Pattie Boyd initially turned down a date with Beatles star George Harrison, but fate brought them back together.
George Harrison with Pattie Boyd
The 77-year-old model was married to the The Fab Four guitarist for 11 years from 1966 to 1977, but when they first met in March 1964 she was in a relationship with photographer Eric Swayne and spurned George's romantic overtures, almost missing on a relationship with the 'Something' singer.
Speaking on the ‘Tea with Twiggy’ podcast, Pattie revealed the events that led to her eventual first date with George who asked her out after spending a day shooting The Beatles’ first film ‘A Hard Day’s Night' with her.
She said: “I had a one day shoot. The train went down to Cornwall and back, so it took like eight hours all together. And then at the end when we got near Waterloo station, George asked me out. He asked me if I’d go out with him that night. And I said no. I couldn’t, because I was seeing my boyfriend.
“And then I told my girlfriends and they said, ‘You’re completely mad! How could you turn him down?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know, what I was thinking.’ Then, luckily, there was another chance to meet up with The Beatles, when we were called back for a photo shoot. I think Dick Lester must’ve organized that, because if that hadn’t happened, I would never have seen George again. By that time, the boyfriend had gone. So I said yes.”
Pattie believes it must have been fate that brought her together with George - who passed away in November 2001 at the age of 58 - because she didn't even know she was up for a part in 'A Hard Day's Night', instead believing she was auditioning for an advert for potato chips.
She said: “I worked with [director] Dick Lester when I did a TV commercial for some crisps ... Then when I went to this other interview sometime later, there was Dick Lester, checking on the models ... So I went away thinking, 'Oh, it’s another crisps commercial that Dick wants me to do.
"Then my agent called me later in the day and said, ‘Don’t tell anyone, but you just got a part in The Beatles film.’ I said, ‘how could that have happened?’ "They said, ‘The interview you went to earlier was actually for a film!’ I said, 'I thought it was for b***** crisps!’”
Pattie also confessed that she never wanted to be an actress, so she was incredibly nervous to film her scene, despite only having one line.
She revealed: “I wasn’t excited at all. I was very nervous. The thing is, I never wanted to be an actress, so this was going completely out of my comfort zone. I thought I would make a complete fool of myself. But I only had one word to say: ‘prisoners.’ So I knew I could do that.”
She then described the moment when she first met the members of the band - Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George and John Lennon, who was murdered in December 1980 at the age of 40.
Pattie said: “The film set was actually a moving train. … The train took off from London and stopped somewhere at some little out of town station, and there on the platform were four figures. Guess who they were? They jumped on the train and came into our carriage. They were so polite and so sweet, and they introduced themselves. And then they left, and the filming started as the train was moving.”
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