Linda McCartney

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Biography

Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney (née Eastman ; formerly See ; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer , musician and animal rights activism|activist . Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Lindner|Louise Sara Lindner Eastman .

In 1969 she married Beatles|Beatle Paul McCartney and later joined McCartney's band Wings (band)|Wings . In the same year McCartney adopted her daughter, Heather McCartney|Heather Louise , from her first marriage to John See. The McCartneys had three children together: Mary McCartney|Mary Anna , Stella McCartney|Stella Nina , and James McCartney|James Louis . She became Lady McCartney when her husband was Knight Bachelor|knighted in 1997.

She wrote several vegetarian cookbooks, became a business entrepreneur (starting the Linda McCartney Foods company) and was a professional photographer, publishing ''Linda McCartney's Sixties: Portrait of an Era . McCartney was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, and died at the age of 56 on 17 April 1998 in Tucson, Arizona, where the McCartneys had a ranch.

Early years

Linda Louise McCartney was born Linda Louise Eastman , the second-eldest of four children, to Jewish-American parents in New York City. She had one older brother, John (10 July 1939), and two younger sisters, Laura (born 1947) and Louise Jr. (born 1950). She grew up in the wealthy Scarsdale, New York|Scarsdale area of Westchester County, New York and graduated from Scarsdale High School in 1959. Her father was the son of Jewish-Russian immigrants. He changed his name from Leopold Vail Epstein to Lee Eastman, and was not related to George Eastman of Eastman Kodak fame. He was songwriter Jack Lawrence|Jack Lawrence's attorney, and at his request in 1942, Lawrence, while in the army, wrote a song called " Linda (1946 song)|Linda " in honor of the one-year-old. It was published in 1946, and recorded by Buddy Clark in 1947. John Eastman later became Paul McCartney's lawyer and manager, taking over from his father, Lee Eastman.

Her mother Louise Sara Lindner Eastman—the daughter of Max J. Lindner, founder of the Allied Stores#Other Stores|Lindner Company clothing store in Cleveland , Ohio —died in the crash of American Airlines Flight 1 in Queens , New York, in 1962. McCartney later said that because of her mother's death, she hated travelling by air. McCartney studied for a Fine Art major at the University of Arizona . Her first marriage was to Joseph Melvin See Jr., whom she met at college. They married on June 18, 1962, and their daughter Heather McCartney|Heather Louise was born on December 31, 1962. They were divorce d in June 1965. McCartney later commented that See was a "nice man, a geologist, an Ernest Hemingway type". He committed suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on March 19, 2000, at his home in Tucson .

Photography

McCartney started work as a receptionist for the Town & Country (magazine)|Town & Country magazine, and was the only unofficial photographer on board the SS Sea Panther yacht on the Hudson River who was allowed to take photographs of The Rolling Stones during a record promotion party. Although she had previously only studied the photography of horses in Arizona at an arts centre with a teacher, Hazel Archer, she was later asked to be the house photographer at the Fillmore East concert hall, and supposedly became a popular groupie . She photographed artists such as Aretha Franklin , Grace Slick , Jimi Hendrix , Bob Dylan , Janis Joplin , Eric Clapton , Simon & Garfunkel , The Who , The Doors , The Animals , John Lennon , and Neil Young . She photographed Young in 1967—the picture was used for the front cover of Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968 , in 2008.

She photographed Clapton for Rolling Stone magazine, becoming the first woman to have a photo featured on the front cover (11 May 1968). She and McCartney also appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone on January 31, 1974, making her the only person both to have taken a photo, and to have been photographed, for the front cover of the magazine. Her photographs were later exhibited in more than 50 galleries internationally, as well as at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. A collection of photographs from that time, '' Linda McCartney's Sixties|Linda McCartney's Sixties: Portrait of an Era '', was published in 1993. She also took the photograph for the cover of McCartney and Michael Jackson 's single, " The Girl Is Mine ".

McCartney and children

On 15 May 1967, the then-Linda Eastman met McCartney at a Georgie Fame concert at the Bag O'Nails club in London. She was in the UK on an assignment to take photographs of "Swinging Sixties" musicians in London. The two later went to the Speakeasy Club on Margaret Street to see Procol Harum . They met again four days later at the launch party for '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band '' at Brian Epstein 's house in Belgravia . When her assignment was completed she flew back to New York City. In May 1968, they met again in New York, as John Lennon and McCartney were there to announce the formation of Apple Records|Apple Corps . In September of the same year, he phoned her and asked her to fly over to London. They were married six months later in a small civil ceremony (when she was four months pregnant with their daughter Mary McCartney|Mary ) at Marylebone Registry Office on 12 March 1969.

