R. Lance Thomas

R. Lance Thomas 

After leaving La Jolla High School, Lance attended San Diego State University for one year on a Drama scholarship. He acted with the San Diego State Drama Department and also appeared in San Diego's Old Globe Theatre productions.  In 1965 Lance left the U.S. for England and auditioned for several of the country's prominent theatre schools,  eventually being  one of three foreigners accepted at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Lance became an actor for the Bristol Old Vic, the oldest continually-operating theatre in England (built in 1764), and appeared in numerous stage productions and in several BBC TV productions.  

After leaving the Old Vic in 1969, he moved to Rome and appeared in several film productions for Cine Città, Dino De Laurentiis, and De Paolis Studios. He returned to California in 1970 and worked in film and television productions such as Gunsmoke, Menace on the Mountain (Walt Disney) and film work for MGM studios (RPM).  Lance was also Associate Producer on the feature film The Severed Arm in 1973. 

In 1970 he married his first wife, Andrea Kern. They had a son (Ian) in 1973 and a daughter (Blythe)  in 1975.  In 1976 Lance became a graduate of the Management Policy Institute of the University of Southern California. Throughout much of the 1970's Lance worked in the financial industry, becoming a Senior Vice President for Gibraltar Savings and Loan in Beverly Hills.  In 1980 Lance became President/CEO for the new Encino Savings and Loan in Encino, California. The company was recognized as the most successful new S & L in the State. In 1982 Lance was recruited to become  President/CEO of Bel-Air Savings and Loan in Brentwood, California, a position he held until 1989, following the successful sale of the company to billionaire John Anderson. Lance was recruited to help rescue a failing financial institution in Marina Del Rey (Executive Federal Savings Bank), becoming the Company's Chief Executive. The Company was turned into a profitable enterprise within one year.  

Lance became divorced from his first wife in 1980. In 1985 he married Susan Prey in an ancient Celtic ceremony atop Glastonbury Tor in England.  

In 1990, Lance was recruited to become Managing Director/CEO of Jonathan Wren & Co. Ltd., a premier financial recruitment company in the City of London.  In this role he expanded the company to include a strong Middle East presence, establishing a permanent office in Manama, Bahrain.  Also in 1990, his wife Susan gave birth to their new daughter, Rhianmȏr Thomas, in London. 

In 1993 Lance was asked to become Managing Director/CEO of a large music media company, DMX-Europe, a subsidiary of DMX -US,  the world's leading premium digital audio (subscription based) music service. The service in Europe was delivered to residential customers and commercial establishments via satellite and cable. This position required extensive travel to every country in Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Russia. In 1997, the company morphed into a new corporate entity,  Xtra Music, which concentrated primary on commercial establishments and cable packages. In 1998, Lance became a British Citizen.  

In 2002 Lance left Xtra Music Ltd. and formed GBTSE Ltd. a company which produced clothing licenced by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence for the Royal Navy, the British Army and the Royal Air Force.   

In 2003 Lance ran for public office and was elected a Councillor in the District of St. Albans. Lance's wife Susan completed her Master's Degree at Cambridge University, and is currently a teacher. Lance and his family returned to San Diego for a brief period (2006-2008) for family reasons, moving back to England in 2008. 

In 2010 Lance was elected Chairman of a UK Parliamentary Conservative constituency association, overseeing all General Election and District Election campaigns and strategies and coordinating fund raising efforts for the constituency (Hitchin & Harpenden). 

On New Year's Day 2012, Lance and his wife left the U.K. and moved to Maui, where he joined his brother Drake as a Principal in Harbor Quest Hawaii LLC, a company dedicated to the creation of a new harbor in Lahaina, Maui. Lance finally returned to California in 2013, and formed The Great British Trading Company, a corporation whose goal is the creation of a new brand of rum (as well as the production of various other British-themed products.)  

Other Info. 

Lance and his brothers, (Baron and Drake - both alumni of La Jolla High School), are all sailors. In 1984, and again in 1987, Lance and his brother Drake were participants in the 125-mile, non-stop Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race competition in England. 

Lance was a volunteer digger during the Aberfan disaster of 1966 (Welsh mining town disaster where 116 children and 28 adults were buried by a colliery spoil tip sliding down into the village).  

Lance's older children, Ian and Blythe, each have families of their own in San Diego, leaving Lance with 4 grandsons and one granddaughter. Ian is a Marketing Manager for a Polyclinic in Seattle (although he lives in San Diego) and his daughter Blythe is a graduate from UC Davis, and is involved in real estate in SD. His youngest daughter, Rhianmor, is an actress in Hollywood, California. His wife Susan teaches in then Fernando Valley.