Heather McCartney
Heather Louise McCartney (nee
Heather Louise See) was born on
December 31,
1962. She is the biological daughter of
Linda (nee Eastman) and Melville See, an American geologist. McCartney's parents divorced after only eighteen months of marriage, because Melville had taken off for
Africa and expected his wife and daughter to follow.
Linda refused, and sent a letter to her husband telling him that she wanted a divorce. After raising Heather on her own in
New York City for several years,
Linda married
Paul McCartney of the
Beatles in
1969, when her daughter was six years old. That same year, she was formally adopted by
Paul McCartney through legal process and took the McCartney name. Also in
1969, McCartney appeared in the last
Beatles movie,
Let It Be.
A sister,
Mary, was born in
1969, followed by another sister,
Stella, in
1971 and a brother,
James, in
1977. She is the stepdaughter of
Heather Mills McCartney, who is five years younger than she. She has a much younger step-sister, Beatrice Milly McCartney, born to
Paul and
Heather Mills McCartney on
October 28th,
2003 (in light of the fact that McCartney was legally adopted by
Paul McCartney in
1963, Beatrice Milly McCartney may also be considered a half-sister). She has three nephews:
Mary's two sons Arthur Alistair Donald (born
3 April 1999) and Elliot Donald (born
1 August 2002) and
Stella's son Miller Alasdhair James Willis (born
25 February 2005).
Beginning shortly after the birth of
Stella in
1971, McCartney and her siblings accompanied their famous parents around the world with their successful rock group
Wings. This continued until
1980 when the band stopped touring. As a child, she had trouble forming friendships with other children. She did not do well in school and had difficulty fitting in. [
1]
With encouragement from
Linda, she took up printing at the Photographers' Workshop in
Covent Garden, and was talented enough to win the Young Black and White Printer of the Year Award in
Ilford for a photo she called "Waterfall." . Her success encouraged her to go on to art college, where she discovered a talent for pottery and design.
During the early 1980s, Heather McCartney dated musician
Billy Idol.
In her twenties she was hospitalized in a clinic for treatment of an emotional disorder. A few years after her release, she travelled to
Mexico with very little money and spent several months living among natives of the
Huichol and
Tarahumara tribes. She felt liberated by this experience. [
2]
Later, McCartney moved to
Arizona to live with her biological father, Melville See, where she became even more interested in
ceramics. She later returned to
England to work as a potter. Her pottery is now famous in the
United Kingdom.
In
1995, McCartney's mother,
Linda McCartney, was diagnosed with breast cancer and passed away on
April 17,
1998, in
Tucson, Arizona. Further tragedy struck when her birth father committed suicide in
February 2000.
To date, McCartney remains a prominent potter and designer, with exhibitions in
New York City,
Phoenix,
Tokyo,
Paris and
Sydney, and has been described by Wedgewood as "one of Britain's most exciting new talents." [
3]
In line with her mother's beliefs and like her father and siblings, Heather McCartney has interests in ecology,
animal rights and native peoples.
Currently, Heather McCartney lives on
Paul McCartney's Sussex estate in
England, where she maintains a low profile and continues to work as a potter.
*
Profile at About.com*
Profile at Search.com*
Profile at Adoption.com*
Interview with Heather McCartney, The Daily Telegraph; February 6th, 1999*
Photographs of Heather McCartney
