The log fires are burning, sunshine streams through the sash windows and the Olympitis family cat is on the prowl for the cosiest spot in the house. Emmanuel Olympitis – Manoli to his friends – is welcoming HELLO! exclusively into his home in rural Wiltshire to celebrate the publication of his latest children's book, colourfully illustrated by his daughter, Olympia.
Manoli, 76, has returned to writing in his retirement, following a career as a financier and a tempestuous social life that saw him marry an American heiress, date the Hollywood actress Valerie Perrine and the German princess Ira von Furstenberg, and host a party at which David Bowie and Sir Mick Jagger danced up and down his hallway.
The affable former playboy retains his good looks, which, according to his first wife, Jan Cushing, were so powerful that the author Truman Capote could not bear to look at him.
Sixties playboy
Olympia, 28, one of three children from Manoli's marriage to the leading interior designer Emily Todhunter, is only too aware of her father's roistering in his younger days. She has read in his memoir, Marked Cards, the details of what one interviewer described as his ''revelling in the freedoms of the Sixties''.
''I would say I know a bit more than I'd like about that,'' says Olympia, who lives in London but returns to the family home every other weekend.
Artistic skills
A professional artist who specialises in watercolour illustrations and wedding stationery, Olympia now has two children's books in her portfolio, after collaborating with her father on the Whispers in the Park series. The second book in the trilogy, subtitled The Prophecy, was released in mid‐November.
© PHOTOGRAPHER: PETER FLUDEAfter some initial tussling, father and daughter have settled into a rhythm of working together. Manoli, who wrote his first novel, By VictoriesUndone, after encouragement from the late American novelist Norman Mailer, says that he was moved to write again after Olympia asked him to write a children's book.
He had assumed that he would write the stories without interference, but soon after handing over pages to Olympia he began to receive some unwelcome feedback.
Joining forces
© PHOTOGRAPHER: PETER FLUDE''To my irritation, I would get back pages with notes scrawled all over them, critiquing my writing style and putting her own ideas forward. But gradually, it began to dawn on me that most of what she was saying was helpful and correct. It's much more collaborative than I ever thought it would be. We now brainstorm the plot together.''
Olympia cherishes the memory of her father settling her and her brothers at bedtime by making up stories. ''The sense that I was a driving force was that I reminded Dad of when I was younger. He used to tell us stories about woodland animals at the end of our beds.''
© PHOTOGRAPHER: PETER FLUDEManoli is more self‐effacing. ''I was wanting to get away from the novel [I was writing] that wasn’t working at all,'' he says. Inspiration for the story struck as he walked through St James's Park in London and noticed that the squirrels were particularly friendly. ''I thought: 'They're very well‐mannered, these squirrels. I bet they're quite well‐educated. I bet there's a school here.'''
He began constructing a world of various species engaged in inter-school rivalry across central London's parks, all to be drawn by Olympia in the home studio, within the greenhouse attached to their house or, most comfortably, in the guest bedroom designed by Emily.
© PHOTOGRAPHER: PETER FLUDEEmily has deployed her professional skill in designing the interior – with inviting window seats, a wood-panelled hall and a rustic kitchen – although Manoli says that he got ''a little bit of input''.
''What are interior designers like to live with?'' he asks. ''Easier than one thinks. Their own homes are not nearly as perfect as the ones they go and design[for others].''
Moving to Wiltshire
© PHOTOGRAPHER: PETER FLUDEThe British-born former banker to the film industry, who was educated at The King’s School Canterbury and University College London, has made his mark with paintings and marble busts that point to his Greek heritage. He is most at home in the sitting room, where he taps out chapters on his phone and where Simba the cat likes to watch TV with the family. Simba’s favourite shows, Olympiasays, are Wolf Hall and Downton Abbey.
Kovu the black labrador – who, like Simba, is named after a character in the Lion King films – has a favourite spot by the range in the kitchen.
