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Martin Scorsese

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Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio will team up for a big screen adaptation of Erik Larson’s 2003 book The Devil in the White City.

Leonardo DiCaprio is expected to play serial killer Dr. H.H. Holmes, who used the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago to lure his victims to their deaths.

H.H. Holmes claimed to have killed 27 people – although some later estimates put his death toll at nearer 200.

It will be the sixth time Leonardo DiCaprio has worked with director Martin Scorsese.Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese The Devil in the White City

Their previous films include The Wolf of Wall Street, The Departed and Gangs of New York.

Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly bought the film rights to The Devil in the White City in 2010.

It tells the story of Dr. H.H. Holmes, who converted a large building in Chicago and turned it into what became known as a “murder castle”.

The castle had a padded room with a gas pipe to asphyxiate victims, a chute for dispatching bodies to the cellar and, in the cellar, a hidden butcher’s table and oven that had the remains of women’s clothing.

The screenplay will be written by Billy Ray, who scripted Captain Phillips and The Hunger Games.

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Martin Scorsese’s planned HBO TV documentary on President Bill Clinton has been shelved indefinitely, according to reports.

The New York Times said the project – which was announced in December 2012 – had stalled over disagreements on control of the film.

The newspaper said Bill Clinton had wanted more say over the interview questions and the final cut.

A spokesman for the former president said the claim was “inaccurate”.

The documentary was partly shot over the past two years, and was to feature Bill Clinton making a philanthropic visit to South Africa.Bill Clinton documentary Martin Scorsese

According to unnamed sources working on the project, Bill Clinton’s aides had wanted to approve the questions he would be asked and the film’s final edit.

Martin Scorsese’s spokesman declined to comment on the dispute, but HBO said: “[The film’s] not happening soon but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen.”

When the documentary was first announced, Martin Scorsese described Bill Clinton as “a towering figure who remains a major voice in world issues”.

He added: “Through intimate conversations, I hope to provide greater insight into this transcendent figure.”

At the time, Bill Clinton also said he was pleased to become the subject of a “legendary director”.

Martin Scorsese is currently preparing for his next film, Silence, in Taiwan.

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Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street was the most illegally downloaded movie of 2014.

Disney’s animated movie Frozen was second on the list, said The Hollywood Reporter, quoting piracy-tracking company Excipio.

The Wolf of Wall Street and Frozen were downloaded around 30 million times by torrent users between January 1 and December 23, 2014.

The third most-pirated film was Gravity.

The space thriller was just behind Frozen with 29.357 million downloads.The Wolf of Wall Street is most pirated movie in 2014

The Wolf of Wall Street, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio as real-life stockbroker Jordan Belfort, caused controversy when it was released in the US.

The movie was nominated for best picture at the Oscars and contained more than 500 uses of the F-word in its almost three-hour running time.

Other Oscar nominees in the most-pirated top 20 included 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle and Captain Phillips.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the biggest-grossing movie of the year, The Guardians of the Galaxy, was not on the list “perhaps because anyone interested in the film opted to see it in theaters”.

RoboCop went on No 3, but the figures included both MGM’s 2014 reboot as well as the original 1987 version.

Top 20 most illegally downloaded films in 2014:

  1. The Wolf of Wall Street – 30.035 million downloads
  2. Frozen – 29.919 million
  3. RoboCop – 29.879 million
  4. Gravity – 29.357 million
  5. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – 27.627 million
  6. Thor: The Dark World – 25.749 million
  7. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – 25.628 million
  8. The Legend of Hercules – 25.137 million
  9. X-Men: Days of Future Past – 24.380 million
  10. 12 Years a Slave – 23.653 million
  11. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – 23.543 million
  12. American Hustle – 23.143 million
  13. 300: Rise of an Empire – 23.096 million
  14. Transformers: Age of Extinction – 21.65 million
  15. Godzilla – 20.956 million
  16. Noah – 20.334 million
  17. Divergent – 20.312 million
  18. Edge of Tomorrow – 20.299 million
  19. Captain Phillips – 19.817 million
  20. Lone Survivor – 19.130 million [youtube Z8Po5dEYARc 650]

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Olivia Wilde has joined the cast of Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger’s rock and roll pilot for HBO.

