Francoise In Her Own Words

March 1971 the London premiere of the film 'Percy'.

After my accident !!! Michael Caine called me “The Hottest one arm chick in hotpants”
- sweet. ............

The accident happened after I had lunch at the L’Aretusa, the hottest restaurant in London in the 70’s with Roman Polanski, Vivianne, Jane Fonda and her French husband, the ever so moody Roger Vadim and of course, Richard Johnson on the 24 February 1971. After lunch Vivianne invited me to her house for tea and I asked her if she would teach me to knit, silly me! I was so naive in those days!! I wanted to learn to knit for my unborn baby.
 
A fire broke out in the house and Vivianne, myself and her daughter Jasmine were upstairs in her bedroom watching Dr. Who. Vivianne went to investigate and ran back upstairs, grabbing her belongings and asking us to follow, thinking that the child was with me she came back to see why we were so slow to follow, I could not breathe as the smoke was coming up.

Vivianne grabbed her daughter and shouted for me to follow! I could not, I was paralysed and went to the window to cry for help. BIG MISTAKE!! Never open window in an electrical fire. I jumped on the window ledge as the fire was coming fast, The radiator was hot and starting whooshing hot water, it burnt the back of my leg. The only way was down.

Between the house and the railings was a basement. I remember thinking either I jump and die or I jump over the railings and someone would catch me. I jumped out of the window. I fell from 3 floors. As I fell, I must have hit my head on the balcony which I believe might have saved my life as it bounced me over the railings. I felt my neck between the railings and my arms through the railings, I broke my left arm in 8 different places, dislocated my shoulder and in the process lost my unborn baby later . It took 2 operations to get my arm together. I was full of morphine!

I went to the premiere of 'Percy' because the PR people demanded that I be there as my fall had PR/Press all over the world. In the USA my fall was very well documented. When I went to a party at Hugh Heffner’s later that year, it was only when Raquel Welch mentioned that I should recount my ordeal on TV that I realised that this made worldwide news. Naturally I refused.!!! I should have had Max Clifford looking after me in those days!!