Has no ancestors and no descendants in this family tree.
1940 - 1980 (40 years)
Birth |
9 Oct 1940 |
Oxford Street Maternity Hospital, Liverpool, England |
Died |
8 Dec 1980 |
New York, New York, USA |
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Father |
Alfred Lennon, b. 1912 |
Mother |
Julia Stanley, b. 1913 |
Married |
1938 |
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Family 1 |
Barbara Baker |
Married |
1956 |
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Family 2 |
Margaret Jones |
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Family 3 |
Helen Anderson |
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Family 4 |
Thelma Pickles, b. 1941, Liverpool, Lancaster, England |
Married |
1958 |
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Family 5 |
Living |
Children |
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Family 6 |
Renata |
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Family 7 |
Bettina Derlien |
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Family 8 |
Ida Holly |
Married |
1963 |
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Family 9 |
Alma Cogan, b. 19 May 1932, Stepney, London, Middlesex, England |
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Family 10 |
Living |
Children |
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Family 11 |
Living |
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Family 12 |
Ronnie Bennett |
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Name |
Helen Anderson |
Gender |
Female |
Person ID |
I513493 |
Geneagraphie |
Last Modified |
10 Apr 2007 |
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Notes |
- John Lennon met his first college girlfriend, Helen Anderson, on the first day they attended Liverpool's College of Art. He'd previously heard about her being employed to paint Lonnie Donegan in oils and getting paid around £30 for it, and was so impressed that she'd actually met a pop star that he couldn't help but walk over and ask "Hey, are you that bird who painted Lonnie Donegan?"
The two took quite a liking to each other and Helen admired his wit so much that every day when she went home she'd spend ages telling her mother about all the crazy things he'd got up to. She especially loved the way he would creep up behind people and then boom out Screaming Jay Hawkins's hit, 'I Put A Spell On You'. Her love of his outrageous behaviour even led to him nicknaming her Heloon because she always laughed so uproariously when he did something silly.
There were many things John would do repeatedly to make the whole room around him collapse in hysterics and even aimed jokes at someone he would later become very fond of. Helen remembered "He used to make horrible jokes against the singer Alma Cogan , impersonating her singing 'sugar in the morning, sugar in the evening, sugar at suppertime'. He'd pull crazy expressions on his face to try to imitate her expressions. We all had hysterics."
As much as Helen loved his individuality and silly antics, his greased up hair drove her mad, but her pleas to wash the grease out and get rid of the DA cut were usually just met with a straightforward "Get lost." Helen was also not very fond of the greasy smell that clung to John's clothes from the fried scallops he used to buy nearly every lunchtime from a chip shop in Falkner street. Although Helen had her doubts about certain aspects of John's individual style, he seemed to appreciate hers very much, even giving her one of his sketchbooks in return for a baggy yellow sweater she wore which he admired. The sketchbook contained drawings of his friends and teachers and was sold in auction many years later.
When John eventually got rid of his Teddy Boy gear and took on the beatnik style, Helen remembers "he wore grey worsted, dyed black, with eight-inch cuffs - so narrow you had to take your shoes off to put your foot through them. He wore a battle dress or leather jacket with a fur-lined collar, like a bomber jacket. He also had an overcoat, a crombie [previously belonging to his Uncle George] , that came just below the knee, which he would wear with the collar up. With winklepickers, the costume is complete." He was constantly getting her to narrow his drainies for him, which she did dutifully, often taking them home with her that night and returning with them the following morning, all finished.
Although John entertained his fellow students and stood out in a crowd, the tutors at the college did not have similarly favourable views of him. Helen recalls that John's "violent, noisy and semifigurative," paintings caused him to be sent to join the lettering class after his first year at college, instead of being invited to join the painting department as was the norm. "Even at sixteen I knew he was destined to some sort of grandeur and greatness. In his first six months at college, his paintings were very wild and aggressive. Every one he did incorporated the interior of a night club and they were very strongly drawn, very dark, and there was always a blonde girl sitting at the bar looking like Brigitte Bardot. There were always musicians in John's early drawings, a band on a bandstand, dim lights, something sleazy. I always liked them. But very few people noticed his work in his early days at college... The masters were not interested in him, he was a nuisance to the entire college, distracting everybody else who wanted to learn."
Although the two got on very well and were very fond of each other it became clear that the two would never become lovers. As a result of this knowledge John's defensive behaviour lessened a little, and he began confiding in Helen. He'd tell her about his love affairs and she would listen patiently. It was even Helen who introduced John to his next girlfriend, fellow art student Thelma Pickles , when John was sitting on the "signing in" table in front of the collage with Tony Carricker.
Unlike John, Helen was more dedicated to her studies at art school and went on to become a successful fashion designer.
SOURCES: various Beatles and Lennon biographies
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