Celebrities

What happened to Paul Prenter, Freddie Mercury’s friend?

Published

2 months ago

February 10, 2024

• Paul Prenter was born in London in 1946 and his family defended his honour after the movie Bohemian Rhapsody was released.
• He was a Radio DJ in Belfast, Northern Ireland, before becoming Freddie Mercury's personal assistant and later managing Queen.
• Paul's close relationship with Freddie Mercury was kept a secret until 1987 when he sold a story to The Sun.
• Paul received £32,000 for the story but eventually had to ask Freddie for more money.
• He died of AIDS in 1991, the same year as Freddie.

Contents

1 Introduction
2 Early Life
3 Career
4 Meeting and interaction with Freddie Mercury
5 The history of Freddie Mercury and Queen
6 Net worth, salary, significant inputs
7 Physical characteristics

Introduction

Not much is known about Paul Prenter’s life before he went on to manage debatably one of the most famous bands of all time, Queen.

Early Life

Born in 1946 in London, England, Paul’s father and mother remain nameless. A few of Paul’s family members including his brother came forward after the movie ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was released to defend Pauls honour. In the movie Paul’s character is portrayed as a sly, cunning man, set on forcing his own agenda on Freddie Mercury and the other members of Queen. Prenter’s family insist that Freddie and Paul were just close friends and were not romantically involved, although Paul was openly gay from the age of 16, and his parents were supportive throughout his life.

They went on to say that the line in the movie where Pauls character stated ‘My father would rather see me dead’ in reference to his sexuality was extremely hurtful and very untrue. Pauls brother, close friends and goddaughter believe that the movie was ‘cowardly’, ‘untrue’ and ‘hurtful.’

Career

The only known job of Prenter’s before he became involved with Freddie Mercury was that he was a Radio DJ in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shortly after meeting Freddie, he quit his job to work for Mercury as his personal assistant, before going on the manage Queen after their existing manager was fired. His role was to book gigs, organise concerts and be the general liaison for the band. However much to the (apparent) dismay of Queens other members, Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor, Paul and Freddie grew extremely close.

The other members of the band started to doubt Prenter’s intentions were pure, and when Queens album ‘Hot Space’ was released in 1982, the relationship between the band and their manager quickly became more tense. The album was not at all successful and Prenter was blamed for its failure. They believed that many of Prenter’s managerial decisions were not in the best interest of the band, such as denying radio promotions of the album.

Prenter was fired a year after the Live Aid concert in 1986, ending Freddie and Pauls business and personal relationship. Brian May, Queens leader, has come forward to say that ‘their manager was not all bad’ and that the media played him out to be more of a villain than he actually was.

Meeting and interaction with Freddie Mercury

Pauls relationship with Queens front man Freddie Mercury was kept under wraps for many years, until Prenter outed Freddie’s sexual preference and their relationship in a story he sold to “The Sun” magazine in 1987, while also revealing that the singer was in a relationship with a man by the name of Jim Hutton.

There are many conflicting stories on whether Paul and Freddie were in fact romantically linked – the only people who seem to adamantly deny that this was the case is Paul’s family.

The history of Freddie Mercury and Queen

Freddie – who is now known in rock music as arguably one of the greatest lead singers of all time, is most famously known for his four-octave vocal range, and his over the top stage presence – started from very humble beginnings.

Farrokh Bulsara was born on the 5^th September 1946 in Zanzibar. His parents Bomi and Jer were Parsi, originally from India to where they returned while Freddie was still very young, and where most of his childhood was spent. At the age of seven he began taking piano lessons, and at the age of eight he was sent to St. Peter’s school, where after a few years he formed a school band that performed rock covers. A school friend has said that Freddie ‘had an uncanny ability to listen to the radio and replay what he has heard on the piano.’ It was around this time that Mercury started to refer to himself as ‘Freddie’; in 1964 Freddie and his family moved to Feltham, Middlesex, England.

In the April of 1970, Freddie joined drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian Mays’s band Smile as the lead singer.

A year later John Deacon joined them as the base player, and despite the unsurety of the band and their production studio, Freddie changed the band’s name to ‘Queen.’ Freddie once said while referring to the band’s new name that ‘It’s very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid. It’s a strong name, very universal and immediate. I was certainly aware of the gay connotation, but that was just one facet of it.’ It was soon after this that Freddie made the legal change of his surname from Bulsara to Mercury.

Some of Queens greatest hits were “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Killer Queen”, “We are the Champions”, “Somebody to Love”, “Radio Gaga,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “We will Rock You,” “Fat Bottomed Girls,” “Don’t Stop me Now”, and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”. Freddie was well known for his connection with his audience, and his flamboyant stage presence, which was very apparent at the Live Aid concert in 1985.

