Max Clifford: From Freddie Starr to Jade Goody

Max Clifford, who famously takes 20% of his clients' fees, has ended up more famous than most of the people he represents. Apart from Simon Cowell, obviously Photograph: Edmond Terakopian/AFP/Getty Images

13 March 1986: Freddie Starr has eaten plenty of sandwiches in his time, but never one that contained a hamster. 'When someone phoned a tabloid newspaper to claim that my client, Freddie Starr, had eaten a hamster, Freddie was appalled and desperate for me to kill the story,' said Clifford. 'But I said it was wonderful publicity and so it was - it was worth millions to Freddie and he's been living off it for years.' Photograph: Public Domain

15 June 1992: Clifford was a thorn in the side of successive Conservative governments. Here he is with client Antonia de Sancha, talking following the resignation of David Mellor. You can tell it's 1992 – look at the size of Clifford's mobile phone Photograph: Rex Features/Rex Features

7 April 1994: Clifford with another client, Bienvenida 'Lady' Buck, who had an affair with the then-chief of defence staff Photograph: Dave Gadd/Allstar

6 January 1997: More trouble for the Tories. Clifford with teenager Paul Stone, who was at the centre of allegations regarding a Tory MP's private life. Clifford was said to have secured £100,000 for the story from the News of the World Photograph: Fiona Hanson/PA

15 June 1997: Clifford says he keeps more stories out of the press than he puts in them. Here he is at the Oxford Union with the then-Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan in 1997. Both are now big buddies of Simon Cowell Photograph: David Hartley/Rex Features

28 October 1999: Mystery blonde shocker! Clifford and Bett Rinse arrive for a gala charity premiere in London's west end in 1999 Photograph: Toby Melville/PA Photos

23 November 1999: Clifford with Ted Francis, whose revelations triggered Jeffrey Archer's resignation as Tory candidate for London mayor. Here they are during a press conference at Talk Radio in 1999 Photograph: Michael Crabtree/PA Photos

25 November 1999: Read all about it! I did that one, that one, that one's mine ... Clifford in his office in 1999 Photograph: Robin Nowacki/AP

20 April 2004: Hands up if you can feel another tabloid splash coming on. It's Clifford and his client, Rebecca Loos, former personal assistant to David Beckham. She is now almost as notorious, although not quite, for the splash she made on Channel Five reality show, The Farm Photograph: Rex Features/Rex Features

8 May 2007: Another Clifford client, Shilpa Shetty won the 2007 edition of Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother, the series that was infamous for her racist bullying by Jade Goody and others Photograph: Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images

5 August 2008: More mischief for the England football team. Clifford with Faria Alam, who had an affair with the then-England football coach, Sven-Göran Erikisson Photograph: Edmond Terakopian/PA Photos

9 January 2008: Former girl band member, queen of the jungle, face of Iceland – and Max Clifford client – Kerry Katona, leaving his London offices in January last year Photograph: Rex Features/Rex Features

Despite the wealth of stories and clients Clifford has handled over the years, there has not been anything quite like Jade Goody's diagnosis with terminal cancer Photograph: Living TV/PA

13 Feb 2009: A Max Clifford production: the publicist also represents the family of 13-year-old Alfie Patten, who is reported to have fathered a baby Photograph: Public Domain