The unnamed drama about the drug and s**-fuelled music business in 1970s New York will start filming in the summer, based on an idea by Mick Jagger.

Bobby Cannavale will play record executive Richie Finestra, who tries to resurrect his label.

Olivia Wilde revealed on Twitter she “could not be more psyched” about landing the role of his wife Devon.

Olivia Wilde has joined the cast of Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger's rock and roll pilot for HBO

Olivia Wilde has joined the cast of Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger’s rock and roll pilot for HBO

Martin Scorsese will direct the pilot episode which is written by his regular collaborator Terence Winter – whom he worked with on Wolf of Wall Street and Boardwalk Empire – and George Mastras of Breaking Bad.

According to Variety magazine, all three will executive produce the project along with Mick Jagger.

The show will be seen through the eyes of Richie Finestra, the founder and president of American Century Records, who is struggling to find the next new sound as punk and disco begin to take over the music business.

Richie Finestra is then hit with a crisis of character when he is forced to make a life-altering decision, which sends his wife – a former actress and model – back to her old bohemian lifestyle.

The new drama will mark a return to TV for Olivia Wilde, who played Dr. Remy Hadley in House from 2007 to 2012.

Olivia Wilde recently appeared in Spike Jonze film Her and Ron Howard’s Formula One drama Rush.

The silent black and white French film The Artist is the clear favorite to take the coveted best picture prize as the final countdown to the 2012 Oscars has begun.

The Artist has won most of the major pre-Oscar honors during awards season.

The film has 10 nominations in total, while Martin Scorsese’s 3D family film Hugo leads the race with 11, including best film and director.

The 84th Academy Awards takes place on Sunday and will be hosted by Billy Crystal.

Billy Crystal is back for his ninth stint as host, with Oscar-watchers predicting lots of silent film gags and jibes about the recent legal wrangle over the Kodak-branded theatre where the Oscars is held.

Billy Crystal himself is giving nothing away, but tweeted this week: “First rehearsal: They said keep it <<fresh and new>>. This from an industry that just brought us Fast & Furious 5 and Harry Potter 7, part 2.”

The final round of voting by the Academy’s 5,783 members ended on Tuesday. Outside the venue, a section of Hollywood Boulevard has been sealed off and the red carpet is in place.

Industry newspaper The Hollywood Reporter says The Artist’s predicted win for best picture follows its victory in the two strongest “Oscar bellwethers”, the Producers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America awards.

“This French-financed, Hollywood-shot, Harvey Weinstein-distributed love letter to the movies has gone on to seduce Hollywood since being unveiled at Cannes in May.

“It is now poised to become the first silent film in 83 years and the first black-and-white film in 18 years to win the top Oscar.”

The silent black and white French film The Artist is the clear favorite to take the coveted best picture prize at Oscars 2012

The silent black and white French film The Artist is the clear favorite to take the coveted best picture prize at Oscars 2012

A change in the Academy voting rules means that there are nine films in the best picture race this year.

Alongside The Artist and Hugo, those in the running include War Horse, Moneyball, The Tree Of Life, Midnight In Paris, The Help, The Descendants, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

George Clooney and Brad Pitt are both up for best actor, and Meryl Streep has her 17th Oscar nomination for her portrayal of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

Meryl Streep has won two Oscars – best supporting actress for 1979’s Kramer vs Kramer and best actress for 1982’s Sophie’s Choice – but has been overlooked on her last 12 attempts.

Oscar pundits predict a close race between Meryl Streep and Viola Davies, for her performance as maid Aibileen Clark in civil rights drama The Help.

In the supporting actress category, The Help’s Octavia Spencer is the frontrunner, ahead of fellow cast member Jessica Chastain, and Melissa McCarthy and Britain’s Janet McTeer – for Bridesmaids and Albert Nobbs respectively.

Unusually, this year’s race for best supporting actor boasts two octogenarians: Christopher Plummer for Beginners and Max von Sydow for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Both are 82, and if either win they would become the oldest recipient of an acting award. The record is currently held by Jessica Tandy, who won for Driving Miss Daisy, aged 80.

Christopher Plummer is widely predicted to take the statuette for his role as an elderly father who comes out as gay after his wife dies.