© PHOTOGRAPHER: PETER FLUDEManoli, who moved his family from London to Wiltshire 20 years ago, partly because of Olympia’s ''pestering'' to live in the countryside, has fond memories of summer lunches beneath the cherry tree in the garden and blazing log fires in the dining hall in winter. It is here that the family, including Olympia’s twin brothers, Mikey and Aleko, 23, gather to eat on Christmas Eve.
Mikey is a freelance journalist and Aleko curates libraries for wealthy book collectors. The siblings are also close to John, 44, Manoli’s son from his first marriage. John’s daughters have given their names to two squirrels in the Whispers in the Park tales.
© PHOTOGRAPHER: PETER FLUDEHome comforts
© PHOTOGRAPHER: PETER FLUDEThe family revel in Christmas traditions, including piling into their parents' bed with their Christmas stockings and refraining from opening presents until after lunch, but only Manoli watches the King’s speech as it is broadcast. The rest of the family are content to see it on catch-up.
''Maybe it’s something to do with being a foreigner born in the UK,'' he says. ''I was brought up by my parents to watch it every Christmas Day. My immigrant ancestry makes me want to watch it more.''
© PHOTOGRAPHER: PETER FLUDEOlympia says that the quirkiest part of the house is her bedroom. ''I sleep in the attic. I love it. I've forced myself to love it because it’s home. There are creatures that creep up in the winter that I wish weren't there – spiders, flies, a little mouse.''
Manoli, a former swordsman who qualified for the British Olympic squad in 1968 but did not compete at the Games, notes: ''Olympia is very lucky because Emily has converted the attic into a self-contained flat.''
He credits his wife with saving his life. ''I was burning the candle too much at both ends. I was working very hard and also playing very hard as a bachelor. I never intended to marry again, but I met Emily and everything changed instantly. In a way, she changed my life, and made it a very stable and happy one.''
Calling Gamblers Anonymous
© PHOTOGRAPHER: PETER FLUDEThe menagerie of family pets includes two horses, Crunchie and Cozie, but was diminished with the passing of two dogs. One of those was named Chemy, after the casino card game cheminde fer, which was almost Manoli's ruin in the Eighties, when he lost £20,000 (£60,000 in today’s money) in a single night.
© PHOTOGRAPHER: PETER FLUDEHe left the gaming tables to call Gamblers Anonymous. ''The losses I incurred before that call were quite nauseating. I was shocked how I got myself into that position,'' he says. Finding that the helpline had closed for the evening, he returned to the tables and hit a winning streak that allowed him to emerge £55,000 in profit.
Despite his lucky escape, he never allowed himself to fall so deep again. He gave up gambling 20 years ago when he realised that he had lost the knack. ''I stopped gambling because my nerves went. They just do, when you’re about 60.''
Olympia and her brothers hope that their father will play poker with them but he refuses. ''It's so boring, because you guys can’t play,'' he tells her. When she says they are hoping to learn from him, he replies: ''Experience is the only lesson in poker.''
‘There was a knock at the door and it was Sir Mick Jagger and David Bowie – they burst into a dance routine' – Emmanuel Olympitis
Wild party night
© PHOTOGRAPHER: PETER FLUDELife in Wiltshire has made them content, even if it means missing out on celebrity encounters. Perhaps the pinnacle of Manoli’s party lifestyle was the evening when David Bowie and Mick Jagger turned up to a party he threw with Valerie Perrine, his girlfriend at the time, who had been nominated for an Academy Award for her performance opposite Dustin Hoffman in the Lenny Bruce biopic Lenny.
''It was a complete one-off,'' he recalls. ''[Valerie's]best friend was Bill Wyman. There was a last knock at the door and it was Jagger and Bowie. They couldn't have been nicer. They suddenly burst into this routine, which was Dancing in the Street.
''They had come from the studio where they'd recorded it for Live Aid. They were still buzzing from it and they went into this routine up and down the hallway. I never met them again.''
Whispers in the Park: The Prophecy by Emmanuel Olympitis, illustrated by Olympia Olympitis, is out now, published byQuadrant Books, priced £15
