Olivia Harrison: The coolest Beatle’s wife and why I hated Marriage Story
I really hated that film Marriage Story. I hated the self-conscious writing, the gleefully theatrical acting (‘look at us, being such terrific actors!’). I hated all the characters. The thing I hated the most, though, was the patronising, dismissive reference to a really cool woman.
Nicole: You know, I just watched that documentary on George Harrison, and I thought, “Own it. Just own it. Be like George Harrison’s wife. Being a wife and a mother, that’s enough.” Yeah, then I realised I couldn’t remember her name.
Olivia Harrison. Her name was Olivia Harrison. And, yes, I shouted it at the screen. And thought about it a lot in the days after watching that movie — which, incidentally, was written by a man.
The Martin Scorsese documentary about George Harrison, Living in The Material World, is conversely one of my favourite films. At 3 hours 28 minutes, it’s divided into two parts. Part one covers the early years of the Beatles and George’s first marriage to Pattie Boyd. It’s quite interesting and there is some cute early Beatles footage.
Then part two covers his interest in spirituality, his diverse friendships — with people like Ravi Shankar, Mukunda Goswami, Eric Idle, Bob Dylan and Jackie Stewart — and his inspiring second marriage to Olivia.
They met when she was working for A&M Records in LA, had a son together and were married from 1978 until his death. She had studied meditation before she met him, and was known for being great at her job — efficient, capable and diplomatic even with the trickiest musicians. She founded a charity for Romanian Orphans in the 90s, is a director of The Material World Foundation, and established The George Harrison Fund for UNICEF.
In short, she’s understated, classy, bright and very cool. She is a woman who quietly does a lot of good in the world.
I’ve watched the second part of the documentary numerous times, whenever I’m in need of inspiration. The person who provides this the most is not George, but Olivia. She gives a clear-eyed, unsentimental and utterly beautiful portrait of marriage.
Olivia Harrison: You go through challenges in your marriage and here is what I found: the first time we had a big hiccup in the road, we came through things, and then you go, ‘Wow!’ There is a reward at the end of it. There is this incredible reward because you have lived through more and you have let go of something.
She’s clearly not a woman who’s easily impressed; she knows her own mind.
Making his own breakfast? “Well, he’d have to if he wanted to eat.” She laughs. It’s comments like this that make you realise she wasn’t a long-suffering wife. As slight as she still is, she had strength for them both. I tell her I’m surprised at her calm authority. I had assumed she didn’t have the fame of Yoko or Linda out of shyness.
-Helen Rumbelow, The Times, 2014
And let’s not forget, this ‘slight’ woman with her ‘calm authority’ literally saved her husband’s life when she overpowered a violent attacker in their home who stabbed him.
Anyway. At the end of Marriage Story, we see Nicole (played by Scarlett Johansson) symbolically dress up as a Beatle in full Sergeant Pepper’s regalia, an overly simplistic way of showing that she is supposedly so much more than just a Beatles wife. Shame for her, really — I wish the character could have been written as a bit more empathetic, less dismissive of other women. Maybe even with a bit more calm authority.
Her name is Olivia Harrison.
Eleanor Wood is the author of STAUNCH (HQ/HarperCollins), a memoir about going travelling in India with her grandmother and great-aunts, and how spending time with her older relatives helped her to overcome late-thirties angst. You can mostly find her on Twitter and Instagram.
