Beatles - 1939-2015

  by Nick Dent-Robinson

published: 18 / 4 / 2015

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Nick Dent-Robinson looks back on the life of Cynthia Lennon, the first wife of John Lennon

Cynthia Lennon, who died on 1st April aged 75, was one of the nicest people associated with the entertainment world...intelligent, artistically talented, friendly, generous, open and warm - though she had encountered some difficult times before and after as well as during the sixties craziness of Beatlemania. Cynthia had met John Lennon in 1957 at Liverpool Art College and within a year they were dating. He was a talented but difficult teenager who most then thought was destined to be one of life's failures. Of course history decided otherwise and Cynthia had to endure hiding in the background whilst the world celebrated and adored her husband and father of her son, Julian. As John Lennon enjoyed the company of increasing numbers of sophisticated, upmarket women, Cynthia became ever more isolated. She felt left behind and, after John met Yoko Ono, Cynthia was finally cast off. The divorce was swift and unpleasant. The marriage had often been difficult too. But, despite all her hurt, Cynthia was very loyal and careful never to be negative about John Lennon. When I interviewed her in 1985, she was surprisingly positive about her time as a Beatle wife. Cynthia didn't stay single for long. There were several other marriages and relationships and the impossibility of her escaping the link with Lennon probably didn't help. It wasn't always easy for her husbands and partners to follow in the footsteps of Beatle John. Happily, in 2002, Cynthia married Noel Charles, one of Julian's friends - and Noel and she were contentedly together until his death in 2013. So, eventually, Cynthia did find the lasting happiness she had long sought and richly deserved. Cynthia had always tried to put the interests of her son first, and Julian Lennon was at his mother's bedside when she died. In a tribute to his mother he said, “You gave your life for me, you gave your life for love. The love you left will carry on.”

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