Adrian Foley, 8th Baron Foley
Quick Facts
Biography
Adrian Gerald Foley, 8th Baron Foley of Kidderminster (9 August 1923 – 12 February 2012) was a British peer, composer and pianist.
Upon the death of his father, Gerald Henry Foley, 7th Baron Foley in 1927, Adrian Foley succeeded to his title at the age of three. In 1942 he supported Britain's Soviet ally with the composition of the song 'Wishing You Well, Mr Stalin.' He composed music for the films Piccadilly Incident (1946) and Bond Street (1947). He appeared on an episode of the American game show, To Tell the Truth in 1957.
Personal life
In 1958, he met a wealthy American heiress, Patricia Meek, née Zoelner, during a stage production of Jane Eyre, produced by Huntington Hartford in New York City. On 23 December 1958, the couple married. They had two children: Alexandra Mary (born 1960) and Thomas Henry (born 1961), before divorcing in 1971. In 1972, he married another wealthy heiress, Ghislaine (née Dresselhuys; former wife of both the 6th Earl of Caledon and the 4th Baron Ashcombe), the only daughter of Dutch-born Long Island resident and former Consul of the Netherlands in London, Cornelius William Dresselhuys and Edith Merandon du Plessis. His second wife died in 2000. On 15 December 2003, he married his third wife, Hannah Steinberg.
Death
Lord Foley enjoyed golf and maintained properties near to the golfing areas of the Andalusian region of Spain for several decades. He owned property in Belgravia, London and lived in retirement near Marbella until his death in Kidderminster in 2012, aged 88.