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Don Arden, a rock music entrepreneur and the father of Sharon Osbourne, has died at the age of 81.

Arden, one of the most prominent figures in pop during the 1960s and 1970s, managed the careers of the Electric Light Orchestra, the Small Faces, Gene Vincent and, later, Ozzy Osbourne who became his son-in-law.

Infamous for his physical approach to protecting his business interests, Arden revelled in his tough reputation, wearing wide-lapelled, gangster-style suits and becoming known variously as “the Al Capone of Pop”, “Mr Big” and “the English Godfather”. He is said once to have had the music manager Robert Stigwood dangled out of a third-floor window by his ankles for attempting to lure the Small Faces away.

Born in Manchester in 1926, Arden was originally named Harry Levy and his father planned that he would join him working in a raincoat factory. But Arden was always determined to join the entertainment industry. He started out as a singer and comedian before moving into management.

Although he represented some of the biggest music acts of the 1960s and 1970s, he struggled with managing money and swung between riches and poverty for much of his life.

Sharon Osbourne, best known for her television appearances as a judge on the X Factor talent show and in a reality series about her family, started her career as a receptionist for her father.

She met Ozzy Osbourne through Arden and began a romance with him in 1979, later deciding to manage the singer herself. Arden and his daughter fell out over the arrangement, he later sued her and the pair were estranged for 20 years.

Sharon Osbourne has spoken of the psychological scars left by her childhood in which, she has said, she becaume accustomed to seeing her father threaten people. She was reconciled with Arden in 2002 after he had Alzheimer’s disease diagnosed.

Osbourne’s spokesman, Gary Farrow, said Arden died in a nursing home in Los Angeles.

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