Michaela Denis
Encyclopedia
Michaela Denis was a British-born wildlife documentary film-maker and presenter, working with her husband, Armand Denis
.
mother and grandmother after her father, an archaeologist, was killed in the First World War when she was three months old. She won a scholarship to fashion school, and trained as a dress designer in Paris, returning to London at the outbreak of the Second World War. She then became engaged to an American admiral and travelled to New York, but after some time in America, and after delaying her wedding, she met and began an affair with Armand Denis. He was a Belgian-born adventurer and film-maker who had already had wide experience of making documentary films in remote areas around the world, many made with his first wife, Leila Roosevelt Denis. Armand and Leila Denis divorced, and in 1948 Michaela and Armand married by special licence in Potosi
, Bolivia
.
In order to finance their plans to make wildlife documentaries, the couple travelled to Africa in 1950 to work on the feature film, King Solomon's Mines
, in which Michaela acted as Deborah Kerr
's double. In 1953 they made a new film together, Below The Sahara, and appeared on BBC radio to promote it. The BBC saw the couple's potential for television work, and in 1954 they produced a pioneering and successful TV programme, Filming Wild Animals. The quality of Armand Denis' film-making, combined with his heavy accent and Michaela's enthusiasm and glamorous appeal, made them fixtures on BBC TV screens in Britain during the 1950s and early 1960s. Accompanied by Armand's commentary, the two would be filmed getting as close to animals as possible, in a style later much parodied. Typically, there would be a trademark moment for Michaela to apply lipstick or comb her hair; she once commented that she could not possibly get into the water with crocodiles until she had put on her eyebrow pencil. The couple made several series for both BBC and ITV, including Filming In Africa (1955), Armand and Michaela Denis (1955-58), On Safari (1957-59), and Safari to Asia (1959-61), which were repeated until well into the 1960s. Michaela Denis also wrote books, including Leopard in My Lap (1957) and Ride on a Rhino (1960).
The couple made their home in Nairobi
, Kenya
. Armand Denis died in 1971. Michaela then apparently discovered she had healing powers, and opened a spiritual healing clinic at their home. In 1975 she married her lawyer, Sir William O'Brian Lindsay, the former chief justice of Sudan, who died in his sleep three months later. She also dealt in property in Kenya.
Michaela Denis died in Nairobi in 2003, aged 88.
Armand Denis
Armand Denis was a Belgian-born documentary film-maker. After several decades of pioneering work in filming and presenting the ethnology and wildlife of remote parts of Africa and Asia, he became best known in Britain as the director and co-presenter of natural history programmes on television in...
.
Life
She was born Michaela Holdsworth in London, and was brought up by her "White Russian"White Russia
White Russia or White Ruthenia is a name that has historically been applied to a part of the wider region of Ruthenia or Rus', most often to that which roughly corresponds to the eastern part of present-day Belarus including the cities of Polatsk, Vitsyebsk and Mahiliou. In English, the use of the...
mother and grandmother after her father, an archaeologist, was killed in the First World War when she was three months old. She won a scholarship to fashion school, and trained as a dress designer in Paris, returning to London at the outbreak of the Second World War. She then became engaged to an American admiral and travelled to New York, but after some time in America, and after delaying her wedding, she met and began an affair with Armand Denis. He was a Belgian-born adventurer and film-maker who had already had wide experience of making documentary films in remote areas around the world, many made with his first wife, Leila Roosevelt Denis. Armand and Leila Denis divorced, and in 1948 Michaela and Armand married by special licence in Potosi
Potosí
Potosí is a city and the capital of the department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the highest cities in the world by elevation at a nominal . and it was the location of the Spanish colonial mint, now the National Mint of Bolivia...
, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
.
In order to finance their plans to make wildlife documentaries, the couple travelled to Africa in 1950 to work on the feature film, King Solomon's Mines
King Solomon's Mines (1950 film)
King Solomon's Mines is a 1950 adventure film loosely based on the 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines by Henry Rider Haggard, starring Deborah Kerr, Stewart Granger and Richard Carlson. It was adapted by Helen Deutsch, directed by Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
, in which Michaela acted as Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr, CBE was a Scottish film and television actress from Glasgow. She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance as Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy, a role which she originated on Broadway, a Golden Globe Award for the motion picture The King and I, and was a three-time...
's double. In 1953 they made a new film together, Below The Sahara, and appeared on BBC radio to promote it. The BBC saw the couple's potential for television work, and in 1954 they produced a pioneering and successful TV programme, Filming Wild Animals. The quality of Armand Denis' film-making, combined with his heavy accent and Michaela's enthusiasm and glamorous appeal, made them fixtures on BBC TV screens in Britain during the 1950s and early 1960s. Accompanied by Armand's commentary, the two would be filmed getting as close to animals as possible, in a style later much parodied. Typically, there would be a trademark moment for Michaela to apply lipstick or comb her hair; she once commented that she could not possibly get into the water with crocodiles until she had put on her eyebrow pencil. The couple made several series for both BBC and ITV, including Filming In Africa (1955), Armand and Michaela Denis (1955-58), On Safari (1957-59), and Safari to Asia (1959-61), which were repeated until well into the 1960s. Michaela Denis also wrote books, including Leopard in My Lap (1957) and Ride on a Rhino (1960).
The couple made their home in Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. Armand Denis died in 1971. Michaela then apparently discovered she had healing powers, and opened a spiritual healing clinic at their home. In 1975 she married her lawyer, Sir William O'Brian Lindsay, the former chief justice of Sudan, who died in his sleep three months later. She also dealt in property in Kenya.
Michaela Denis died in Nairobi in 2003, aged 88.