Subject

Body builder and artists' model who posed for a number of statues on display in London.

Rothwell was brought to our attention by Broderick D.V. Chow in this Londonist article. This, together with the Texas archive, provides all our information.

Born 1904 in Lancashire. As a teenager he worked in the mines and took up physical training. Then went to college and studied art but being told he had no talent, he came to London in 1928. His first job was in an Islington pub as a bouncer but he also wrestled, taught PE, entered bodybuilding competitions and performed as a gymnast. c.1929 he began working as an artists' model.

Deaf in one ear he was unable to serve in WW2 but he worked in British Civil Defence Light Rescue and also trained fighter pilots in physical fitness in Lambeth. Married Cecilia and they lived in Norbury with three children.

The Londonist page has a photo of the statue 'Open Spaces' by Alfred Frank Hardiman at County Hall, modelled by Rothwell.