‘Flamboyant’ Geoffrey Edelsten dead at 78

Derryn Hinch has described Geoffrey Edelsten as a crook and a character, saying the controversial businessman “wouldn’t have seen a principle if he’d fallen over it.”

Broadcaster Derryn Hinch has described disgraced late businessman Geoffrey Edelsten as a crook and a character.

Hinch was not a fan of Edelsten and the great entrepreneur persona he encouraged.

Nor was he convinced about the parade of beautiful women drawn to the controversial businessman like moths to a flame.

“He really was a Barnum character,” Hinch said.

“He dressed in the flashy bright coloured suits, journalists went along with it. He was always good for a photo op.

“He was a colourful character but he was a crook.

“I don’t apologise because all history owes the dead is the truth.

“The man would not have seen a principle if he had fallen over it.”

Edelsten with his helicopter in 1981.

Edelsten and former wife Brynne.

Edelsten’s former wife Gabi Grecko took to Instagram on Saturday to mourn her former husband, choosing photos over words.

The New York model turned aspiring rapper, performing under the name GLittA FoxX, posted photos of her and Edelsten from their time together.

One album of photos was captioned “how I feel today” and included photos of Grecko visibly upset.

Gabi Grecko and Geoffrey Edelsten. Picture: Instagram

Another album was simply captioned “tired”.

Grecko’s followers posted messages of support on her Instagram.

“Sending you so much love and peace. Regardless of how things went or ended, you loved and that love has left this lifetime,” one comment read.

Edelsten died aged 78 at his apartment in Melbourne.

The former owner of the Sydney Swans football club, who personified the gaudiness of the 1980s with his flamboyant lifestyle, is believed to have died on Friday afternoon at Balencea Apartments on St Kilda Road.

Edelsten lived the final months of his life as a recluse, according to friends.

His carer, his brother and another woman were at his apartment in the hours after his death, according to a neighbour.

Geoffrey and Brynne Edelsten at the Melbourne Cup in 2010.

Geoffrey Edelsten with ex Gabi Grecko. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

The Saturday Herald Sun understands Edelsten was found by his cleaner.

“He was very pleasant, ­extremely well-mannered,” the neighbour said.

“He was an old-school gentleman and very respectful. He was extremely private. He never really spoke to others in the building.

“The only people who would come to visit him this last year were his brother, his close family and his carers.”

The neighbour said Edelsten had lived in the apartment for “two or three years” and had been in declining health for 12 months.

Geoffrey Edelsten was found dead inside his St Kilda Rd apartment.

Bizarrely he died on June 11, the anniversary of his wedding to his third wife Gabi Grecko.

He separated from the now US-based artist in 2015 a matter of months after they wed in a registry office in North Melbourne and posed for their official wedding photos among bins and graffiti in Melbourne’s Hosier Lane.

Edelsten was found guilty in 1990 of soliciting former hit man Christopher Flannery to assault a former patient, and was jailed for a year.

Apart from the conviction, Edelsten faced other consequences, including being struck off as a doctor. It was a fall from grace for a man who pioneered flashy 24-hour medical clinics in the 1980s, which came with grand pianos.

A spokesman for his ex-wife Brynne Edelsten said she was shocked and saddened to hear of her ex-husband’s death.

“It is of great sadness to hear of the passing of Dr Geoffrey Edelsten today,” Caleb Yorke told the Saturday Herald Sun.

“On behalf of Ms Brynne Edelsten, we send our deepest and sincerest condolences.

“Brynne and Geoffrey ­enjoyed some truly beautiful moments, including their wedding in 2009. While their marriage ended after five years together, Brynne remains grateful for the good times the couple shared and is deeply saddened and shocked to hear the news of his passing.”

Geoffrey and Brynne Edelsten.

Dr Geoffrey Edelsten pictured with first wife Leanne.

Edelsten, a Melbourne-educated medical doctor, was never far from the headlines – as much for his volatile and short-lived marriage to ex-wife Leanne Nesbitt, his fleet of Rolls-Royces and Lamborghinis and his 24-hour medical clinics that were decorated with chandeliers and mink-covered examination tables.

A long-term benefactor of Carlton Football Club, he was awarded life membership in 2013.

Three police vehicles and a Crime Scenes Services van were parked outside Balencea Apartments on Friday evening.

A manager from Hunters Bar, located on the ground floor, said an ambulance ­arrived at 3pm.

In November 2009, Edelsten married Brynne Gordon, a then 25-year-old fitness ­instructor from California.

The wedding cost about $3m and featured a helicopter, a Bentley, 550 guests, circus performers and performances by Tom Burlinson and other headline acts.

Guests received a pre-wedding DVD about Edelsten and Gordon featuring narration by actor Jason Alexander, who gave an address at the ­wedding.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said: “Police will prepare a report for the coroner following the discovery of a man’s body in a St Kilda Rd apartment earlier this afternoon (June 11). The death is not being treated as ­suspicious.”

US actor Jason Alexander (centre) was the emcee at the wedding of Geoffrey Edelsten and his Brynne Gordon in Melbourne. Picture: Julian Smith

Edelsten poses with Sydney Swans players in 1985.

TRIBUTES FLOW FOR ‘FLAMBOYANT’ EDELSTEN

Inaugural Sydney Swans captain Barry Round said Edelsten gave the club vital exposure after the relocation north.

“He really put us on the map and created some important awareness with the Sydney people,” he said.

“We were only getting our best players and goalkickers in one of the back pages of the Sydney Morning Herald, but with his flamboyant style he really turned it around for the club.”

Round, who played 193 games for South Melbourne and Sydney and won the 1981 Brownlow Medal, said Edelsten’s role in Sydney’s early days would be long remembered.

“Things obviously went pretty pear-shaped at the end of his ownership, but he certainly played his part in the history of the Swans.”

Former Carlton Football Club player and Norm Smith medallist David Rhys-Jones told the Saturday Herald Sun that Mr Edelsten was an “eccentric” character who was shaped by his love of the game.

“I went to his wedding to Brynne. He was a bit different and he loved the game. He grew up not far from Princes Park and would go to games with his mum.

“I always saw him at corporate functions and he was just a great supporter of Carlton”.

The Carlton Football Club awarded Mr Edelsten life membership in 2013.

Former AFL star Warwick Capper has also paid tribute to Edelsten’s “great legacy”.

“I’m sorry to hear about the passing of Geoff. He left a great legacy on the Swans and myself,” he said.

“I’m very shocked and saddened by his passing. Condolences to the family.”