Cynthia Powell

Cynthia Powell Lennon (born September 10, 1939) was the first wife of John Lennon.

Related Topics:
September 10 - 1939 - John Lennon

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Born in Blackpool, England, she grew up in Hoylake, Merseyside, not far from Liverpool. At 18 she was attending Liverpool Art College, where she met Lennon, who was a year younger than her, and they began dating the following spring. In the summer of 1962, she discovered she was pregnant with his child.

Related Topics:
Blackpool - England - Hoylake - Merseyside - Liverpool - Liverpool Art College - 1962

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They married on August 23 at the Mount Pleasant Registry Office in Liverpool. Their marriage was kept a secret at the request of the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein, who believed the Beatles' female fans might lose interest if they knew John was married. Epstein's wedding gift to the pair was an apartment he kept in Liverpool, so they could have a private home.

Related Topics:
August 23 - The Beatles - Brian Epstein

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Their son, John Charles Julian Lennon, was born April 8 1963, at Sefton General Hospital in Liverpool.

Related Topics:
Julian Lennon - April 8 - 1963 - General Hospital

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The press found out about John's marriage later that year, after Beatlemania swept England and Europe; luckily his fans accepted John's marriage and fatherhood as part of his unique character. Cynthia gained some favourable coverage in the press, and later had her own fan club - the only Beatle wife to have this happen, in the Sixties. Despite the positive aspects, the press and the Beatles' fans were always clamouring to get a glimpse of Julian, or photos of mother and son, or probe Cynthia for details about John and their relationship, as they moved from address to address (which never stayed private long). Finally with the purchase and remodelling of Kenwood, a mock-Tudor-style house on forty acres, with a gated entrance, were John, Cynthia, and Julian able to share a hint of domestic life.

Related Topics:
Fan club - Kenwood - Tudor-style

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While she was often photographed at Beatles movie premieres and special occasions, and sometimes with John and Julian at home, Cynthia was mostly a stay-at-home wife and mother, who was rarely involved in John's public life. John felt that he'd missed out being raised by his aunt Mimi instead of his mother Julia, and insisted Cynthia be on hand for their son, only rarely leaving him with a babysitter or his grandmother, Lillian Powell. Cynthia also made a point of remaining essentially the same person John had known at Art school, intending to give him a sense of stability, but unwittingly pushing him farther away at the same time. As John grew older, began to use LSD and other drugs, and developed a broader understanding of things, Cynthia appeared to fall behind, and their relationship stagnated.

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When the Beatles took a train to Wales to meet with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the summer of 1967, a policeman kept her from boarding, not knowing who she was, until the train was pulling out, with John calling out a window after her. Unable to catch up, Cynthia broke down in tears, and said later that the moment symbolised where she felt their marriage was heading. Lennon denied any dissatisfaction or infidelities, but confessed months afterwards that he had been with "hundreds" of other women since becoming famous: mostly groupies or escorts on Beatles tours (or fans invited backstage by their assistants), and occasional celebrities, and virtually all one-night stands. In an effort to better understand John, or recapture her appeal to him, she began experimenting with LSD herself, and also underwent rhinoplasty.

Related Topics:
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi - 1967 - Groupie - Rhinoplasty

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In May 1968, Cynthia returned from a holiday to discover John with Japanese artist Yoko Ono, who'd turned up several times when the couple went out, or asking for John at the gate at Kenwood. This time Yoko was plainly in residence ? and wearing Cynthia's bathrobe, to boot. Surmising that this wasn't just another affair of John's, Cynthia grabbed a handful of items and walked out, spending the night with Jenny Boyd and John's friend Magic Alex at their apartment. She succumbed to a drunken tryst with Alex later that evening, and when she next saw him (for the last time), Alex broke the news that John was planning to sue her for divorce on grounds of adultery, and seek sole custody of Julian, out of what had happened.

Related Topics:
1968 - Yoko Ono - Jenny Boyd - Magic Alex - Divorce - Adultery

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Cynthia kept her resolve, and countersued Lennon for his earlier adultery with Yoko, which he denied — until the revelation that Yoko had been admitted to a maternity hospital, carrying Lennon's unborn baby (which she later miscarried), rendered the issue moot. Cynthia's divorce petition was granted, her decree nisi becoming final on November 8 1968, and she was awarded custody of Julian. Paul McCartney made occasional visits to Cynthia and Julian that year, to check up on them; on one visit, having himself just broken up with fiancée Jane Asher, he brought Cynthia a single red rose, and asked jokingly "How about it, Cyn? How about you and me getting married now?" She never forgot the gesture ? or the laugh they both had at the idea.

Related Topics:
Unborn baby - Decree nisi - November 8 - 1968 - Paul McCartney - Jane Asher

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On August 1 1970, Cynthia married Italian hotelier Roberto Bassanini, whom she met after parting with Lennon. She and Bassanini divorced in 1973.

Related Topics:
August 1 - 1970 - Italian - 1973

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During John's separation from Yoko in 1973 and 1974, his girlfriend May Pang actively tried to get John to spend more time with Julian, forming a friendship with Cynthia in the process, which continued even after he and Yoko had reconciled.

Related Topics:
1973 - 1974 - May Pang

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In 1978, she married John Twist, an engineer from Lancashire. They divorced in 1983.

Related Topics:
1978 - Engineer - Lancashire - 1983

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She published a memoir, A Twist of Lennon, in 1978, telling about her life before and with John, and carrying her own illustrations and poetry. John sued to block publication of the book, but lost.

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After her divorce from John Twist, Cynthia changed her name back to Lennon by deed poll. She kept mementos of John for years, including never-published photographs, letters, and personal items, finally auctioning off many of them long after his death.

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In September 2005, she published a new biography, simply titled John, that re-examined her life with Lennon and the years afterwards, including events following his death.

Related Topics:
September - 2005

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