A look at the life of Lennon - through Welsh eyes
Dec 29 2005
Gareth Morgan, Western Mail
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A WELSH friend of John Lennon tells a TV documentary tonight of her
horror at seeing his killer outside the singer's apartment on the
day of his murder in Manhattan.
Carol Hopkin, sister of pop singer Mary Hopkin, said darkness
descended on Manhattan as the obsessive man carrying the Beatles
album under one arm turned murderer.
She used to babysit for Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia, in
London during the 1960s.
The sisters also knew the Beatles through musical work and both sang
backing vocals on the hit Hey Jude.
Ms Hopkin, from Pontardawe, later moved to work at the British
Consulate in New York, the city where Lennon was living at the time
of his death on December 8, 1980.
Ms Hopkin said, "I was living on Fifth Avenue; John and Yoko's place
was just across Central Park from our place.
"On December 8, a friend of mine had organised a birthday party and
we were walking across to the West Side, when I saw a young man with
a Beatles album under his arm."
She did not realise it then, but the man was Mark Chapman, who had
recently asked Lennon for an autograph. A few hours later he would
shoot the superstar four times in the back, mortally wounding him.
Ms Hopkin said she realised that something terrible had happened
when she saw the same man's face on a TV screen after lunch that
day.
"He had shot John Lennon and the singer was dead. After that moment,
somehow darkness seemed to descend over Manhattan. He had been such
a presence; a man with a quiet and yet powerful voice at the same
time."
The full story is told in a 50-minute S4C documentary which is set
to show how Lennon's musical and political legacy lives on in Wales,
and throughout the world.
Filmed by Swansea Valley-based Acme production company, it includes
archive footage from various stages of Lennon's career.
It focuses on Welsh musicians and fans in Wales, Liverpool and New
York. It also features unique written answers from his widow Yoko
Ono to a number of specific questions about Lennon's life.
This Lennon profile is largely seen through Welsh eyes; an
appropriate viewpoint as the singer-songwriter had Welsh roots on
his father's side, both in North Wales in the Old Colwyn area, and
in South Wales in Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan.
The programme starts by looking at Lennon's childhood. He came from
a broken home and was brought up by his Auntie Mimi.
Allan Williams, the Anglesey man who became The Beatles' first
manager and who owned The Jacaranda Club where the early Beatles
first played, said, "He had the stress of not knowing his mother and
then he found her and they became great pals.
"Then another tragedy happened. He was about 16 or 17 when his
mother was killed, knocked down by a car outside his auntie's house.
He never really got over that."
Among the thousands deeply affected by Lennon's death was his
friend, Welsh actor and director Victor Spinetti. He had warned
Lennon of the dangers of his open lifestyle.
Spinetti said, "The protester who danced in front of the tank at
Tiannanmen Square - that could have been John.
"Lennon was the one who stood up to challenge things. I used to tell
him that it was a war out there and warned him to keep his head
below the parapet, but he wouldn't."
Lennon is broadcast tonight on S4C from 9.30pm. English subtitles
available
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