Bernard and Doris

Doris Duke was a multi millionaire tobacco heiress who willed her fortune to a Charitable Foundation putting her butler Bernard Laffertty in charge. 3 years later he died himself but not without a little partying in the meantime.
Lafferty was from Creeslough in Donegal about 12 miles from where I grew up and I first heard about him in a book by ex LLoyd Cole Bassist Lawerence Donegan. No News At Throat Lake (Creeslough in Irish) tells the story of some time Laurence spent in Creeslough working for a local newspaper, and in it he references Bernard and his unusual relationship with his mistress Doris.
I remember seeing a documentary about Bernard, maybe on RTE, a couple of years ago and The Biography Channel have done a piece on him too. A 1999 Biopic about Duke cast Richard Chamberlain in the part of the Butler and now he's being played by Ralph Fiennes, opposite Susan Sarandon in Bernard and Doris. Can't wait to hear Ralphs accent.....



I dug around trying to find out a bit more about Bernard, but information is pretty scarce, he doesn't even have a wikipedia entry!!