After the breakup of Queen, Freddie lead a short solo career before dying from underlying conditions of AIDS at the age of 45 in 1991. Freddie announced the day before his death that he had been living with AIDs for the last fouryears of his life.

Subsequently in 2001 Mercury was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, as well as the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003.

Net worth, salary, significant inputs

There are no published sources that state Pauls possible net worth, but after he was fired in 1987 he sold a story to ‘The Sun’ for which he was famously paid £32,000, releasing intimate details of Freddie’s life and the time that he had spent managing Queen.

Just some of the claims said that two of Mercury’s lovers had lost their lives to AIDS, and that he had had many more lovers, possibly in hundreds.

Freddie Mercury and Paul Prenter

Paul said that being the manager of Queen for a decade was anything but smooth sailing, and was four times longer than any other manager had lasted with the band. Prenter said that ‘The first three or four years were very good, but when they started to make money, the last six were unadulterated misery.’ He also went on to say that ‘They are four very demanding, single minded, unreasonable and ungrateful individuals. Their prime motive at any time is another hit single, and nothing is allowed to get in the way. It was fun to begin with, but it became a real drag. It was like looking after four children, four spoiled brats. I was pleased to be away from them and if I never saw them again it would be too soon.’ ‘What would bother me would be when I would organise and interview for Freddie and he wouldn’t show up.

In one case I had to lie and tell Simon Bates the Freddie was ill. Paul returned to Belfast after selling the story, but after he spent all the money that he had received for selling out Freddie, it was rumoured that he crawled back to Mercury to ask him for more cash.

Eventually complications of smoking related to AIDS took Pauls life in Belfast in 1991, the same year Freddie’s life was taken by the same disease.

Physical characteristics

Prenter stood at 5ft 6ins (1.67m) tall and weighed about 132 lbs (60kgs). Prenter had blonde hair, blue eyes, body measurements of 38-28-35, and biceps with a circumference of 13.5 inches.

Celebrities

Where is Michael Peterson now? The True Story of His Wife Death

Published

1 day ago

April 23, 2024

Daniel Wanburg

Contents

1 Who is Michael Peterson?
2 Education and early life
3 Michael’s career
4 Love life and marriages
5 Kathleen’s death and Michael’s trial
6 Interesting facts and hobbies
7 Height, eyes and wealth

Who is Michael Peterson?

American novelist and convicted killer Michael Iver Peterson was born in Nashville, Tennessee USA, on 23 October 1943, meaning that Scorpio’s his zodiac sign. He’s probably known best for having been convicted of killing his second wife Kathleen Peterson; Michael was sentenced to spend his life behind bars without the possibility of parole on 10 October 2003, but was released on house arrest after $300,000 bail was paid in 2011.

Image source

Education and early life

Michael was raised alongside his sister Ann Christensen and their brothers John and Bill in Nashville, by their mother Eleanor (nee Bartolino) and father Eugene Iver Peterson; not a lot else is known about Michael’s family, because he respects their privacy.

He was mostly focused on his education while attending a local high school, while some of the activities he was into the most included creative writing, playing soccer and dancing. Michael matriculated in 1962, and then enrolled at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina; he was the editor of the university’s newspaper “The Chronicle” during his four years there, and was the president of the fraternity Sigma Nu. Michael graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in political science in 1965, and then began taking classes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Law School.

Michael’s career

In 1965, Michael began working for the US Department of Defense, researching arguments in support of the US military involvement in Vietnam. The year 1968 saw Michael join the US Marine Corps, and he served in Vietnam for three years prior to being honorably discharged as a captain, after he was hit by a car and left with a disability.

In 1999, Michael claimed that he had been presented with two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star with Valor and a Silver Star for his service in the Marine Corps, but the newspaper “News & Observer” later revealed that no records showed that Michael had won any Purple Hearts.

He and his first wife lived in Germany after he was discharged, then Michael moved back to Durham in 1987.

https://twitter.com/FukumiKimoto/status/1584666483447443457

He’s published three novels, all of which related to his time in Vietnam. His first novel “The Immortal Dragon” was published in 1983, followed by “A Time of War” in 1990, and his third “A Bitter Peace” in 2020.

Michael also co-wrote the biographical book “Operation Broken Reed”, together with Arthur L. Boyd, and “Charlie Two Shoes and the Marines of Love Company” with David Perlmutt. He also spent some time working as a columnist for the newspaper “The Herald-Sun”.