The others in the category are Nick Nolte, for Warrior; Kenneth Branagh, for My Week with Marilyn; and 28-year-old Jonah Hill, for Moneyball.

Things are less clear-cut in the race for best actor.

Hollywood heart-throbs George Clooney and Brad Pitt face a stiff challenge from The Artist’s Jean Dujardin, who beat them – and British star Gary Oldman – at the BAFTAs earlier this month.

It’s Oldman’s first Oscar nomination, which recognizes his quietly powerful performance as mole-catcher George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

The outsider in this category is Mexican actor Demian Bichir for his role as a Los Angeles gardener, struggling to keep his son out of gang culture, in A Better Life.

Earlier this week, an investigation by the Los Angeles Times revealed that the Academy demographic is much less diverse than the movie-going public.

Oscar voters, it said, are nearly 94% Caucasian and 77% male. They have a median age of 62, and under 50’s constitute just 14% of the membership. All of which, puts The Artist in pole position.

Mike Goodridge, editor of Screen International, said: “You’re looking at a group that are going to vote for The King’s Speech over The Social Network, for The Hurt Locker over Avatar, and this year it’s going to go for this portrait of days gone by.”

 

Hugo, the 3D epic adventure film directed by Martin Scorsese, leads the charge at 2012 Academy Awards with 11 nominations, including best film and director.

The second in line come The Artist, the French comedy which is up for 10 awards, including best film, director, actor and supporting actress.

Meryl Streep receives her 17th Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher, while George Clooney and Brad Pitt are up for best actor.

The winners will be announced in Los Angeles on 26 February.

Seven other films are in competition for the best picture prize alongside The Artist and Hugo.

They are War Horse, Moneyball, The Tree Of Life, Midnight In Paris, The Help, The Descendants, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Both Hugo and The Artist are love-letters to cinema and reflect an appreciation for the silent era.

Hugo is a heartwarming family tale about an orphaned boy living in a French railway station.

Hugo, the 3D epic adventure film directed by Martin Scorsese, leads the charge at 2012 Academy Awards with 11 nominations

Hugo, the 3D epic adventure film directed by Martin Scorsese, leads the charge at 2012 Academy Awards with 11 nominations

The Artist tells the story of an actor put out of work by the advent of the “talkies”.

Michel Hazanavicius received nods for writing and directing the comedy, while his wife Berenice Bejo was named in the best supporting actress category.

Berenice Bejo said she was “overjoyed and filled with happiness” after hearing of the nominations, while Michael Hazanavicius said the film’s impressive tally of nominations was “far beyond what I ever imagined”.

Jean Dujardin, who stars in the film, will compete for best actor along with George Clooney (The Descendants), Demian Bichir (A Better Life), Brad Pitt (Moneyball) and British actor Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).

It is Gary Oldman’s first nomination, after more than 30 years on the big screen.

He said: “You may have heard this before, but it has never been truer than it is for me today: It is extremely humbling, gratifying, and delightful to have your work recognized by the Academy, and to join the celebrated ranks of previous nominees and colleagues. Amazing.”

Meryl Streep, 62, who is up for best actress, already had more Oscar nominations than any other actor before the Academy announced its 2012 shortlist.

She has now pulled further ahead from Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson, who have 12 nods each and are in second place.

Meryl Streep won twice, for Kramer vs. Kramer and Sophie’s Choice.

Other contenders in this year’s best actress category are Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs), Viola Davis (The Help), Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn).

Woody Allen picked up a best director nomination for his 41st movie Midnight In Paris. His competition comes from Martin Scorsese, Hazanavicius, Terrence Malick (The Tree Of Life) and Alexander Payne (The Descendants).

Co-stars of The Help Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain will go head to head for the best supporting actress prize.

Melissa McCarthy and Britain’s Janet McTeer complete the category for their roles in Bridesmaids and Albert Nobbs respectively.

It is Janet McTeer’s second Oscar nod, following recognition for 1999’s Tumbleweed.

British star Kenneth Branagh will vie for the best supporting actor title, after playing one of his childhood idols in My Week With Marilyn.

“It was a rare honor to play Sir Laurence Olivier,” he said. “To be recognized by the Academy for doing so is overwhelming. I’m absolutely thrilled.”

