Anthony Bourke and John Rendall, right
(Picture: Handout)John Rendall, the socialite dubbed the Lion Man of Chelsea after buying a pet lion from Harrods and walking him around London, has died aged 76.
The Australian-born socialite shot to fame after he and his friend Anthony “Ace” Bourke bought the cub called Christian in the 1960s from the upmarket department store which sold exotic pets at the time for 290 guineas.
Christian became a familiar sight around west London on his walks by Mr Rendall and the cub was even introduced at glamorous parties to stars of the day including Mia Farrow and George Lazenby.
The cub lived with Rendall in his flat above his furniture store, Sophistocat, but was returned to the wild in 1970 after outgrowing the apartment.
Footage of the socialite’s bid to be reunited with his former pet a year later went viral after resurfacing online 13 years ago.
The 76-year-old’s son, Maximilian Rendall, confirmed his father’s passing to the Times newspaper.
TV personality Liz Brewer, who had a decade-long marriage with Mr Rendall, told the Daily Mail newspaper: “The reason I married John and I was on my sixth fiance was because of the wonderful relationship he had with animals and people.
“I just knew he would be a fabulous father. My daughter Tallulah has a great deal of John in her.”
Mr Rendall also had two children with Melania Rendall. Ms Brewer added: “It is very sad that his sons from his second marriage and Tallulah have lost their father so young.
She added: “We had such a beautiful relationship with him. Christian changed the path of our lives.”
Writing in 2013, Mr Rendall recalled how he came to meet Christian.
He and Bourke visited Harrods in 1969 and he said they were “astonished to discover there were two lion cubs for sale”.
“We had the crazy idea that if we bought him, we could offer him something better than his life at a department store, even if it were only for a few months,” he said.
Christian, a fifth-generation zoo-bred lion, was released to the wild in the Kora reserve in Kenya - an area that is now a national park.
A clip from a documentary which showed Mr Rendall and Christian’s reunion in 1971 was rediscovered in 2008 and went viral on YouTube.
Christian is believed to have eventually headed for the nearby Meru National Park where it would have been easier for him to establish his own pride.
