He was one of the city's greatest characters, the self-made millionaire playboy who owned popular 60s nightspot The Silhouette Club and travelled the world, but called Southampton home. Brian 'Kiwi' Adamson has passed away in Puerto Banus, aged 90. He was a friend to the stars who rubbed shoulders with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Mohammed Ali, Tom Selleck and Joan Collins.
(Image: David St John) Kiwi spent his early years in New Zealand and was a teenage boxing champion before joining The Merchant Navy to fulfil his wanderlust. After landing in Southampton in the late 50s and falling in love with the place and the people, he soon realised there was money to be made from gambling and got a bank loan to set up a small nightclub called the Flamingo, next to St Michael's Church. Later revamped as the Silhouette Club, it soon became the in-place of the 60s attracting locals, visitors and many celebrities who were passing through, and gaining an early gambling licence.
(Image: David St John) Kiwi's well known publicity stunts helped to boost the profile of the club, including the time when he gate-crashed the opening ceremony for the Itchen Bridge in 1977. Dressed in top hat and tails sat in the back of a horse and carriage, he managed to upstage officials at the front of the procession. In the late 80s, he sold the club for £3.
2 million, keeping £1.2 million in shares with the new venue, which he lost when the new business went into administration and promptly burned the worthle.