David Gest, entertainer once married to Liza Minnelli, found dead in London

David Gest, a producer and reality TV star who was briefly married to Liza Minnelli, was found dead in a hotel room in London on Tuesday. He was 62, and no cause of death was given. London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement that they were called to "the Four Seasons hotel, in Westferry Circus to reports of an unexplained death of a man in his 60s," and that "this is being treated as non-suspicious at this stage." Gest's friend and former body guard, Imad Handi, confirmed Gest's death, calling him "a natural star and a genuine celebrity."

Gest was born in Los Angeles in 1953, and was a childhood friend of Michael Jackson, the best man in his 2002 wedding to Minnelli. His career included stints as a music video and TV producer, and one of his projects, Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration, was one of the most-watched specials in U.S. music history, BBC News reports. Gest and Minnelli separated after a year and divorced in 2007, and Gest sued Minnelli for $10 million, claiming physical abuse.

Gest parlayed his fame into spots on the British reality TV shows I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and Celebrity Big Brother. When he died, Gest was preparing to tour Britain with a new show, "David Gest Is Not Dead but Alive With Soul," named after a recent incident on Celebrity Big Brother where fellow contestant Angela Bowie told Tiffany Pollard that Angela's ex-husband, David, had died and Pollard assumed she meant Gest, who was ill in bed. Best left the Celebrity Big Brother house after just 13 days due to medical reasons.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up