Anthony Lefort (1961 M) developed an exceptional talent for networking and lead an extraordinary life as a result. In doing so he was loyal to his family and a group of longstanding friends, being remarkably generous to those on hard times when in need. In turn he benefitted in particular from his family’s support when he faced unexpected difficulty.

Anthony’s parents escaped to the UK from the nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. Most of his wider family were lost. His father’s qualification as a lawyer in Czechoslovakia had no employability here. He became a coach operator, studied mechanical engineering and built up his fleet of coaches coaches. He was a workaholic who gained respect and friends, one of whom guaranteed a loan to set him up with a garage, Woods Garage, in Bromley for the coaches. This evolved from coaches to cars and became very successful, leading over time to the acquisition of more garages.

This enabled their parents to send both Anthony and his younger sister Wendy to public schools, in Anthony’s case to Sutton Valence. At school he was a strong sportsman, less so academically, had an extrovert style, and quietly absorbed core values that he later prized.

Anthony found his niche in fine foods and travel. In the three years following school trained to be a brilliant chef - in Paris at The Plaza Athenee, Geneva at the Richemont and New York at The Plaza.

His mother became ill and Anthony returned to help his Father in the garage business. Within a couple of years his parents both died, leaving Anthony and his sister with the business. Whilst Anthony enjoyed a Ferrari and a share in a twin Beagle aircraft, he loathed the garage business, employing a series of managers allowing him to indulge his passions for property investment, travel, fine food, skiing and many girlfriends.

By the mid 1980s Anthony had explored the world, travelling to all of the continents except Australia, and was living in a wonderful penthouse with a roof garden on the banks of the Thames in central London. However he was yearning to reinvent himself in the Californian sunshine, thinking about involvement in aircraft sales and ultimately identifying as a film producer in Hollywood. The move finally took place in 1989. He rented a house in Beverley Hills next to Joan Collins and acquired a brown Cadillac with a driver.

His skill as a networker and people collector led towards invitations to the great Hollywood parties and a credibility within the high stakes community that he wished to be involved in. He annually attended many of the movie events from the Oscars, the Cannes Film Festival where he engaged in organising the annual Ball, and the Venice Film Festival, forging friendships with many film stars and celebrities along the way. He bought a new home on Sunset Boulevard, skied in Aspen, spent Christmas in St Bart’s - once meeting Douglas Horner (1962 M) who was sailing there - and Anthony started exploring Thailand.

As maturity overtook youth, Anthony became disillusioned with America. He encountered stress with an over ambitious property development in Beverly Hills when a recession hit and was strongly supported by his sister. After experiencing Asia he decided to start a life there, later meeting his fiance Da and buying a new home in Thailand. Again he developed friends there amongst the English and Thai communities and met on occasions Bruce Grindlay who moved from the Headmaster’s role at Sutton Valence to a similar role in an International school not far from Anthony’s new home.

Anthony had a brief marriage in his early life and found real contentment in the last seven years of his life in Thailand where a three day funeral was held for him by fifty friends. Later a wake was held in England attended by his longstanding friends and family including his sister, her children and grandchildren.