RIP...for all that have passed
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@njr I found the source where Paul is quoted saying he took Olivia Hussey out... I was wrong saying he took her out to dinner, the quote says he took her to a nightclub. From Olivia Hussey's memories (see below) she says she first met him outside of the Bag O'Nails when he happened to be going there with Linda. Anyway, Olivia was born April 17, 1951, so in the summer of 1967 when Romeo & Juliet filming began she would have been 16, and 17 in the fall of 1968 when she claims to have first met Paul and Linda.
Paul's memories, from Paul Du Noyer Conversations with McCartney, chapter 13 "...[In 1967] Franco Zeffirelli [the distinguished Italian film director] came over to London and offered me the lead in Romeo and Juliet. I said, 'I can't do it, man, you're kidding. I'm just a musician.' The one with Olivia Hussey. Leonard Whiting played it. He said, 'No, I really know you could do this. You look absolutely how I see Romeo. It would be perfect. Come to Rome and we make a film, it will be beautiful.' I bottled out. I took her out, Olivia Hussey - this was before I met Linda - took her out to a nightclub. I quite fancied her, she was gorgeous with long dark hair. I sent her a telegram, 'You're a beautiful Juliet.' She sent one back: 'You'd make a great Romeo.' It was all very... [romantic swoon]. You'd vomit now, I suppose. My kids wouldn't believe it: 'Oh Dad! You didn't do that, did you?'"
Olivia Hussey's memories... (from Remembering the Beatles: Fab Four Memories from People Who Were There) https://www.wattpad.com/644282830-remembering-the-beatles-olivia-hussey-remembers-a
"One cold September night [in 1968] i met a man on whom I had had a crush for years [Paul]. I was standing in a crowd of people outside a club called the Bag Of Nails; I turned around and he was right in front of me. He smiled as he went past me, holding the hand of the woman who would become his wife.
Later that night, we met again in the lobby and began to talk. I lost track of the time, and it was only after his date had come over to say she was tired and was going home that I realized how late it was. They said their goodbyes, she left, and a little later I found myself idly walking the streets of London with him.
A light rain fell, unnoticed, as we walked through Piccadilly, and although i will remember our walk for the rest of my life, I can't recall a single thing we said to each other... Eventually, we hailed a cab. I remember the cabby's eyes in the rearview mirror, his look of total disbelief.
An early morning mist had settled around Wimbledon as we pulled up in front of my house. He walked me to the door, bent down, kissed me gently on the cheek, and said good night. It was innocent and it was wonderful, and I wanted the moment never to end...
He was such a gentleman. When I heard that Linda, whom I admired greatly, had passed away, I cried and said a little prayer for them both."
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@ladyleslie My bad, I should have looked it up. They were filming the movie on June 30, 1967 when Len Whiting turned 17. So she was 16 then.
Here is a fairly recent photo of him:
https://images.app.goo.gl/YVcyAaxF51Td1e728And as Romeo:
https://images.app.goo.gl/8jTcdiYu6f1oHrRv6 -
@ladyleslie Quite different memories between the two of them. Linda’s recollections are even different. She said Paul & his friends (including Lulu) and she went from the Bag O’ Nails to The Speakeasy to see Procol Harum and then they all went to his house where at about 4am she said could he call her a cab. This was of course May 15, 1967 right before the movie began filming.
Olivia says they met in Sept. 1968 and doesn’t mention the stuff Paul said.
P.S. I’m reading that Du Noyer book right now! I met the author in Liverpool and got his autograph on the title page of the book (in 2016 at the Adelphi during Beatleweek) -
@njr Because Paul has been world famous for so many years and met so many people, and so many women, I can understand where memories and experiences can get intertwined. I know in my own experience, sometimes I've remembered something and realized, Oh wait, that isn't how it really happened, that's how I wish it would have been. I had created scenarios in my head on what I would have liked, and they sort of stuck without me realizing it.
