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Kathleen Norris " Koo" Stark (born April 26, 1956) is an American photographer and actress, known for her relationship with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. She is a patron of the Dimbola Lodge, which runs the museum of the Victorian pioneer photographer.
Koo Stark attended the Hewitt School in New York and the Glendower Preparatory School in Kensington, London. After training at a stage school, she began her acting career. Wilbur Stark, TV Producer, 81 , dated August 14, 1995, at nytimes.com, accessed 12 November 2017
She also appeared in Cruel Passion (1977), a film based on the novel Justine. Around the same time, she played the part of Camie Marstrap in Star Wars (1977); the scenes in which she appeared were cut from the film before its original release,Marcus Hearn, The Cinema of George Lucas (2005), p. 106 but can be seen in (1998). Newsweek, Volume 132 (1998), p. 122
Stark also began to work as a fashion model, particularly for Norman Parkinson.Hugh Massingberd, The Daily Telegraph Third Book of Obituaries: Entertainers (1998), p. 122 In February 1981, she was an understudy in the Edward Albee play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the National Theatre.
She appeared in the comedy Eat the Rich (1987), and then featured in "Timeslides", an episode of the sci-fi show Red Dwarf (1989), playing Lady Sabrina Mulholland-Jjones, the fiancée of a more successful Dave Lister. Paul Green, Encyclopedia of Weird War Stories: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements (2017), p. 148
In September 1987, she returned to the stage, taking the part of Vera Claythorne in Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None at the Duke of York's Theatre. And Then There Were None at theatricalia.com, accessed 7 November 2017 The London Theatre Record posed the question "Why has a girl so obviously three-dimensional chosen a part so obviously two-dimensional?" London Theatre Record, Volume 8, Issues 1-13, p. 184. She played Miss Scarlett in the 1991 series of Cluedo, succeeding Toyah Willcox and befriending Rula Lenska.Karen Louise Hollis, The Other Side of the Table (2011), p. 61
The book Contrasts was launched at Hamiltons Gallery, London, in September 1985, at an exhibition of the same name. British Journal of Photography, Volume 132 (Henry Greenwood & Co., 1985), p. 1022 In 1994, the Gallery Bar at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane hosted an exhibition called 'The Stark Image', forty photographs by Stark, including several previously unpublished. British Journal of Photography, Volume 141 (Henry Greenwood & Co., 1994), p. 58 In 1998, her work was featured at the Como Lario in Holbein Place, Belgravia.Jim Ainsworth, The Good Food Guide 1998 (Which? Books, 1998), p. 87 In July 2001 she had an exhibition called 'Stark Images" at the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh, British Journal of Photography, Volume 148 (Henry Greenwood & Co., 2001), issue 7346 duplicated from June to July 2001 at Dimbola Lodge on the Isle of Wight.Harriet Lane, The Stark ages , in The Observer dated 17 June 2001, accessed 12 November 2017 A solo exhibition of portraits was at the Winter Gardens, Ventnor, from September to October 2010,David Bartlett, Koo Stark Exhibition At Winter Gardens dated 8th September, 2010, at onthewight.com, accessed 12 November 2017 and another at Dimbola Lodge from February to April 2011. Events February 2011 at iwcp.co.uk, Isle of Wight County Press, accessed 19 November 2017: "Koo Stark Contrasts Art Exhibition at Dimbola Lodge Museum, Freshwater, closed Mondays."
On 22 April 1987, a charity auction at Christie's, St James's, for the Campaign to Protect Rural England, featured signed work by David Bailey, Patrick Lichfield, Don McCullin, Terence Donovan, Fay Godwin, Heather Angel, Clive Arrowsmith, Linda McCartney, Koo Stark, and fifteen others, British Journal of Photography, Volume 134 (Henry Greenwood & Co., 1987), p. 234 BBC Wildlife, Volumes 4-5 (1986), p. 201 Arts Review, Volume 39, Issues 1-13 (Richard Gainsborough Periodicals, 1987), p. 136 Views by Stark, including some of Kirby Muxloe Castle, were in G. H. Davies's England's Glory (1987), a CPRE book launched at the same time.Review of G. H. Davies's England's Glory: a Photographic Journey through England's Threatened Landscape in Antiquity, Volume 61 (Antiquity Publications, 1987), p. 476
Pictures by Stark have appeared in Country Life British Design Strikes a Winning Pose by Jennifer Guerrini-Maraldi, photographs by Koo Stark in Country Life volume 191 (1997) and other magazines. Several of her portraits are in the National Portrait Gallery, Koo Stark (1956-) at npg.org.uk, accessed 12 November 2017 and work is also in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, both in London.
