Mary McCartney

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Mary Anna McCartney, born in London on 28 August 1969, was the first child born to rock photographer Linda McCartney and Paul McCartney of The Beatles. She was named after Paul's late mother, who died of breast cancer when Paul was fourteen. She has an older half-sister named Heather McCartney (born Heather Louise See in 1962 to Linda and John Melvin See Jr.--however, Heather McCartney was adopted by McCartney's father, taking the McCartney name, and can therefore be considered a full sister), a younger sister Stella (born 1971) and a younger brother James (born 1977). McCartney's mother, Linda, died from breast cancer in 1998. She recently acquired a much younger half-sister, Beatrice Milly McCartney, born to her father and stepmother Heather Mills McCartney on 28 October 2003. The most famous photograph of Mary McCartney was taken by her mother, Linda McCartney. It is a photograph of McCartney as an infant, cradled inside the jacket of her father, Paul McCartney. The photograph is featured on the back cover of her father's first solo album, McCartney.

After the birth of Stella in 1971, McCartney's famous parents formed the classic rock group Wings, with which she and her siblings travelled the globe until 1980. She grew up to be a vegetarian and is passionate about animal rights like the rest of her famous family. [1] She has stated that she values friendship and trust, takes pride in her children, and enjoys nature, roller coasters, the fashion of the Roaring Twenties, chocolate and the scent of lavender. [2]

[edit] Professional life

Following in the footsteps of her mother, McCartney became a professional photographer. She became a photo editor for the music-book publisher Omnibus Press and in 1992 began taking photographs professionally, specializing in portrait and fashion photography. [3] As a reaction to the deaths of both her namesake (paternal grandmother Mary McCartney) and her mother, Linda, after long bouts with breast cancer, she began campaigning for breast cancer awareness in the United Kingdom. As a result, she became close friends with Cherie Blair, wife of UK prime minister Tony Blair. This led to McCartney being chosen to take the first official photo shoot of the prime minister and his wife with their fourth child, Leo, born 20 May 2000. [4] [5] Before this, the most well-known photos of hers were the last photographs taken of her mother, Linda McCartney, three weeks before her death in 1998. [6]

Mary McCartney served as the wedding photographer for the 2000 wedding of Madonna and Guy Ritchie. Her sister Stella, a close friend of Madonna's, designed the wedding dress. McCartney has taken portraits of Sam Taylor-Wood, Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law, and of her top fashion designer sister, Stella McCartney. Her first public attempt at exhibition photography was titled Off Pointe: A Photographic Study of The Royal Ballet After Hours. It includes offstage pictures of members of The Royal Ballet, and was meant to showcase the difference between their gruelling and often painful everyday lives and their storybook performances. [7]

In 2001, McCartney produced the television documentary Wingspan, a story of her father's post-Beatles musical career, focusing on her parents' hugely successful band Wings. She also serves as her father's interviewer in the film.

She now runs the picture department at her famous father's multimillion-pound MPL Communications. [8]

[edit] Personal life

In 1995, Mary McCartney's younger brother, musician and sculptor James McCartney, introduced her to director and television producer Alistair Donald. After dating for three years, they set a wedding date for May 1998. Upon the death of Linda McCartney, the wedding was delayed and McCartney and Donald were married on 26 September 1998. On 3 April 1999, McCartney gave birth to Paul McCartney's first grandchild, Arthur Alistair Donald, making Paul the second Beatle grandfather (the first was Ringo Starr). The Donalds' second son, Elliot Donald, was born on 1 August 2002. In April 2005, the couple announced their separation. They have stated that the separation is only temporary and that they wish to reconcile for the sake of their two sons. [9]