Helen O'Brien

Helen O'Brien (née Elena Constantinescu, 14 December 1925 – 16 September 2005) was a British spy and nightclub owner. The daughter of a landowner and an aristocrat, she escaped advancing Russians on the King's racehorse, fled the communists in Romania, and in 1953 co-founded what the press dubbed as a club with the most daring West London floor performances of its era, where she worked as a spy for the UK's MI5 and MI6.

Early life Helen O'Brien was born Elena Constantinescu on 14 December 1925, the daughter of a Romanian estate–owning father and an aristocratic mother who was the daughter of an exiled Russian duchess. She was born and grew up in Bucharest.

First marriage In early 1946, O'Brien married Kenneth Archer, an RAF officer.

London, second marriage and Eve nightclub She made her way to London and found work at Murray's Cabaret Club in Beak Street, Soho as a cigarette girl and dancer where the general manager, Jimmy O'Brien who had started as a cloakroom attendant, became infatuated with her. They married in 1948. As a members only club charging a guinea a year, it did not have to comply with the usual licensing laws and served alcohol until 3am. The club was known for "its unique appeal of glamour, intrigue, sex, sophistication, daring floorshows, and mystery".