After giving birth to Mary (born in London 28 August 1969), Stella McCartney (born 13 September 1971) and James McCartney (born 12 September 1977 in London) she said that four children was enough. She became Lady McCartney when her husband was knighted in 1997. Her brother, entertainment lawyer John Eastman, has represented McCartney since the break-up of The Beatles. McCartney has eight grandchildren, all of whom were born after her death: Mary's four sons Arthur Alistair Donald (born 3 April 1999), Elliot Donald (born August 1, 2002), Sam Aboud (born August 11, 2008) and Sid Aboud (September 3, 2011) and Stella's children, Miller Alasdhair James Willis (born 25 February 2005), daughter Bailey Linda Olwyn Willis (born December 8, 2006), Beckett Robert Lee Willis (born 8 January 2008), and Reiley Willis (born November 23, 2010).

Music

After the breakup of The Beatles in 1970, her husband taught her to play keyboards and recorded an album with her, Ram (album)|Ram , as a duo. Afterwards, he included her in the lineup for his subsequent group, Wings. The group garnered several Grammy Awards , becoming one of the most successful bands of the 1970s, but had to endure jibes regarding Linda McCartney's singing. She later admitted that the early accusations about her singing out of tune in the early days with Wings were true.

In 1977, a reggae-inspired single entitled "Seaside Woman" was released by an obscure band called Suzy and the Red Stripes , on Epic Records in the United States. In reality, Suzy and The Red Stripes were Wings, with Linda McCartney (who also wrote the song) on lead vocals. The song was recorded by Wings in 1972, in response to a lawsuit by Northern Songs and Maclen Music alleging McCartney violated an exclusive rights agreement by collaborating on the song "Another Day", which had the effect of transferring a 50% share of the publishing royalties to his own MPL Communications|McCartney Music company. The lawsuit, which alleged that Linda McCartney's co-writing credits were inauthentic and that she was not a real songwriter, was "amicably settled," according to an Associated Television|ATV spokesman, in June 1972.Brian Southall and Rupert Perry, ''Northen Songs: The True Story of The Beatles' Song Publishing Empire (2007).

The McCartneys shared an Oscar nomination for the co-composition of the song, " Live and Let Die (song)|Live and Let Die ". Her album Wide Prairie , which included "Seaside Woman," was released posthumously in 1998. McCartney worked with the help of The Beatles' engineer, Geoff Emerick , to finish the album. Along with eight other British composers, he contributed to the choral album A Garland for Linda , and dedicated his classical music|classical album, Ecce Cor Meum , to his late wife. In January 1999, "The Light Comes From Within" single from the Wide Prairie album was banned by TV and radio stations in the UK. McCartney placed advertisements in English national newspapers asking parents to give "guidance" as to whether their children could be "morally corrupted" by the song lyrics, which included the lines, "You say I'm simple, you say I'm a Yokel|hick , You're fucking no-one, you stupid dick."

Discography

Paul and Linda McCartney

Ram (album)|Ram (1971)

Wings

Wild Life (Wings album)|Wild Life (1971)

Red Rose Speedway (1973)

Band on the Run (1973)

Venus and Mars (1975)

Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976)

Wings Over America (1976)

London Town (Wings album)|London Town (1978)

Back to the Egg (1979)

Suzy and the Red Stripes

" Seaside Woman "/B-Side To Seaside (single, recorded 1972–1974, released UK 1979, US 1977)

Solo

Wide Prairie " (1998)

Session work

Paul McCartney - McCartney (album)|McCartney (1970)

Denny Laine - Holly Days (1977)

Denny Laine - Japanese Tears (1980)

Paul McCartney - Tug of War (Paul McCartney album)|Tug of War (1982)

Paul McCartney - Pipes of Peace (1983)

Paul McCartney - Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984)

Paul McCartney - Press to Play (1986)

Paul McCartney - Flowers in the Dirt (1989)

Paul McCartney - Flaming Pie (1997)

Vegetarianism, activism and lifestyle

McCartney introduced her husband to vegetarianism in 1975, and promoted a vegetarian diet through her cookbooks: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking (with author Peter Cox (author)|Peter Cox , 1989), Linda’s Kitchen and Simple and Inspiring Recipes for Meatless Meals . She explained her change to vegetarianism by saying that she did not "eat anything with a face", and if " slaughterhouse s had glass walls the whole world would be vegetarian". The McCartneys became outspoken vegetarians and animal rights activist s. In 1991, she introduced a line of frozen vegetarian meals under the Linda McCartney Foods name, which made her wealthy independently of her husband. The H. J. Heinz Company acquired the company in March 2000, and the Hain Celestial Group bought it in 2007.