Kenneth Branagh’s challengers are Jonah Hill (Moneyball), Nick Nolte (Warrior), Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close).

Christopher Plummer, 82, is also on the shortlist for the movie Beginners, in which he plays an elderly father who comes out of the closet.

With a career that spans 60 years, Christopher Plummer’s work largely went unrecognized until two years ago, when he was nominated in the supporting actor category for his portrayal of Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station.

If he wins this time, Christopher Plummer will become the oldest ever actor to receive an Oscar, surpassing Jessica Tandy who was 80 when she was named best actress for Driving Miss Daisy.

The honor could alternatively go to supporting actor nominee Max von Sydow, who is also 82.

Kung Fu Panda 2 was recognized in the animated film category, along with A Cat In Paris, Chico And Rita, Puss In Boots and Rango.

Iranian film A Separation, which recently triumphed at the London Critics Circle awards, received two nods, including best foreign language movie and original screenplay.

As always, there were some surprises. Steve McQueen’s controversial film Shame, starring Michael Fassbender as a sex addict, was notably absent from the nominations.

We Need To Talk About Kevin and Drive, both of which have proven popular with voters at other awards ceremonies, were also missing from the Academy’s longlist.

Oscar nomination film tally

• Hugo – 11

• The Artist – 10

• The Help – 6

• Moneyball – 6

• War Horse – 6

• The Descendants – 5

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – 4

• Midnight in Paris – 4

Sunday night’s ceremony of Golden Globes 2012 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel built momentum for some actors on the Oscar trail.

Hollywood celebrated a foreign invasion at 69th Annual Golden Globes Awards, as films and television shows with a distinctly international pedigree collected many of the evening’s prizes.

The Artist, the black and white silent film, took home three prizes from the Golden Globe awards in Los Angeles, hosted by British comedian Ricky Gervais.

The Oscar-tipped movie was named best comedy and won additional prizes for lead actor Jean Dujardin and its score.

The Descendants was named best film drama and won a best actor prize for its star George Clooney.

Other lead actor awards went to Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady and Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn.

Meryl Streep, who plays Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, thanked “everyone in England who let me come over there and trample over their history”.

Michelle Williams, recognized for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe, thanked the Globes for “putting in my hand the same award you put in Marilyn’s hand more than 50 years ago”.

The Artist, the black and white silent film, took home three prizes from the Golden Globe awards in Los Angeles

The Artist, the black and white silent film, took home three prizes from the Golden Globe awards in Los Angeles

Martin Scorsese was named best director for Hugo, a family film that marked his first 3D feature, while Steven Spielberg received the animated feature prize for The Adventures of Tintin.

Veteran actor Christopher Plummer won the evening’s first award for his supporting role in Beginners.

The female equivalent went to Octavia Spencer for her role as a domestic servant in The Help.

Pop star Madonna was recognized for Masterpiece, a song she wrote for her historical drama W.E.

Iran’s A Separation received the award for best foreign language film, while Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris won best screenplay.

It was a good night for British talent in the television categories, which saw ITV1 period drama Downton Abbey named best mini-series.

“How fabulous this is,” said series creator Julian Fellowes.

“The whole Downton Abbey adventure has been an extraordinary one, like spotting a promising child and waking up to find they won the Olympics.”

Britain’s Idris Elba collected a best actor prize for BBC One crime drama Luther, while Kate Winslet was recognised for HBO mini-series Mildred Pierce.

Amidst the celebration and back-slapping, though, a poignant note was struck by Peter Dinklage as he picked up a supporting actor prize for Game of Thrones.

The US actor, who has dwarfism, ended his speech by paying tribute to Martin Henderson, a man with restricted growth from Somerset.

The 37-year-old was left with serious back injuries after being picked up and dropped on the ground outside a pub last October.

Ricky Gervais, criticized last year with his sharp-tongued presenting style, opened the ceremony with a waspish monologue.

Yet while he was briefly silenced for swearing, his barbs were not as cutting as they were 12 months ago.

The 50-year-old began the night by telling the star-studded audience the Globes were “just like the Oscars… without all that esteem”.

The event, he continued, was to the Oscars “what [reality TV star] Kim Kardashian is to [Duchess of Cambridge] Kate Middleton – a bit louder, a bit trashier [and] a bit drunker.”

