Domino Harvey was born to actor Laurence Harvey, and Paulene Stone, a fashion model ... her father died of cancer in 1973, and she was brought up by her mother in Belgravia, London. Like many girls who lose a parent early, she had a troubled childhood, despite all the advantages of wealth. She was often involved in fighting, and was expelled from a couple of her boarding schools. So perhaps its no surprise that she dropped out of school as a teenager to pursue a career in modeling ... however with little apparent success.
She then followed the usual polymath route so beloved of our ladies, and at age 18, while she lived in Notting Hill, she worked as a DJ at several clubs in London, even managing one of them, and also designing and selling T-shirts at Kensington Market. Still a restless girl like her wasn't going to get anywhere selling T Shirts, so, after brief period kibbutzing in Israel, she decanted to the US where her mother had relocated after a remarriage.
She lived above the garage of her mother's home in Beverly Hills, and initially worked as a DJ at clubs in Los Angeles, but then went to work on a ranch near San Diego, and served as a volunteer firefighter for a year .... she followed this up by taking courses in fire science, and qualifying as an emergency medical technician. She applied unsuccessfully to the Los Angeles Fire Department'
Oops:
It was after this rejection by the fire department that her life took the twist that drew her a limited celebrity status but also her downfall ..... she enrolled on a short course to become a bail recovery agent, or
bounty hunter. She took employment at a bail bond agency in South Los Angeles (run by one Celes King III) ... needless to say, at that time there were very few female bounty agents, and none who were British
Sloane Rangers! She apparently enjoyed the work, and she primarily tracked down drug dealers and thieves, but occasionally tracked murderers. Martinez, one of her partners, later stated that she was one of the most skilled bounty hunters he knew. She later said that she chose bounty hunting for the 'excitement of the work', even though it was not a high-paying job.
After she began working as a bounty hunter, 'The Daily Mail' newspaper, published an article about her, from this Director Tony Scott contacted her ... they became friends, and he directed a film inspired by her life called 'Domino', which was released in October 2005.
Little White Lies
She may have exaggerated her modelling career, as her claims to have attended the 'Lee Strasberg Institute' and been represented by the 'Ford Modeling Agency' later proved to be unverifiable ....
ah well.
Guns and Roses
After her friends trained her in the use of firearms, she developed a keen, if possibly unhealthy, interest in weapons, and she started collecting swords and knives, all the while keeping a number of AK-47s in her apartment.
Drugs:
She had developed a
very bad drug habit ... probably initially in the club scene in London and LA, when she was a DJ. But it was claimed that the Bounty hunters, with whom she worked would often keep and use any drugs that they found when arresting criminals ... this wasn't an insubstantial amount either. Martinez later stated that they often used
marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. As a result, she entered drug rehabilitation clinics four times, with each stay funded by her mother. her last stay, was two years in hawaii, but when she returned to California in 2001, she was rejected when she attempted to become a bounty hunter again ... she wasn't clear of her drug habits.
Arrests:
In 2003, she was
arrested on charges of possession of crystal methamphetamine after Sherriff's deputies found the drug at her home while investigating a burglar alarm call-out. She
pleaded guilty to drug possession charges and attended a treatment program; the arrest was consequently removed from her criminal record.
However in May 2005, she was arrested again, this time on federal charges of
trafficking methamphetamine. She spent three weeks in a Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles before she posted $1 million bail and was placed under house arrest where she was tagged with an electric monitoring ankle bracelet. She maintained that she was innocent and had been set up. However such was her dependancy that despite living with a a "sober guardian", she was discovered her unconscious in her bathtub and she later died. The Los Angeles County Coroner's office determined that she had
overdosed on the painkiller drug fentanyl .... it wasn't ruled if this was suicide, or just a misjudgement of amounts, because it wasn't her normal drug of recreation.
She did not live to see the film 'Domino' finished. Not our normal type of celeb, but she ticks all the boxes, Modelling, DJ, Newspaper coverage, and Film based on her life.
Trivia:
- As a bounty hunter in the mid-1990s, Harvey earned roughly $30,000–40,000 annually.
- Promotional featurettes for the movie include Harvey on set with the cast and crew.
- She contributed to the songs on the soundtrack, and also attended the movie's wrap party in December 2004.
- Harvey herself appears at the very end of the cast credits of the film.
- Domino Harvey, was played by Keira Knightley in the film based on her life.
Pictures:
Just a few illustrative ones .... most (99%) of the pictures out there are Keira Knightley from the film (see film poster below), so please don't post those here.
