LONDON (AFP) - Paul Raymond, the porn baron and multi-millionaire property developer credited with staging the first live striptease show in London, has died, his company said Monday. He was 82.
Raymond, who amassed an estimated 650-million-pound fortune, was once dubbed the "King of Soho" for his businesses, including Raymonds Revue Bar, in the London nightlife district.
His stable of top-shelf magazines, overseen by his company the Paul Raymond Organisation, included Razzle, Mens World and Mayfair.
Born Geoffrey Anthony Quinn, the son of a haulage contractor, Raymond left school at 15 vowing to make his name in showbusiness. He started out with a mind-reading act on Clacton Pier, before becoming producer for a touring vaudeville show.
For many commentators he brought erotica into the mainstream, hosting a ground-breaking first live striptease in 1958, before going on to make a vast fortune by buying and developing property in Soho and west London.
He was also described as a British version of Playboy founder Hugh Heffner in the United States.
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