Who was Tom Mitford? Everything you need to know about the real-life bisexual playboy in Outrageous
Toby Regbo plays Tom Mitford in Outrageous. (Getty/Ben Montgomery/WikiCommons)
Toby Regbo plays Tom Mitford in Outrageous. (Getty/Ben Montgomery/WikiCommons)
Ahead of the premiere of the new drama Outrageous, here’s everything you need to know about the real-life bisexual playboy Tom Mitford.
Outrageous is an upcoming period drama centred on the true story of the Mitford family, who gained widespread attention for their controversial lives.
The show follows the aristocratic daughters of the second Baron Redesdale and Sydney Bowles as they chase notoriety during the 1930s.
The trailer promises “a brand new drama based on a rebellious, boisterous, notorious, adventurous, dangerous, audacious true story.” As one sister declares: “we weren’t just a family; we were a force of nature”.
Sarah Williams wrote the series, which is based on Mary S. Lovell’s biography The Mitford Girls. Additionally, Outrageous is a tale of betrayal, scandal, heartache, and even imprisonment.
The family grew up in the 1930s in an aristocratic country house, but as the Nazi regime rose to power and the Second World War, began the siblings became politically divided between communism and fascism.
However, the six-part series also features the sisters’ brother, Tom Mitford, the family’s only son, and his action-packed life story alone is probably enough for a multi-episode drama.
Who was Tom Mitford?
While the six sisters are the subject of Outrageous, the Mitford family’s only son had his fair share of scandals.
In Outrageous, Tom Mitford is depicted by Mr. Nobody and A Discovery of Witches actor Toby Regbo.
Eton-educated Mitford was known as a lover for whom gender was not a concern. As a student, he is said to have had romantic affairs with writer James Lees-Milne and, later, with Scottish aristocrat and aesthete Hamish St. Clair-Erskine. The latter, although he was a homosexual man, got engaged to Mitford’s sister Nancy.
It was not only gender that Mitford didn’t mind, but also marriage status. The bisexual soldier was said to be a lover of the Austrian-born dancer Tilly Losch, while she was married.
As the Second World War erupted, Tom Mitford became known as a Nazi sympathiser who did not want to fight against Germany.
However, after relenting and joining the British Army, Tom Mitford was deployed to fight in the Pacific War. He was killed in action in Burma in 1945.
How to watch Outrageous
Outrageous will be available to stream on U (u.co.uk) in the UK and Britbox in North America on Thursday (19 June).
Alongside Toby Regbo as Tom Mitford, the six sisters are played by Bridgerton’s Bessie Carter, The Runaway’s Joanna Vanderham, The Hunger Games’ Isobel Jesper Jones, The Jetty’s Shannon Watson, Casualty’s Zoe Brough and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder‘s Orla Hill.
Mitford’s father and mother are to be depicted by Fisherman’s Friends’ James Purefoy and Four Weddings and a Funeral star Anna Chancellor, respectively.
Outrageous airs on U and U&DRAMA in the UK on June 19 and BritBox in North America.
