Information AboutParadise Island |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT PARADISE ISLAND | |
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It is connected to the island of New Providence by two bridges that cross Nassau Harbour. The was first built in 1966 and the second in the late 1990s. Formerly known as Hog Island. Huntington Hartford the A&P Supermarket Heir arrived on Hog Island in 1959 because his sister Josephine Hartford Bryce lived in Xanadu near Lyford Cay. Josephine was married to Ivar Bryce Ian Fleming's Best Friend from Eton and Janet Milford Haven's Uncle. Huntington bought Hog island from Axel Wenner Gren and changed the name to Paradise Island. He hired the Palm Beach Architect John Volk and built the Ocean Club, brought the Cloisters over and re-built them and built Cafe Martinigue, Hurricane Hole and the Golf Course and everything on the Island. He hired Gary Player to be the Golf Pro and Poncho Gonzalez to be the Tennis Pro. His opening of his Paradise Island in 1962 was covered in Newsweek and Time magazine. He hired the Staff from Eden Roc at Hotel Du Cap to work off season at the Ocean Club. He had the Fireworks for the Opening party flown in from the South of France. He had a Flag and Paradise Beach was featured on a Bahamian 2 dollar bill in 1964. While he owned the Island his wife Diane had small parts in both Help with the Beatles and Thunderball which were both partly filmed on Paradise Island. In Thunderball Diane has a small speaking part right before the evil redhead (italian actress) gets shot in the back. At the very end of the movie there is a small paragraph thanking Huntington Hartford for allowing them to film on Paradise Island. Huntington applied for a Gambling License for Paradise Island but the Minister of Tourism Sir Stafford Sands having allready given one to Freeport told Huntington he needed a partner. Huntington ended up choosing Jim Crosby of Mary Carter Paint Company. When Crosby eventually took over he got the Gambling License and Huntington sold his Paradise Island to Crosby and his house on Paradise Island to the Irish Actor Richard Harris and left the Bahamas. Jim Crosby renamed his Company Resorts International Hotel and Casino and tried to take over Pan American Airways. Parts of the James Bond movie '' Thunderball '' were filmed on Paradise Island. Casino Royale the new James Bond Movie was filmed at the Ocean Club on Paradise Island and Diane Hartford had a small speaking part. Purchased in the 1980s by Donald Trump for $79 million, then sold to Merv Griffin for $400 million, and last re-sold for $125 million to the current owner. Current estimated value is about $2 billion USD. The Cloisters are located on Paradise Island. A monastery originally built by Augustinian monks in 14th century France . In the 1920s William Randolph Hearst bought the stone structure, had it disassembled and shipped to the United States where the stones remained in a warehouse. In 1962, Huntington Hartford purchased them and installed them on Paradise Island overlooking Nassau Harbour. SEE ALSO
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