As a strong advocate for animal rights, Linda lent her support to many organizations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) as well as Campaign to Protect Rural England|The Council for the Protection of Rural England , and Friends of the Earth . She was also a patron of the League Against Cruel Sports . Before her death, she narrated a TV advertisement for PETA, in which she said: "Have you ever seen a fish gasping for breath when you take it out of the water? They’re saying, ‘Thanks a lot for killing me. It feels great, you know.’ No& #33; It hurts!" After her death, PETA created the Linda McCartney Memorial Award.

In 1984, she was arrested in Barbados for possession of marijuana ; her husband had been arrested in Los Angeles for possession of marijuana in 1975. After flying to Heathrow Airport , London, she was arrested on charges of possession. She later commented that hard drugs were disgusting, but marijuana "is pretty lightweight".

Death

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, and her condition soon grew worse as it metastasis|spread to her liver. Her husband's last words to her were: "You're up on your beautiful Appaloosa stallion. It's a fine spring day. We're riding through the woods. The Common Bluebell|bluebells are all out, and the sky is clear-blue". She died on 17 April 1998 (age 56), at the McCartney family ranch in Tucson, Arizona. She was cremated in Tucson, and her ashes were scattered at the McCartney farm in Sussex . Her husband later suggested that fans remember her by donating to breast cancer research charities that do not support animal testing , "or the best tribute — go veggie". A memorial service was held for her at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, which was attended by George Harrison , Ringo Starr , Elton John , Peter Gabriel and other celebrities among a congregation of 700. A memorial service was also held at Riverside Church in Manhattan , two months after her death.

She left her entire estate to her husband through what is known as a Marital deduction|Qualified Domestic Trust Fund, which allows deferral of estate taxes due on her assets until after her husband's death.

Talking later about the medication used to treat her breast cancer, McCartney said: "If a drug has got to be used on humans then legally it has to be finally tested on an animal ... This was difficult for Linda when she was undergoing her treatment." He also claimed that she was unsure if the drugs she took had been tested on animals: "During the treatment, a nice answer is a nice answer and if they (the doctors) say, `It's OK to have this because we didn't test it on animals', you are going to believe them." She left her entire fortune to her husband in a special trust (law)|trust , known as a Qualified Domestic Trust, which allows deferral of estate taxes due on her assets until after his death. He will have access to any royalties from books, records and any financial remuneration for the use of his wife's photographs. He has pledged to continue her line of vegetarian food, and to keep it free from genetically modified organism s.
Wide Prairie , a six-minute cartoon fantasy film by her and director Oscar Grillo, was premièred at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on August 19, 1998. It was shown before the British première of The Horse Whisperer (film)|The Horse Whisperer , starring Robert Redford . On 10 April 1999, McCartney performed at the tribute "Concert for Linda" in the Royal Albert Hall , with numerous artists including George Michael , the Pretenders , Elvis Costello and Tom Jones (singer)|Tom Jones . In January 2000, he announced donations in excess of $2,000,000 for cancer research at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson, where Linda received treatment. The centers received $1 million (£625,000) each. The donations, through the Garland Appeal, were made on the condition no animals would be used for testing purposes. In 2000, The Linda McCartney Centre, a cancer clinic, opened at Royal Liverpool University Hospital|The Royal Liverpool University Hospital . In November 2002, the Linda McCartney Kintyre Memorial Trust opened a memorial garden in Campbeltown — the main town in Kintyre — with the dedication of a bronze statue of her by sculptor Jane Robbins, McCartney's cousin, which was commissioned and donated by McCartney.

Portrayals on screen

Both she and McCartney appeared as themselves on an episode of Bread (TV series)|Bread in 1988 and an episode of The Simpsons called " Lisa the Vegetarian " in List of Simpsons episodes#Season 7|1995 . After her death, The Simpsons ' The Simpsons (season 9)|season nine episode " Trash of the Titans ", which aired on April 26, 1998, was dedicated to her memory. Simpsons executive producer Mike Scully said, "It just seemed like the right thing to do. Everyone here was surprised and saddened by her death."

Elizabeth Mitchell and Gary Bakewell played the McCartneys in the 2000 TV movie The Linda McCartney Story . She was portrayed as "Linda Eastman" in the 1985 TV movie John and Yoko: A Love Story .

Notes

Copyright Citations

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