Richard Vivian Franklin (1964-67)

The Road from Carmel

Joining Jill and Doron on the 32nd episode of the podcast, the fourteenth of our second season, to tell us his story is British artist Richard Franklin.

Richard, known as Vivian at Carmel, is the son of the late Lady Nina and merchant banker Sir Roland Franklin, a former Chairman of Carmel’s Board of Governors. He grew up in Hampstead Garden Suburb. In the 1980s, he was associated with the family merchant bank, Keyser Ullman, and worked in NY with his father and the late Sir James Goldsmith during the heyday of corporate takeovers. These days, he is based in Los Angeles, and is an entirely self-taught photographer, who - after many years of shooting hundreds of Hollywood glamor models - now focuses on creating complex and vivid abstract images of the cosmos. His art has been exhibited at Bloomingdales and Art Basel. Richard also produced the Hyam Maccoby play “The Disputation”, based on a scholarly book about the historic proceeding in the court of King James I that put the Jewish religion on trial. He lives in a storied house in the Hollywood Hills with the love of his life, a 130lb male Newfoundland.

Hear Richard talk about childhood depression; his famous aunt; Sir Yehudi Menuhin’s visit; the impact on him of the 1968 movie ‘If’; his late father’s retirement island; and life in ‘The Kardashian House of Sin’.

Thank you, Richard Franklin, for turning us again to Carmel days!

Personal mentions in this episode:

• David Stamler (Headmaster)

• Rabbi Jeremy Rosen (Headmaster)

• Tim AJ Healey (History & Cricket Master)

• Joe Buchko (English Literature)

• Martin Fogel (Music)

• Joshua Gabay (French & Junior School Headmaster)

• Jonathan Franklin

• David Dangoor

• Philip Green

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