{{Short description|British poet (1904–1972)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Sir Brian Kenneth''' "'''Napper'''" '''Dean Paul, 6th Baronet Paul of Rodborough''' (1904–1972), was a member of the "Bright Young Things" social scene, together with his sister Brenda Dean Paul.
==Biography== Brian Kenneth Dean Paul, known as "Napier" or "Napper", was born in 1904, the son of Sir Aubrey Edward Henry Dean Paul, 5th Baronet, and Irene Regina "Poldowski" Wieniawski. He got his nickname from his habit of falling asleep in doorways due to a serious drug addiction;<ref name="Bridgeman Images">{{cite web |url=https://www.bridgemanimages.us/en-US/asset/693756/summary?context=%7B%22route%22%3A%22assets_search%22%2C%22routeParameters%22%3A%7B%22_format%22%3A%22html%22%2C%22_locale%22%3A%22en-US%22%7D%2C%22sourceUrl%22%3Anull%2C%22number%22%3A0%2C%22max%22%3A1%2C%22min%22%3A0%2C%22search_param%22%3A%7B%22filter_text%22%3A%22Head%20%28Napper%20Dean%20Paul%29%22%2C%22filter_group%22%3A%22all%22%2C%22filter_region%22%3A%22USA%22%2C%22sort%22%3A%22most_popular%22%2C%22explain_score%22%3A1%2C%22search_id%22%3A%22SGVhZCAoTmFwcGVyIERlYW4gUGF1bCk%3D-1614201294%22%2C%22search_depth%22%3A1%7D%2C%22hash%22%3A%2253369b98018dcaf0ebb1775821cfd00d%22%7D |title=Head (Napper Dean Paul), 1954 (oil on canvas) |website=Bridgeman Images }}</ref> like his younger sister, the socialite and sometime actress Brenda Dean Paul, he was an alcoholic and opiate user.<ref name="LSHTM">{{cite web |title=Script Doctors and Vicious Addicts: Subcultures, Drugs, and Regulation under the 'British System', c.1917 to c.1960. (PDF) |url=http://researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk/3141178/2/2016_PHP_PhD_Hallam_C.pdf |last=Hallam |first=Christopher |date=2016 |website=researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk |publisher=London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine |access-date= 15 January 2018}}</ref>
In 1930 Napper Dean Paul took over the grill-room of a restaurant in Burlington Gardens, which he named "The Breakfast-Room". He specialized in a supper-breakfast menu of Anglo-American dishes, with dancing and a cabaret.<ref name="The Courier-Journal 1930">{{cite journal|title=18 May 1930, Sun • Page 51|journal=The Courier-Journal|date=1930|page=51|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16523818/the_courierjournal/|accessdate=15 January 2018}}</ref>
Dean Paul also published a volume of poems, called ''Patchwork''.<ref name="The Courier-Journal 1930" />
In 1931 he was involved in a scandal that was to lead his sister to prison.<ref name="LSHTM" /> Scotland Yard described Napper Dean Paul as a "young man of effeminate habits and manners, who does not appear to follow any occupation".<ref name="LSHTM" /> In the late 1930s he was friends with Dylan Thomas.<ref name="Lycett">{{cite book|last1=Lycett|first1=Andrew|title=Dylan Thomas: A New Life|date=2014|publisher=Hachette UK|page=1809|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-DOmBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1809|accessdate=15 January 2018|isbn=9781780227481}}</ref> Together with his sister Brenda, he frequented the Gargoyle Club, owned by David Tennant, Brenda's lover and brother of Stephen Tennant.<ref name="Lycett" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Haslam|first1=Dave|title=Life After Dark: A History of British Nightclubs & Music Venues|date=2015|publisher=Simon and Schuster|page=11|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WCylBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT11|accessdate=15 January 2018|isbn=9780857207005}}</ref> He was also a friend of Anna Wickham, whom he knew from frequenting the Kleifeldts' tavern.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Jennifer Vaughan|title=Anna Wickham: A Poet's Daring Life|date=2003|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|page=243|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zv_vD3hKdHMC&pg=PA243|accessdate=15 January 2018|isbn=9781568332536}}</ref>
Dean Paul was gay, and Ken Leech recalled meeting him at the Golden Lion, a well-known gay pub in Soho. Nevertheless, in 1937, he married the pianist Muriel Lillie, widow of Arthur Weigall and sister of Beatrice Lillie.<ref name="LSHTM" />
He was also a cross-dresser, and supported himself with petty crimes, even if in the early 1930s he tried a career as interior designer.<ref name="LSHTM" /> In 1941 he went to work for Kensington ARP, thanks to the recommendation of Hugh Cholmondeley, 6th Marquess of Cholmondeley, a friend and head of the association.<ref name="LSHTM" />
In the 1950s he was friends with the painter Lucian Freud, who took his portrait in 1954.<ref name="Bridgeman Images" />
Following his father's death in 1961, Dean Paul inherited the family title and was listed in police records as Sir Brian Kenneth Dean Paul.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hallam|first=Christopher|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tYtoDwAAQBAJ&q=Brian+Kenneth+Dean+Paul+1960s&pg=PA64|title=White Drug Cultures and Regulation in London, 1916–1960|date=2018-08-09|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-94770-9|language=en}}</ref>
He died in 1972, and the Paul baronetcy became extinct.
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-reg|uk-bt}} {{s-bef|before=Aubrey Dean Paul}} {{s-ttl|title=Baronet<br />'''(of Rodborough)''' | years=1961–1972}} {{s-non|reason=Extinct}} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean Paul, Brian Kenneth}} Category:1904 births Category:1972 deaths Category:20th-century English poets 306 Category:English people of Polish-Jewish descent Category:English socialites Category:British gay writers Category:Male-to-female cross-dressers Category:20th-century English LGBTQ people