Love life and marriages

Michael married his first wife Patricia Sue in 1965, following his graduation; she taught at an elementary school on Rhein-Main Air Base in West Germany, where Michael was stationed. They had two children together, Todd and Clayton.

While living in Germany, Michael and Patricia befriended the Ratliff family, which comprised George and Elizabeth, and their children Martha and Margaret. After George and Elizabeth died in 1985, Michael became their children’s guardian, but he and Patricia divorced two years later, with their children staying with Patricia, while Michael, Martha and Margaret moved together to Durham. Todd and Clayton also eventually came to live with Michael.

He met successful business executive Kathleen Atwater in 1989 – they moved in together in the same year, married in 1997, and he became stepfather to Kathleen’s daughter Caitlin. The marriage ended when Kathleen died on 9 December 2001.

Kathleen’s death and Michael’s trial

Michael called the police on 9 December 2001, claiming that Kathleen was lying down on the floor unconscious, and that she had probably fallen down the stairs.

Toxicology reports showed that Kathleen had drunk some alcohol and taken the prescription drug Valium, while the autopsy showed that she had died two hours after the injuries that she had suffered. Kathleen’s sister Candace Zamperini, as well as her daughter Caitlin both believed that Michael had nothing to do with Kathleen’s death, but they changed their mind after learning that Michael’s bisexual.

Michael was accused of murder, as the autopsy showed that no fall could’ve resulted in Kathleen’s injuries; the prosecution claimed that Kathleen found out about Michael’s gay life, which he had tried to hide, and that he wanted to take her $1.5 million life insurance. It was then revealed that Michael’s friend from Germany Elizabeth Ratliff had also died from similar injuries as Kathleen, and was also found at the foot of her staircase; a second autopsy of Elizabeth’s buried body was ordered, and her cause of death was then officially changed to ‘homicide’. Michael wasn’t charged with Elizabeth’s murder.

He was found guilty of killing his wife on 10 October 2003, and sentenced to spend life behind bars. Michael’s lawyers filed a motion for a new trial on 12 November 2008, but it was denied. It was in the second half of 2009 that a new theory about Kathleen’s death surfaced; it was claimed that an owl had attacked her outside, causing some of her injuries, and that she then fell down and hit her head after running from the owl inside the house. The investigators found two microscopic owl feathers when re-examining Kathleen’s hair.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper began investigating the SBI analyst Duane Deaver in the first half of 2010, and Duane was suspended in August of the same year; he was the lead witness against Michael at his trial, and it was revealed that Duane had presented false evidence in 34 cases. Due to these new findings, Michael was released on a $300,000 bail on 16 December 2011, and placed under house arrest.

He entered the Alford plea on 24 February 2017, and was sentenced to seven years in jail, but because he had already served more than that, he was thus released.

The documentary series about the entire case, “The Staircase” was released in October 2004, while its sequel “The Staircase 2: The Last Chance” premiered in November 2012.

Interesting facts and hobbies

Michael’s been staying away from the media’s attention since he was freed in 2017, with the exception of when he published his novel “A Bitter Peace” in 2020.

He can rarely be seen spending time outdoors, as he enjoys the peace of his home; it’s been revealed that Michael no longer has a staircase at his house.

He was physically highly active during his 20s, 30s and 40s, as he worked out at the gym and played a number of sports.

Michael’s a huge fan of American actor and moviemaker Clint Eastwood, while some of his favorite movies include “The Outlaw Josey Wales”, “High Plains Drifter” and “Play Misty for Me”.

Height, eyes and wealth

Michael’s age is 79. He has brown eyes and grey hair, is 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall and weighs around 150lbs (68kgs).

Michael’s net worth’s been estimated at over $100,000, as of April 2023.

Celebrities

Lina Medina: How a Five-Year-Old Girl Became a Mother in 1939

Published

2 days ago

April 23, 2024

Daniel Wanburg

Contents

1 Who is Lina Medina?
2 Family and pregnancy
3 The boy’s father
4 Lina’s career
5 YouTube videos
6 Love life and relationships
7 Interesting facts and hobbies
8 Height, eyes and wealth

Who is Lina Medina?

Peruvian Lina Marcela Medina de Jurado was born in Ticrapo, Castrovirreyna Province, Peru, on 23 September 1933, making Libra her zodiac sign. She’s probably only known for being the youngest mother in human history, as she was less than six years old on 14 May 1939, when she gave birth to her son. Lina was a few months away from turning five when she was impregnated, and it’s believed that it was the rare condition ‘precocious puberty’ that led to this.

