone was more like my father, it would be a better world.’ 

Good habits get Jenny in shape 

Piled on the pounds over Christmas? Call The Midwife star Jenny Agutter boasts that her dress size hasn’t changed for nearly 40 years, thanks to continual mini-diets.

‘People are whatever weight they are, but I don’t want to have to change my clothes size as I like the clothes I have,’ says the actress, 68. 

‘I have an Armani jacket I bought in 1987 and continue to wear it. If I put on weight, it shows on my face faster than anywhere else.’

Surely, no one would notice when she’s in her nun’s habit?

Piled on the pounds over Christmas? Call The Midwife star Jenny Agutter boasts that her dress size hasn’t changed for nearly 40 years, thanks to continual mini-diets

Joan Bakewell has no doubt what her most cherished present was this year. 

‘I had the jab for Christmas,’ the broadcaster tells me. 

Baroness Bakewell, 87, was given the Covid inoculation near her home in North London. 

‘I queued up with other oldies. It was very well and cheerfully applied, so I was very happy.’ Nevertheless, her family’s festive celebrations will be held at Easter.

Doctor Who has a new K9 

While Lily James was pictured kissing and cuddling with the married actor Dominic West, her ex, Matt Smith, has found a faithful friend.

The former Doctor Who star is busy bonding with his new pet dog, Bobby. Here, he’s pictured taking the Irish terrier for a walk near his home in North London.

Lily, 31, is planning to enhance her new, racy reputation on screen by playing Pamela Anderson in a TV series about the ex Baywatch babe’s sex-tape scandal. 

Is Smith, 38, aiming for a more serious image by donning spectacles?

While Lily James was pictured kissing and cuddling with the married actor Dominic West, her ex, Matt Smith, has found a faithful friend. The former Doctor Who star is busy bonding with his new pet dog, Bobby. Here, he’s pictured taking the Irish terrier for a walk near his home in North London

Source: Read Full Article