One of London’s more colourful Americans has died. Artist and aid worker Sandy Sempliner, who succumbed to cancer last week, was an aficionado of gentlemen’s clubs, not just here but around the world. There was a fair chance, if you dropped into the bar anywhere from the Franklin Club, Philadelphia, to the Muthaiga Club in Nairobi, the Norske Selskab in Oslo or the Royal Selangor in Kuala Lumpur, that you would find Sempliner in residence, martini and Senior Service cigarette in hand.
He used to drive around Mayfair in classic cars and taught art to international students in Marylebone between lunches and cocktails at the Savile Club. It was often assumed by foreign governments that Sempliner worked for the CIA but anyone who heard his views on the US says it was impossible. “He visited something like 60 countries and he invariably found the best club,” says a friend. “We are confident that he has learned the names of all the staff and house committee members in Heaven.”