The Office co-creator said he had been given strict instructions by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), organisers of the ceremony.

“The Hollywood Foreign Press has warned me that if I insult anybody… they’ll definitely have me back next year,” he joked.

Johnny Depp, Dame Helen Mirren and Colin Firth were a few of the stars who received a gentle ribbing over the course of the evening.

Yet the comedian got as good as he gave later when he introduced Madonna with a reference to her song Like a Virgin.

“If I’m like a virgin, Ricky, why don’t you come over here and do something about it,” joked the pop star turned director.

The Golden Globes is one of the first major awards ceremonies in the run-up to the Oscars, to be held this year on 26 February.

Both films and TV shows are recognized, with separate categories for dramas, comedies and mini-series or motion pictures made for television.

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Beatles Memorabilia auction: very rare signed record of Beatles hit on sale.

 

Madonna: “I absolutely loathe hydrangeas”. Venice Film Festival press conference.

 

Announced at the Cannes Film Festival in May, Martin Scorsese is directing the documentary “George Harrison: Living In The Material World” about the life of former Beatles member.

Martin Scorsese has been working with Olivia Harrison, George Harrison‘ second wife for the last 2 years on the film, which will look at George Harrison’s entire life.

George Harrison and his wife Olivia

George Harrison and his wife Olivia

The film will feature previously unreleased footage and photos as well as unreleased recordings that the guitarist saved.

Olivia Harrison, one of the film’s producers, has spent years going through her husband’s tapes, notes and photos to deliver essential elements for the film.

“Marty had a connection with George, and they spent some time together. He is as passionate about film and music as George was passionate about music and film,” she said.

It was surely not the intention of the documentary George Harrison: Living In The Material World to depict the Beatle as the prime mover in a sexual free-for-all.

But, driven by a desire to show the so‑called “quiet Beatle” in both “light and shade”, it portrays him as a sensitive, spiritual man with serious weaknesses when it came to women.

The documentary runs for 3 1/2 hours and is in two parts.

The film has just premiered at the Telluride documentary festival in America, and will be shown in its entirety on the BBC on October this year.

Film presented nights of chaos and excess at Friar Park, George Harrison’s immense Victorian Gothic home in Henley, with a haze of dope, cocaine and alcohol.

In a 1973 night, George Harrison’s friend and houseguest Ronnie Wood took him aside and told him that he intended to sleep with the former Beatle’s wife Pattie Boyd that evening.

George Harrison’s response was to point to the room which Ronnie Wood was sharing with his wife Krissie and say: “And I shall be sleeping there.”

There was a moment on the landing when the two men looked at each other, on the threshold of the two bedrooms, and then they both went in.

Ronnie Wood slept with Pattie, and George Harrison slept with the Rolling Stone’s wife – and even took her off to Spain to meet Salvador Dali a few weeks later, which Wood found amusing.

In the same period, George Harrison also slept with Ringo Starr’s wife Maureen, having announced during a dinner party – and in front of Pattie – that he wanted her.

Both Ringo Starr and Pattie Boyd were greatly distressed, and Pattie in particular became annoyed by Maureen’s habit of turning up late at night and spending the evening in meditation with George, or locking herself away in a studio with him.

Pattie Boyd left George Harrison for Eric Clapton

Pattie Boyd left George Harrison for Eric Clapton

In turn, Pattie Boyd slept with Eric Clapton and eventually left George Harrison for Clapton in 1974.

In an interview, given for the upcoming documentary film about George Harrison’s life, his close friend Eric Clapton recalls that Harrison was “very cavalier” about the affair with Pattie, and almost gave him “carte blanche” to have sex with her.

“To be honest, there was a lot of swapping and fooling around,” Clapton said.

But Pattie Boyd recalls: “That whole period was insane. Friar Park was a madhouse. We were all as drunk, stoned and single-minded as each other.”

In the documentary, Olivia Harrison tells of “hiccups” in their marriage when her husband had affairs, even long after those crazy days of the early 1970s with Pattie were over.

Olivia and George Harrison were married in 1978, a month after the birth of their son Dhani, and she was at his bedside when he died of cancer in 2001.

Between those times, Olivia suggests that her husband had several affairs, which she endured, simply waiting for them to pass and forgiving him when they did.

