Angela Best (née MacDonald-Janes; born 26 July 1952) is an English model and former

Playboy Bunny A Playboy Bunny is a cocktail waitress who works at a Playboy Club and selected through standardized training. Their costumes were made up of lingerie, inspired by the tuxedo-wearing Playboy rabbit mascot. This costume consisted of a straples ...

, known as the first wife of

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...

Biography

Born in

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, London and raised in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, Angela MacDonald-Janes was the elder daughter of Marion (née MacDonald) and Robert William Brough Janes. She has a younger sister Lynne and two half-brothers: Michael, from her father's first marriage, and Noel Robert Janus (born Janes) (1949–2009), from a previous relationship of her father. Noel's daughter is actress

Samantha Womack Samantha Zoe Womack (''née'' Janus; born 2 November 1972) is an English actress, singer, model and director who has worked in film, television and stage. Womack initially planned a career in singing and she represented the United Kingdom in ...

. She became a model, and then a "Bunnygirl" at the

Playboy Club The Playboy Club was initially a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first Playboy Club opened in Chicago in 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room, and a Club ...

in London. She was invited to New York City to model and then went to Los Angeles as a model and physical fitness trainer. She met George Best at a dinner party in Los Angeles in 1975 when he was signing to play for the

Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs were an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 North American Soccer League season, 1974 ...

, and it was "love at first sight". They moved to London in 1976. When she returned to Los Angeles, George followed and persuaded her to marry him; she did on 24 January 1978. The marriage produced son Calum in 1981, but they separated the following year and divorced in 1986 due to Best's continual alcoholism and domestic violence. After moving to Los Angeles, Best went back to her fitness career, producing and starring in her own workout videos, and starring on television in shows and series for Sky TV and others. She coached and trained celebrity clients, including Cher, Sharon Stone and Daryl Hannah. She has written a series of books for women over 40, including one regarding menopause called ''A Change for the Best''. In 2000, a poorly reviewed biopic about George Best titled ''

Best Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

'' featured

Patsy Kensit Patricia Jude Francis Kensit (born 4 March 1968) is an English actress and singer. Beginning her career as a child actor, Kensit gained attention when she acted in a string of commercials for Birds Eye frozen peas. She went on to appear in films ...

as Angie Best. Angie Best said of the film: "I haven't been consulted at all, even though it shows my life." In response, in 2002, Best wrote her autobiography ''George and Me: My Autobiography'', the hook line for which was: "I didn't realise that six years of marriage would last a lifetime." She detailed the marriage and life afterwards where she claimed to have tried to remain in contact with George, offering support and advice to help him conquer his alcoholism. Despite everything George put her through, she claimed in the book: "I remain good friends with George. He is the only man I ever loved."

Television

On 3 January 2017, Angie joined her son Calum Best on the 19th series of ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Celebrity Big Brother'' or ''Big Brother VIP'' is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, t ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best, Angie 1952 births Living people English exercise instructors English expatriates in the United States English female models George Best People from Southend-on-Sea Models from Westminster Models from Essex