Sheila R Vogel-Coupe (née Davis; January 1929 – 25 November 2022) was an English escort and media personality. She was known for being the oldest sex worker in the United Kingdom.
Early life Sheila R Davis was born in Hampstead, Greater London, England in January 1929,England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007: JAN 1929 1a 775 HAMPSTEAD — Sheila R Davis as the elder child to Stuart Hyam DavisEngland & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915: OCT 1903 1a 603 HAMPSTEAD — Stuart Hyam DavisEngland & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007: JUL 1979 (aged 75) 18 1875 WORTHING — Stuart Hyam Davis and his wife,England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005: APR 1927 1a 212 PADDINGTON — Stuart H Davis = Elizabeth B Drage Elizabeth Beatrice (née Drage).England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007: OCT 1999 (aged 92) 48B 7863 128 WORTHING — Elizabeth Beatrice Davis She had a younger brother, Brian Davis.England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007: JUL 1932 3a 742 HENDON — Brian DavisEngland and Wales, Death Index, 1989-2023: 31 JUL 2021 (aged 89) HARROGATE — Brian Davis
Vogel-Coupe was born into a Jewish family. She was the granddaughter of Polish Jewish immigrants. She regularly attended the synagogue and had visited Israel.
Career Vogel-Coupe started escorting in November 2010, at the age of 81, after appearing in the hard-core pornographic film Freddie's Great British Granny Bang. The film was screened on an adult channel earlier that year. The film was repeated on the Red Hot 40+ channel on 4 December 2010. Her agent was the PR guru Max Clifford.
Vogel-Coupe made two appearances on the ITV daytime magazine programme This Morning in 2011. Her first appearance, she was interviewed by Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford. Her second appearance, she was interviewed by Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.
In 2014, Vogel-Coupe was entertaining up to ten clients per week at £250 an hour. She went by the name Grand Dame Cecilia Bird on the website for the escort agency Mature Courtesans. Some reports from 2014 stated that, at the age of 85, she was the oldest sex worker in the world.
Channel 4 released a documentary entitled My Granny the Escort, about Vogel-Coupe and two other elderly sex workers. The documentary was broadcast on 29 May 2014.
In 2016, it was reported that Vogel-Coupe was still active in her field at the age of 87. She worked under the pseudonym Anthea for an online website offering 'mature escorts'.
Vogel-Coupe retired in 2020, at the age of 91, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life Vogel-Coupe married her first husband, Abraham 'Alfred' Joseph "Jimmy" Vogel,England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915: OCT 1909 1c 242 WHITECHAPEL — Abraham Vogel who was also Jewish, in Paddington, London, in April 1950.England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005: APR 1950 5d 456 PADDINGTON — Sheila R Davis = Alfred J Vogel She gained two stepchildren, Evalyn and Ann. They had three daughters together; Susan K TausigEngland & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005: OCT 1974 14 0906 PADDINGTON — Susan K Vogel = Tausig (née Vogel; born 1951),England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007: JAN 1951 5d 461 MARYLEBONE — Susan K Vogel Carolyn E Vogel (born 1953)England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007: JUL 1953 5d 405 MARYLEBONE — Carolyn E Vogel and Diana J WaisselEngland & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005: APR 1981 15 1455 WESTMINSTER — Diana J Vogel = Maurice A Waissel (née Vogel; born 1959).England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007: JUL 1959 5d 408 MARYLEBONE — Diana J Vogel She had three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She was widowed in 8 June 1952, after two years of marriage.England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007: APR 1952 (aged 42) 5d 707 WANDSWORTH — Alfred J Vogel
Vogel-Coupe married her second husband, Noel Parker Coupe ,England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007: JAN 1926 8e 261 BURNLEY — Noel P Coupe an aeronautical engineer, in Westminster, Greater London, in November 1999.England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005: NOV 1999 258 64 098 WESTMINSTER — Sheila R Vogel = Noel P Coupe She gained two stepchildren, Catherine and Charles. She was widowed on 24 January 2001, after fourteen months of marriage.England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007: JAN 2001 (aged 74) B40C 2581B 90 WESTMINSTER — Noel Parker Coupe
In 2010, it was reported by The Mirror in a statement from Vogel-Coupe's granddaughter, Natalie Davis, stating: "We were completely shocked and devastated to hear of the news that my grandmother, Sheila Vogel, has been conducting immoral activities, including prostitution and pornography. We, as a family, disassociate ourselves wholly from these activities and from any further stories that arise from them. It is a personal family matter and we would ask that during this difficult time we are allowed space to deal with it as a family. There will be no further comment." Her granddaughter, Katie Waissel, a singer-songwriter, appeared as a contestant the seventh series of the reality television music competition, The X Factor. In 2010, it was reported that Katie had cut off relations with her grandmother, accusing her grandmother of sabotaging her chance at stardom. In 2016, during her appearance on the eighteenth series of the Channel 5 reality television series, Celebrity Big Brother, Katie, in an argument with her fellow housemate, Heavy D, a television personality, said: "I know for me I'm better than you... you're an embarrassment. My grandma is more famous than you and she sucks dick!" After her grandmother's death, Katie, said: "I never had an issue with what she did. I had an issue with the fact I messaged her and said grandma, 'we will work through this as a family'. The next day she said I ruined her life as a prostitute and a porn star on national TV at the height of my vulnerability after we had spoken about it by text message.
Vogel-Coupe had an operation to have 13 inches of her intestine removed.
Death Vogel-Coupe died in Westminster, Greater LondonUK, Electoral Registers, 2011-2018: 2011-2018 15 St. Johns Wood Road, NW8 8RB City of London, London, England — MS Sheila R Vogel-Coupe on 25 November 2022. She was 93. Her death was announced by her daughter, Josie, in a statement to The Sun, stating: "We were so proud of her. Her passing deserves a mention because she was so unique." She had been diagnosed with dementia in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
After Vogel-Coupe's death, her granddaughter, Katie, said: "I have been made aware of the news about my 93-year-old grandmother passing away. It is understandably a sad and sensitive time. It's a very sensitive subject to be made public unbeknownst to any of us. It is very disrespectful for someone in the family to disclose that information without anybody knowing."
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