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Ex-actress who ran the Athenaeum found dead
Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter15 Apr 2008
A society stalwart who ran one of London's best-known hotels for a quarter of a century has been found dead at her new home in South Africa.
Sally Bulloch, 59, a former child actress, was discovered in her bathroom at her £500,000 house in Franschhoek, in the Western Cape Province, which she had built after quitting London about three years ago.
An inquest was opened today to determine the cause of death after bruising was found on her body. Police suggested Ms Bulloch may have had a heart attack after suffering a long-term illness and then fallen.
Ms Bulloch was executive manager of the f ive- star Athenaeum Hotel in Piccadilly. A spoke swoman for t he Athenaeum said today: "Her hospitality was legendary. Known from Hollywood to London society, she was the face of the Athenaeum for 25 years."
Ms Bulloch retired to South Africa with her partner Alex Laurie, a British accountant. Mr Laurie was being comforted today by relatives including Ms Bulloch's brother Jeremy, who flew to South Africa on Saturday and was attending today's inquest following Ms Bulloch's sudden death on Friday.
Monte Levin, a close friend of Ms Bulloch in South Africa, said she had first visited Franschhoek in 2001 and "fallen in love" with the town. He said that he had seen her two days before her death and she had seemed in excellent health.
Guests at Ms Bulloch's home in South Africa included Baroness Thatcher and her husband Denis and actress Lynda Bellingham, her best friend.
Ms Bulloch appeared in the 1960 film The Pure Hell of St Trinian's at the age of 11 and went on to work as nanny for Peter Cook and his wife Wendy before starting her career in the hotel business. She is said to have arranged one of Joan Collins's hen nights, and was a distant relative of Theodore Roosevelt.
