Businessman, who had wanted to keep his illness private, died early on Thursday, says spokesman

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Peter Stringfellow, the businessman famous for his topless nightclubs, boastful sexual exploits and mullet hairstyle, has died at the age of 77.

Stringfellow, who had cancer but wanted to keep his illness private, died early on Thursday after spending time in hospital, a spokesman said.

Peter Stringfellow - a life in pictures Read more

His publicist, Matt Glass, said: “It’s very sad news. He passed away in the early hours of this morning. It was kept very private, he didn’t want to tell. He wanted to keep it a secret.”

His eponymous London club on Covent Garden’s Upper St Martin’s Lane would continue to operate “as normal”, Glass said.

Stringfellow was a divisive figure who was a politically incorrect hero to some but was also condemned for trying to make sleazy clubs respectable.

Henry Bolton, the former Ukip leader, was one of the first to pay tribute. And the singer Boy George credited Stringfellow with introducing him and his mother to Princess Diana.

But poet and performer, Sabrina Mahfouz, who worked in one Stringfellow’s strip clubs, condemned his attitude to women. Writing on Twitter she said:

Sabrina Mahfouz (@SabrinaMahfouz) I met Peter Stringfellow every day for 5 years. He turned me into a feminist before I even knew what one was by showing me how little women were valued beyond their bodies = ££. So thanks I guess. And RIP. https://t.co/jA7H1NPPpl

And the writer India Knight questioned the adulation for Stringfellow in the aftermath of his death.

India Knight (@indiaknight) ‘He had hundreds, if not thousands, of girlfriends,’ the R4 news says droolingly, sounding as insanely from the last century as Stringfellow himself.

Stringfellow started in the entertainment industry in the early 1960s and recalled booking acts including the Beatles, the Kinks and Jimi Hendrix to play at his clubs.

In 1980 he opened Stringfellows in London’s West End and went on to create venues in Paris, New York, Miami, and Beverly Hills. Using topless women in his clubs, the Stringfellow brand became a byword for sexually explicit shows, similar to that created by late Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner.

Asked about his boast that he had slept with 2,000 women, Stringfellow told the Guardian in 2000: “I like the idea that I’ve forgotten the majority of girls I’ve been with and hopefully they’ve forgotten me.”

Born in Sheffield in 1940, Stringfellow was the eldest of four boys who were brought up by the women in his family after the men went to war.

Peter Stringfellow: My family values Read more

He claimed a spell in prison in 1962 helped change his life. When he was caught selling stolen carpets his co-conspirator escaped with a fine, but the judge in the case decided to make an example of Stringfellow. He recalled the judge saying: “You, Mr Stringfellow, are a different kettle of fish. You think you’re quite flash for your age. You’re glib. You need to be taught a sharp lesson.”

Stringfellow admitted the judge was right: “Prison wasn’t Butlin’s – it made me never want to go back. Now, I pay my taxes, have no offshore accounts and everything I do is 100% legal.”

In a 2012 article for The Guardian he attributed his entrepreneurial spirit to his mother. He said sex was never a topic of conversation in the house, while his father declined an invitation to visit one of his establishments in his later years.

Married three times and a grandfather four times over, Stringfellow is survived by his wife, Bella, and four children, Karen, Scott, Rosabella and Angelo.