“He liked women and women liked him,” Olivia says.

“If he just said a couple of words to you, it would have a profound effect. It was hard to deal with someone who was so well loved.”

Paul McCartney says: “I don’t want to say much because he was a pal, but he liked the things that men like. He was red-blooded.”

Red-blooded seems an understatement when it comes to George Harrison, who had an abiding fondness for other men’s wives – much like his devotion to marijuana and sitar music.

According to Beatles expert Bill Harry “George had hundreds and hundreds of affairs. John Lennon was probably the most highly-sexed Beatle, but I would put George next after him.”

And in their tell-all book The Love You Make, two Beatles roadies, Peter Brown and Steven Gaines, assert: “He wanted to seduce every woman he laid eyes on.”

George Harrison and Madonna in 1986 during Shanghai Surprise film press conference

George Harrison and Madonna in 1986 during Shanghai Surprise film press conference

 

Rather extraordinarily, more than one source suspects that George Harrison had a heavy flirtation with Madonna on the set of the 1986 film Shanghai Surprise, despite the presence of her first husband Sean Penn.

Madonna was at the time deeply unhappy with Sean Penn, and said she found George Harrison, who was executive producer of the film, “very understanding and sympathetic”.

George Harrison came to see them filming in Macau, and also met her several times in London before and after the production.

Madonna’s brother, Christopher Ciccone, noted that, although George Harrison felt moved to “read the riot act” to Sean Penn over his hostile and aggressive attitude during filming and gave the actor a stern ticking-off, he treated Madonna with “kid gloves”.

A few weeks after filming finished, he surprised everyone present at a press conference by going on the attack over allegations that Madonna had been impossible to work with, passionately denouncing the assembled journalists as “animals”.

Those who worked with George Harrison at Handmade Films, where he oversaw numerous projects in the 1980s, recall that one close relationship with a young member of the team was very much the talk of the office.

“The story was widely circulated around the film business that he was having an affair with an office junior,” said a source.

It’s all rather extraordinary as, until now, it has always been thought that George Harrison’s love story with Olivia Arias was one of complete spiritual and emotional union.

Olivia, a young woman of Mexican descent, was working as a secretary for the Dark Horse Records label in America when she struck up a telephone friendship with George Harrison, who was recording music for it.

Olivia and George finally encountered each other in person at a party in Los Angeles in 1974. She was a stunning 23-year-old, and he was lonely after the loss of Pattie Boyd a few months previously to Eric Clapton.

Like George Harrison, whose father was a bus driver, Olivia Arias came from a working-class family – her mother was a seamstress, her father, a dry-cleaner.

George Harrison quickly asked Olivia to move into Friar Park with him, so she relocated to England. At first, she found the house lonely, but although Friar Park was so enormous that Pattie Boyd used to complain she could never find her husband, the charismatic George Harrison filled it with friends.

“He was so generous and open, so much more patient with people than me,” Olivia told an interviewer.

“He took everybody along with him, like a driftnet fisherman.

“If we were going on holiday, everybody would come. If we were having dinner, everybody was welcome. He was Pisces, so he swam in a school.”

One of Olivia and George most significant acts was to visit India together in 1976.

That helped George Harrison to continue his spiritual journey which had begun in 1968 with a visit to meditate with the Indian yoga guru Maharishi with the other Beatles.

In 1969, he even gave up all alcohol, drugs and sex for six months, in search of enlightenment.

Unlike his other band members, George Harrison remained committed to the religious sect Hare Krishna, and Olivia shared his commitment.

There was a real sense in which their married life was a retreat. Harrison concentrated on the enormous task of renovating the house and tending the gardens.

George Harrison became passionate about horticulture. To live invisible to the throng behind high walls was a release after the pressure of being a Beatle.

George Harrison first developed cancer in 1997, but the lump in his neck was removed and he underwent radiotherapy.

In 2001, however, it was discovered he had lung cancer, and soon after a brain tumour was also found. Within seven months he had died, with Olivia and his son Dhani by his side.

Olivia tells the documentary that George Harrison had achieved his spiritual goal, which was to take conscious leave of his life and to be ready to go. And, by the end, she says she had forgiven him completely for his affairs.

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