Israel has no shortage of legacy Jewish families who have played an instrumental role in the modern state of Israel. One of the more glamorous Jewish families which has been a tremendous contributor to the arts, in addition to their fair share of scandals, is the Dellal family.
From London to Hollywood, to Tel Aviv, the glamorous descendants of Jack “Black Jack” Dellal, the iconic British real estate investor, are continuing to make headlines when it comes to the arts, and beyond.
Now at first glance, you may be thinking of the Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre, and if so, you’d be right. But the story of the Dellal family goes further back. Jack Dellal was born in Manchester, UK in 1923 to an Iraqi Jewish family. The son of a textile importer, Jack began working with his father while only a teen, before studying at Heaton Moor College to become a banker in the early 1970s.
Jack, whose lifelong nickname was “Black Jack” due to his love of gambling, made his first real fortune by selling the Dalton Barton bank to Keyser Ullman for £58 million at the time of immense financial unrest in the UK with the 1973-1974 fringe-banks crisis. But Jack, who has been called a “property genius” by many, self-made his fortune with the establishment of Allied Commercial Holdings in 1974 with business partner Stanley Van Gelder.
Followed in their father's footsteps to great success
Allied Commercial had numerous big successes but one of the most famous was the acquisition and sale of the London landmark Bush House, which was formerly the home of the BBC World Service. Allied Commercial purchased the property for £55 million in 1987 and in only two years, they sold the property for a whopping £130 million – a profit of £75 million!
Through their various investments and property deals, most notably the purchase and sale of the Max Shell House which he purchased for £130 million and sold for £490 million, Jack amassed an estimated wealth of approximately £500 million.
During that time, Jack also fathered nine children from three different women, including seven daughters and two sons – many of whom would follow in his footsteps to great success internationally, and that is where the Dellal legacy in the arts really began.
The tragic short life of Suzanne Dellal
Jack had five children with his first wife, Israeli air stewardess Zehava Helmer, and he also had two children with Katya Douglas – Jasmine, who is a film director, and Rowan. Later, he had two more children, Zack and Catherine, with his second wife, Ruanne Louw, a former South African beauty queen.
Jack’s son Guy, from his first wife, took over running the business at Allied Commercial in 1986, many years prior to the passing of Jack in 2012, and was also working as an art dealer. Jack’s other children from his first marriage included Lorraine, Suzanne (a dancer), Gaby (a film director and actress) and Diane.
While Suzanne Dellal may be a household name in Israel, in fact, Suzanne is rarely if ever mentioned in stories about the Dellal family. Suzanne, a dancer, had a tragic life and died of a heroin overdose at only 23 years old in 1981. Her tragic passing and love for Israel was the very reason that Jack established the Suzanne Dellal Centre in the White City in 1989.
But Suzanne was far from the only arts connoisseur. Jack’s daughter, Lorraine also married the British drummer of the band Bad Company, Simon Kirke, and had three children. Today, their children are some of the most known Dellal descendants: Jemima, Domino, and Lola Kirke.
Jemima, a successful actress, is most known for her role in the HBO show Girls, and her sister Lola is also an accomplished actress, singer and songwriter. Domino Kirke, a singer, is also married to actor Penn Badgley of Gossip Girl and You fame.
Drugs and drama
But the Kirkes aren’t the only celebrities in the family. Jack’s son Guy, married Andrea – a Brazilian model and their children have also made headlines for their contributions to the arts, as well as a few scandals here and there. Alice, a model, Charlotte Olympia, a fashion designer, and Alex Dellal, an art dealer who runs East London gallery at 20 Hoxton Square, are all successful in their own right.
Alice Dellal, one of the hottest models in the late 2010s, saw great success in the industry in her role as the face of Chanel’s ‘boy’ bag campaign, as well as being the face of Mango in 2008. She is most known as a lingerie model for the brand Agent Provocateur, but she is also a drummer for an all-girl rock band. Today, she primarily works as a photographer, but remains in the public eye.
Alice has been the subject of many headlines for both positive and negative reasons. As one of the heirs to Jack’s fortune, she has been the subject of intense scrutiny, and in 2008 had a public scandal when pictures of her seemingly using cocaine and partying were leaked.
Her dating life has also been a popular topic in the British tabloids as her circle of friends includes many British elite and international celebrities. She previously dated the son of Mick Jagger, ironically while her brother was dating the daughter of Mick Jagger, and Alice also dated the son of the Princess of Monaco – Pierre Casiraghi. Bizarrely, Pierre’s brother was also dating Alice’s brother at the same time.
Alice’s involvement with drug use was not unheard of for the Dellal family, especially as her father Guy was fined and given a 12-month suspended jail sentence for his involvement in smuggling £40,000 worth of cocaine
Alice’s involvement with drug use was not unheard of for the Dellal family, especially as her father Guy was fined and given a 12-month suspended jail sentence for his involvement in smuggling £40,000 worth of cocaine into the UK in 1978, when he was only 21 years old.
Beyond drug use, in 2016, Guy and Alex Dellal made headlines for a business deal gone bad when they were both summoned for a UK parliamentary hearing in 2016 on the £35 million loan they financed for Dominic Chappell for the acquisition of BHS department store. Roughly a year after Chappell acquired the department store chain, it collapsed into administration with over a £500 million deficit, and resulting in the loss of 11,000 jobs.
Fierce family fortune feuds
But the Dellal family scandals are not limited to Guy and his children. The passing of Jack Dellal brought more headlines to the family, as his second wife Ruanne has had a public spat with Jack’s children over the inheritance she received (or rather, did not receive) in October 2012.
Upon the passing of Jack, Ruanne Dellal received Jack’s entire estate and £15.4 million, while his children received nothing. Yet Ruanne claimed that she was short-changed and much of his fortune was tied up in trusts and other secretive business deals.
In 1997, shortly after Ruanne and Jack married, he had transferred assets worth around £56 million to his six eldest children, and by 2007, Jack and Ruanne’s marriage was on the rocks. Though the couple did not divorce, Ruanne claims Jack began siphoning off money to his children for years, despite the lack of evidence. Ruanne took legal action in 2015 to be able to sue Jack’s children for what she believes she is owed, upwards of £385 million, which his children deny.
In truth, Jack’s career was shrouded in mystery and rumors of what his actual worth was, and where that money actually went, abound. Some suspect he was far more wealthy than what the bottom line displayed, such as Ruanne claimed, whereas others suspected he spent far more gambling than is publicly known – living up to his nickname. Jack reportedly was known to spend up to £1 million in only one night of gambling.
Few public ties to the State of Israel
Today, it seems that despite the notoriety of the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Israel, the Dellal family has few public ties to the State of Israel. That being said, stars like Jemima Kirke have also publicly commented about Shabbat observance and enjoying Shabbat dinners with family, but very little is said publicly by the Dellal dynasty about such affairs.
stars like Jemima Kirke have also publicly commented about Shabbat observance and enjoying Shabbat dinners with family, but very little is said publicly by the Dellal dynasty about such affairs
While the Dellals continue to see success and to contribute globally to causes like drug rehabilitation programs through the Dellal Foundation, as well as contributing to the arts, there’s no question that the family has seen their fair share of controversies which the Dellal family doesn’t discuss publicly.
Somehow, despite the mysteries, rumors and scandals, the Dellals have come out largely unscathed for three generations and counting. The family dynasty also seems to have an uncanny ability to produce wildly successful artists across the world, who are living glamorous lifestyles with plenty of resources and an A-list celebrity circle of friends that includes Mick Jagger, Lena Dunham, and many more. Only time will tell what the next generation of Dellals will bring to the world.