A Leica Camera user, Stark has said her camera transcends mere function and is a personal friend. A solo exhibition hosted by the Leica gallery in Mayfair in May 2017 was entitled Kintsugi, a Japanese word for a way of renovating things that have been broken. Stark explained the title: "Kintsugi is a way of learning to see individual beauty, and to appreciate the value of experience and honesty. It is the antithesis of digital, airbrushed, Photoshop-homogenised 'beauty'." In August the exhibition was repeated in Manchester, to mark the opening of a new Leica store there.Nigel Barlow, Koo Stark exhibition comes to Manchester dated August 11, 2017, at aboutmanchester.co.uk, accessed 12 November 2017
Stark married Tim Jeffries, manager of a photographic gallery, in August 1984, Milestones, in Time dated Aug. 27, 1984 at St Saviour's, Chalk Farm, with the minister, Christopher Neil-Smith, commenting that "It was such a quiet affair you wouldn't have known it was happening."'Stark weds Green Shield heir', Associated Press report in The Daily Register dated August 17, 1984, page A2, col. 1 They stayed together for a year, later divorcing.
She was later engaged to Warren Walker, an American banker, but he cancelled their wedding before the birth of their daughter, Tatiana, in May 1997. "Koo's praise for her daughter's father" in The Independent (London), dated August 18, 1998, accessed October 7, 2007
In another libel action in 2007, Stark won an apology and substantial damages from Zoo Weekly magazine, which had described her as a porn star. She commented "I am relieved that my name has been cleared of this false, highly damaging and serious allegation which has been proved to be completely untrue." Koo Stark news release at carter-ruck.com, accessed 25 May 2018 In 2011 The Daily Telegraph called her an early "Kate Middleton prototype" and suggested that if she had not appeared in the film Emily early in her career she might have gone on to become the Duchess of York.
In November 2012, Stark appeared at Hammersmith magistrates court accused of stealing a painting by Dutch master Anthonie van Borssom, worth £40,000, from the home of her ex-partner, American financier Warren Walker. She strenuously denied the allegation. Before the matter came to trial, the painting was returned to Walker and by agreement the prosecution was abandoned. "Koo Stark not guilty of theft after returning painting to former partner", The Guardian, 20 June 2013, accessed 16 May 2024
In November 2022, Stark was awarded substantial damages and received an apology in a court case brought against Daily Mails parent company for a 2019 article which falsely referred to her as "a soft porn actress".
In 2002 Stark was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy and chemotherapy, causing her to lose her hair for a time. Koo's battle against cancer in Evening Standard dated 23 March 2004, accessed 17 November 2017
Career
Acting
Her first film role was in the comedy All I Want Is You... and You... and You... (1974), produced by her father. In 1975 she appeared in Las adolescentes (The Adolescents), opposite Anthony Andrews,"Adolescentes, Las", in Luis Gasca, Un siglo de cine español (Planeta, 1998), p. 17 and starred in an episode of Shades of Greene.Quentin Falk, Travels in Greeneland: The Complete Guide to the Cinema of Graham Greene (2000), p. 149
Also that year she had an uncredited role as a bridesmaid in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. "Metropolitan Life: Why Are They Famous?". The Independent. 8 August 1996. Retrieved 21 February 2020. Her best-remembered performance is the lead role in the erotic film Emily (1976), directed by Henry Herbert, 17th Earl of Pembroke.Christopher Neame, A Take on British TV Drama: Stories from the Golden Years (Scarecrow Press, 2004), p. xiv-xv Uncertain whether to accept the part, Stark did so on the advice of Graham Greene, with whom she had worked the year before. Of working with her in Emily, actor Victor Spinetti later wrote "I found Koo Stark to be an enchanting girl and terribly bright and interesting". Beatlefan, volume 7 (Goody Press, 1985), p. 12
Photography
