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Linda Eastman was born September 24, 1941 in Scarsdale, New York, just outside of New York City. She was one of three daughters for Lee and Louise Eastman (who also had a son named John).

Eastman attended Fox Meadow School and Scarsdale High School, where she was a member of the advertising club, pep club and chorus. A high school friend recalled Eastman in her teens:

"Linda loved to sing, loved to perform. She was an easy-going, sweet girl, not particularly athletic, who always had a smile on her face."

She graduated high school in 1959, and left Scarsdale to attend college in Vermont. Linda's mother, Louise, died in a plane crash the following year. The news was particularly tragic because she was on her way to visit her son in California (where he was away at college)

Eastman decided to flee this particularly difficult time in her life by transferring to the University of Arizona, where she was an art history major. While there, Eastman met Melvin See, a geologist. She married him in the early 1960's, and their only child, Heather, was born on December 31,1963.

After graduating from college, Linda returned to New York City as a receptionist for Town and Country magazine. It was there that she started her career, by chance, as a photographer.

McCartney took a camera with her to the New York Harbor. On her desk, Eastman saw a invitation to a Rolling Stones party and decided to go. When she got there, McCartney was mistaken for a photo journalist. She managed to get on a yacht being used by the Rolling Stones, who were promoting a new album. It turned out she had exclusive photographs of the band; she was the only photographer on the yacht. She took photographs of Rolling Stone frontman Mick Jagger and the now-deceased founder of the band, Brian Jones. Once off the yacht, McCartney sold her photos to journalists, and thus began a career in freelance photography.

Her chance meeting of the Rolling Stones was not McCartney's only association with the music world. She began taking photos guitarist Jimi Hendrix (for his legendary albums Are You Experienced? and Electric Ladyland), Janis Joplin and the Doors, among many others.

In May of 1967, Linda met Paul McCartney at the launch of The Beatles' album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Linda and Paul McCartney began dating after he broke up with British actress Jane Asher. On March 12, 1969, the couple got married at the Marylebone Registry Office in London, England.

Fans were not happy with the last Beatle marriage. Linda McCartney was continually insulted, with derogatory comments being attached to her being an American single mother. She was also blamed, like Yoko Ono, for being a factor in the Beatles' breakup.

Despite the public criticisms, the McCartneys marriage was one of the strongest in the music world. Linda gave birth to their first child, Mary, in 1969; Paul McCartney became Heather See's adopted father.

The couple was inseparable in life and, by 1972, career. After some solo projects (where one of McCartney's most memorable Linda-inspired song "Maybe I'm Amazed" came from), Paul McCartney formed a band called Wings.

He insisted that Linda be a part of the band as a keyboardist and had her study the piano. In this area, Eastman received the most criticism, for she was not a trained musician. Nonetheless, she provided constant support to her famous husband and inspired many of his post-Beatles songs.

McCartney decided to put her fame into good use, becoming a strong supporter of animal rights. The McCartneys became vegetarian in the 1970s and participated in many projects to persuade others to do so. Linda McCartney worked on a line of prepared vegetarian foods, publishing Linda McCartney's Home Cooking in 1990. PETA, or the People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals, also awarded the McCartneys with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

In addition to her business, Linda continued to keep up her interest in photography. She won an award for her animation short, Seaside Woman, in 1980. She also published several books of photos, including Linda McCartney's Sixties (1992).

In December, 1995, Linda McCartney announced that she had breast cancer. After chemotherapy and surgery, it was hoped that her cancer was in remission. The cancer, however, remained and she died on April 17, 1998 at the age of fifty-six.

Today, Linda McCartney's spirit lives on in her family. All of her four children have chosen careers in the arts. Daughter Heather is a potter; Stella is a cutting-edge fashion designer (famous wearers of her clothes include Madonna and Kate Moss). Mary followed in her mother's footsteps and currently works as a photographer, while son James followed his father's footsteps and is a musician (who most recently worked on Paul's "Flaming Pie" in 1997). Paul McCartney continues to champion many beliefs Linda held dear: vegetarianism and animal rights.

Webmaster's Note: She Loves You's Linda McCartney biography was written from information compiled by the following sources: authorized and unauthorized Beatles/Paul McCartney biographies, press interviews and articles. The biography is not associated with or approved by Linda McCartney's family, friends and/or business associates.