I don't think his memory of this particular time is completely faulty though... there are things in his recollection that probably did happen. As a nice gesture Paul could have sent Olivia a telegram saying he was sorry he couldn't be in the film, and she telegrammed him back, and no doubt he did think she was a lovely girl, and fancied her. And he did see her at a nightclub and talked to her, as Olivia said.
IMO, on that particular night that Olivia remembered, I think Linda understood that Olivia was a famous actress from the Romeo and Juliet film, and that Paul would probably want to say hi to her (he is a social, outgoing person who likes to meet people and talk). Paul talked with Olivia, walked her home, and to his credit, went back home to Linda. He wouldn't have pursued Olivia at that time anyway, she was 17 after all, and he was in love with Linda.
Paul has said himself that when the Beatles met Elvis, he and Ringo remembered things entirely different.
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@ladyleslie He couldn’t have walked her home - she lived in Wimbledon!
A long cab ride or a train would be better!
I agree that Sept. 1968 meeting probably did happen, and the telegrams in 1967.
P.S. Reread your post and I see they took a cab. THAT must have cost a pretty penny, even in 1968! -
@ladyleslie I just looked it up online and today it would cost £180!!
This is insane:
https://www.officialdata.org/uk/inflation/1968?amount=8.50 -
@njr He walked with her through Piccadilly, then they got a cab... after arriving at her house, he walked her to her door, then got back in the cab.
Wimbledon is a suburb of London, about 7 miles from the center of the city... so it wasn't like a cab from London to Cornwall or something
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wimbledon,_London -
Gail Lumet Buckley, Author and Daughter of Lena Horne, Dies at 86
Paul’s MPL Music owns pub rights to songs recorded by Lena Horne
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@ladyleslie Yeah, you’re right. I just meant that today it would cost a lot for a cab. Turns out, not so much then. Jennifer & I had to take a cab from our west London hotel to Heathrow which is west of London, in August 2022 (directly to our terminal) and with tip it cost £73!
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@ladyleslie said in RIP...for all that have passed:
@Bruce M. Physically he would have made a perfect Romeo, costumes and all... but they would have wanted to use a dialect coach to get him to inflect his voice a certain way, and to "talk Shakespeare"... it might have been frustrating for him that he couldn't just be himself and portray the role as Paul McCartney, not as a 15th century Venetian teenager. With the exception of his cameo in Pirates of the Caribbean, he's never had a film role where he didn't play himself.
From what I've read he really was interested in Shakespeare during his school years, but Romeo probably seemed too overwhelming of a challenge for him in 1966-67 (when he was offered the role) and that may be why he decided to pass. There was a (supposed) quote from him in a biography that said he took the actress Olivia Hussey (that played Juliet) out to dinner at the time of the movie offer, and that he "really fancied her," but decided not to do the movie.
I think he could do a film role successfully though if he had the right script and director and creative team behind him.
At this point he's a bit old for Romeo, though. About the only Shakespeare lead he's the right age for now is King Lear!
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@bruce-m In October 2013, Paul performed in a reading of Two Gentlemen of Verona at the "Simply Shakespeare" event for the Shakespeare Centre of LA with Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Martin Short, Jason Alexander, William Shatner, Christina Applegate, and others, with the proceeds going to charity. Not sure what role he played.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/paul-mccartney-tom-hanks-rita-637360/
Paul may not be a Laurence Olivier type of Shakespearean actor, but still feel he could do comedy roles well if he had the right script and cast and director, etc.
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@ladyleslie said in RIP...for all that have passed:
Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson
This not the right thread for this but since we're already there...
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In 1974 Panacea’s emphasis shifted to talent management and over the year’s Eric represented such diverse artists as Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones, Kenney Jones of The Who/ Faces/Small Faces, Todd Rundgren, Rick Wright of Pink Floyd, The Stray Cats, Jefferson Starship, John Lydon, Hot Tuna, Blue Oyster Cult, Jim Steinman, David Hasselhoff, Richard Belzer, Timothy Leary, Richard Chamberlain, Grace Jones, Bettye La Vette and others.
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