Image source

Family and pregnancy

Lina and her eight siblings were raised in Ticrapo, by their mother Victoria Losea who was a housewife, and father Tiburelo Medina who was a silversmith.

She was five years and several months old when her father drove her to a hospital in Pisco; the doctors initially believed that Lina had a tumor, due to her abdominal size, but it was then revealed that she was seven months pregnant. Many countries were interested in covering the story; the newspaper “San Antonio Light” reported that a midwife association in Peru wanted Lina to be admitted to a national maternity hospital, while an American movie studio had offered $5,000 for filming rights.

Lina gave birth to her son Gerardo via caesarean section, and the doctors then learned that her sexual organs were fully mature; Gerardo weighed 6lbs (2.7kgs), and was named after Lina’s doctor,

The boy’s father

The identity of Gerardo’s father remains undisclosed. It was widely believed in Peru that Lina had been raped, and her father was even arrested on suspicion that he had done it, but was released as no evidence had been provided to support this. Lina hasn’t revealed the name of her son’s father to this day, and it’s believed that she might not actually know it.

Although the boy lived with Lina and believed that she was his sister, he was eventually raised by Lina’s doctor Gerardo Lozada; he had no health issues while growing up, but was 40 when he died from bone marrow disease in 1979.

Lina Medina gave birth when she was 5 years 7 month old.

She started seeing her period when she was just 8 months & grew breasts from age 4. She is still alive today, No one knows the baby's father till date. pic.twitter.com/oJvnwIBwZY

— Etoniru (@waynetipsy) January 23, 2020

Lina’s career

Lina matriculated from local high school in 1952, and although she hasn’t spoken about her further education, it’s believed that she studied at a medical school, from which she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in 1956.

Lina was then employed at Dr. Gerardo Lozada’s clinic as a secretary, and was thus also able to spend more time with her son.

YouTube videos

Numerous videos about Lina have been uploaded onto YouTube by various users, with most of these covering her strange pregnancy, while others aim to provide additional details about her later life. We’re going to mention three of the most popular YouTube vides about Lina, which’ve contributed to her internet popularity.

Her #1 video “World’s Youngest Mother, Age 5 Lina Medina” has been watched more than 20 million times since 19 April 2014, when it was uploaded by Worlds Biggest; it aims to cover Lina’s pregnancy, as well as her son’s later life.

Lina’s second most popular video – “Top 5 Youngest Mother In The World” – was uploaded by 100M on 6 November 2020, and has been watched over 6.4 million times; it covers Lina’s pregnancy, as well as the pregnancies of four other girls who were less than 10 years old when they gave birth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FzNJs2J8S4

Her #3 video, “Así luce hoy la madre más joven de la historia. Tenía 5 años” was uploaded by Badabun on 7 January 2018, and has since been watched close to six million times; it’s a Spanish-language video about Lina, her pregnancy and her son’s (supposed) father.

Love life and relationships

Lina’s love life remains a mystery to this day, and she’s even been able to keep the identity of her son’s father hidden.

She married non-celebrity Peruvian Raul Jurado sometime in the ‘70s, and gave birth to their son in 1972 – Lina had a normal pregnancy, and didn’t have problems giving birth. She hasn’t spoken about how and when she and Raul met, though most of her fans believe that he was her high school sweetheart; it’s also believed that Raul passed away sometime in the first half of the 2010s, but as Lina’s staying away from the media’s attention, this hasn’t been confirmed.

There are also many people on the internet who claim that they know Lina, and that she and Raul divorced in the second half of the ‘80s; these same people claim that she met another man when she was 55, and that the two eventually married, but none of this has been addressed by her.

Lina seems to be married to Raul Jurado as of April 2023, and they have a son together, while she also has a son to whom she gave birth when she was five.

Interesting facts and hobbies

Lina’s never been interested in making money out of her story, and has turned down numerous offers from newspapers and magazines, including “Reuters” in 2002.

It’s still today believed by many doctors and experts that Lina’s pregnancy was a hoax, but a number of doctors have still been able to prove that it was true, thanks to X rays and biopsies; the only photo that can be found on the internet about the entire case features Lina when she was seven and a half months pregnant, and was standing naked.

She grew up being physically active and took part in various activities while attending a local high school, while she was also an avid dancer.

Lina was passionate about travelling during her 20s and 30s, but then preferred the peace of her home over flying to other countries.

Height, eyes and wealth

Lina’s 89 years old. She has brown eyes and medium long grey hair, is 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall and weighs around 130lbs (60kgs).

Lina’s net worth’s been estimated at over $100,000, as of April 2023.