Stark has worked as a photographer since the 1980s, and may have been the first person to turn the tables on the pursuing paparazzi by taking photos of them.Liam Clifford, Koo Stark returns to London for first exhibition in 23 years dated April 12, 2017 at amateurphotographer.co.uk, accessed 12 November 2017 Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has told how in 1983 a photographic printer, Gene Nocon, invited Stark to take photographs of people taking photos of her, for his exhibition, Personal Points of View, planned for October. She persuaded Nocon to include Andrew's work as well.Prince Andrew, Photographs (Hamilton, 1985), p. 8: "The next step in my development as a photographer, apart from my trial and error experimenting, came when Koo Stark, now Jefferies, came back to the U.K. with some pictures of herself for printing, taken by Norman Parkinson. She went to see photographic printer Gene Nocon. At this time Gene was organising an exhibition planned for October 1983. The theme was photographs taken by people who were the subjects of photographers. He invited her to take part. It was called "Personal Points of View". Koo came to see me and suggested that I should take part as well. I replied that I was sure that I wouldn't be allowed to. Koo then went back to see Gene without my knowledge and asked him if a friend of hers could also take part. Although Koo was reluctant to name names and Gene was equally reluctant to agree to an unknown person taking part, it seems they came to an understanding..." Her early photographs led to a book deal, for which she took lessons from Norman Parkinson. She travelled to Tobago, where he lived, and he became her mentor. Her book Contrasts (1985) included about a hundred of her photographs. She went on to study the work of leading photographers, including Angus McBean, whom she met and photographed,Phil Coomes, In pictures: Koo Stark on both sides of the lens dated 8 May 2017 at BBC.co.uk developing her interests in photography to include reportage, portraits, landscapes, still life, and other work.
Personal life
Stark has been a practising Buddhist since meeting the Dalai Lama. Time, Volume 149 (Time Incorporated, 1997), p. 19 She continues to live in London and is a member of the Chelsea Arts Club. She is a Patron of the Dimbola Lodge, at Dimbola Lodge on the Isle of Wight, home of the Victorian pioneer photographer Julia Margaret Cameron.
Relationships
Stark met the then Prince Andrew (later known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor) in February 1981, and they were close for some two years, before and after his active service in the Falklands War.Alastair Burnet, The ITN book of the royal wedding (Michael O'Mara Books, 1986), p. 38: "The actress Miss Koo Stark was a regular girlfriend of Prince Andrew for several years." Tina Brown has claimed that this was Mountbatten-Windsor's only serious love affair.Tina Brown, The Diana Chronicles (2011), p. 228 In October 1982 they took a holiday together on the island of Mustique.Kim McNamara, Paparazzi: Media Practices and Celebrity Culture (2015), p. 29 According to Lady Colin Campbell, Mountbatten-Windsor was in love, and the Queen was "much taken with the elegant, intelligent, and discreet Koo".Lady Colin Campbell, The Real Diana, p. 161 However, in 1983, after 18 months of dating, they split up under pressure from the Queen. In 1997, Mountbatten-Windsor became the godfather of Stark's daughter, Newsweek, Volume 128 (1997), p. 76 and in 2015, when he was accused by Virginia Giuffre over the Jeffrey Epstein connection, Stark came to his defence, stating that he was a good man and she could help to rebut the claims.
Legal cases
In 1988, Stark brought a successful libel action against The Mail on Sunday over an untrue story headed 'Koo dated Andy after she wed'.'Koo Stark v Mail on Sunday (1988) unreported', in Vivienne Harpwood, ed., Modern Tort Law, 6th edition (2005), p. 340 In 1989, The Spectator reported that she had received £300,000 from one newspaper "for years of inaccurate persecution" and was also collecting money from others. The Spectator, Volume 262 (1989), p. 19
Health
About 1993, Stark was hit by a taxi in Old Compton Street, London, losing two teeth and also suffering a deep wound to her forehead, after a collision with her camera. This accident left her temporarily disfigured, but the wound eventually healed leaving a small scar just under the hair-line.
Filmography
Film
+
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes 1974 All I Want Is You... and You... and You... Jennifer Ready 1975 The Rocky Horror Picture Show Bridesmaid Uncredited 1975 The Adolescents Ana 1976 Emily Emily / Daughter 1977 Cruel Passion Justine Jerome 1984 Electric Dreams Girl in Soap Opera 1987 Eat the Rich Hazel
Television
1975 Shades of Greene Girl Episode: "The Blue Film" 1977 The Sunday Drama Deborah Episode: "The Cuckoo Calls" 1986 The Two Ronnies Alice Episode #12.2 1989 Red Dwarf Lady Sabrina Mulholland-Jjones Episode: "Timeslides" 1991 Cluedo Miss Scarlett 6 episodes
Publications
Photographic exhibitions
External links
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