Celebrities

The Untold Truth of Emma Watson’s Brother – Alex Watson

Published

1 week ago

April 15, 2024

Olivia Clarke

Contents

1 Who is Alex Watson?
2 The Wealth of Alex Watson
3 Early Life and Cameo Appearances
4 More Cameos and Modeling
5 Burberry Campaign
6 Personal Life
7 Sister – Emma Watson
- 7.1 Emma Watson’s Recent Projects

Who is Alex Watson?

The Wealth of Alex Watson

As of early-2020, Alex Watson has a net worth estimated to be Alexander Watson was born on 15 December 1992, in Paris, France, and is best known for being the brother of actress Emma Watson who found fame in the “Harry Potter” film franchise, playing the role of Hermione Granger. The siblings appeared together in a Burberry fashion campaign, and he’s also made several cameo appearances in the “Harry Potter” films.

over $1 million, earned through success in his various endeavors, including modeling and acting projects.

He may benefit from the success of his sister, as Emma has a net worth estimated to be over $80 million.

Early Life and Cameo Appearances

While Alex was born in Paris, the family later moved to England where he and Emma grew up. He lived mostly away from the spotlight, and his skill with the French language started to decline as he became more accustomed to living in the UK. His life started to shift when Emma desired to pursue an acting career. While he didn’t have the same interests, he supported her endeavors as she began training, and appearing in a few stage productions.

Emma’s fame increased significantly after she was cast in the “Harry Potter” film series as one of the lead characters, Hermione Granger. While the producers didn’t initially think that the film would be the worldwide phenomenon it is today, many of its cast members would grow close like family.

More Cameos and Modeling

The crew also involved other family members such as Alex, who would appear in a cameo as a student in the first film “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”. The film is based on the JK Rowling novel of the same name, following the story of the titular Harry Potter as he goes on magical adventures with his closest friends.

The first installment was a huge critical and commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2001.

They later followed it up by continuing the book series, with “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”, and Alex had another cameo in the film as a student. The 2002 film is based on the book of the same name, and continues the adventures of Harry Potter during his second year as a student of Hogwarts. In the film, he discovers that the Chamber of Secrets in the school has been opened, leading to a monster being set loose. The film, like its predecessor, was an enormous success, becoming the second highest-grossing film of the year, only behind “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”.

For the next two “Harry Potter” films, Alex was busy with other projects so he didn’t make an appearance. He later returned to make a short cameo in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” – in that installment, Harry Potter and his best friends go through their fifth year at Hogwarts, and deal with the aftermath of the return of feared wizard Lord Voldemort.

Burberry Campaign

In 2010, media outlets reported that Alex would be partnering his sister in a campaign for the fashion brand Burberry. He didn’t initially plan to model for the brand, but while he was looking for something to wear for a “Harry Potter” premiere, he was approached by the staff who quickly signed him for a modeling gig.

Alex Watson

Emma was there to help him as she has more experience with modeling projects. He notes that there is a lot of tension during auditions for models, as everyone is on edge trying to get a job. It didn’t seem that he continued with modeling after that gig, as he expressed no interest in being overly concerned about his physical appearance.

Personal Life

Following Alex’s appearance with Burberry, there has been no news about him. He’s been more private about his career and personal endeavors so nothing is known in terms of any romances. There are social media pages under his name, though they appear to be fan accounts, and unrelated to him.

His sister is known to be a universalist though it is not known if he shares the same beliefs.

Sister – Emma Watson

Despite having only acted in plays before her big-screen debut, Emma Watson flourished in her role as Hermione Granger, launching her to international star status. While working on the franchise, she gained numerous other projects, and after the end of the “Harry Potter” films, she went on to star in other projects.

In the 2010s, she appeared in notable films such as “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, “The Bling Ring”, and “This is the End”.

In 2017, she played the character Belle in the live-action adaptation of “Beauty and the Beast”, and also appeared in the film adaptation of “Little Women”, which was nominated for an Academy Award.

Emma Watson’s Recent Projects

In 2014, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts rewarded Emma with the British Artist of the Year Award. She hasn’t yet taken any new film projects following her appearance in “Little Women”. While working on her acting career, she continued to pursue her education, and completed a degree in English literature in 2014.

She’s also been doing modeling work, such as for campaigns with Lancome and Burberry.

Emma’s been very vocal about issues of human rights and gender equality – she is a UN Women Goodwill ambassador, and is responsible for helping launch the campaign HeForShe, the goal being for genders to work towards having gender equality. She’s been very active in work for women’s rights, recently establishing a legal advice line to help women who’ve suffered sexual harassment at the workplace.