Paul McCartney’s daughter Mary recalls him nearly getting ‘run over’ on Abbey Road zebra crossing
The moment occurred during the filming of Mary McCartney’s new documentary to celebrate 90 years of Abbey Road Studios
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Your support makes all the difference.Paul McCartney’s daughter, Mary McCartney, has said that her father nearly got “run over” while they were filming on the famous zebra crossing in London.
Mary, who has been a photographer for most of her career, was discussing her new documentary about Abbey Road, which is celebrating 90 years of the recording studios.
The new film, titled If These Walls Could Sing, revisits the studio that Mary spent much of her time growing up in while The Beatles were recording.
During filming of the documentary, Mary told The Mirror how she’d encouraged her father to cross the famous zebra crossing near the studio in St John’s Wood, pictured on the front cover of the Beatles’ Abbey Road album.
However, the recreation resulted in a near accident for Paul.
"The bit where the car nearly ran him over on the zebra crossing, that was so funny. As we were leaving [the studio], I said, ‘I’ll film you [on the crossing],’ and he went over and this car totally didn’t stop for him!” she told The Mirror.
This isn’t the only time the legendary crossing features in the documentary.
At one point, an image is reportedly shown of Mary’s mother, Heather McCartney – who died of breast cancer in 1998 – walking a pony across the road.
"The picture of my mum leading the pony across the zebra crossing was something I really wanted to put into the documentary. Obviously she’s not here any more but those things are a reminder of how individual and passionate she was for animals. She was a rule-breaker in the right way," she said.
The 53-year-old also explained how she’d met people in the studios who had worked with her mother in the past, and had much praise for the late activist.
"A lot of the people still working there worked with my parents and they pulled me aside and said, ‘We really remember your mum and how inclusive she was and how great she was.’”
“That definitely brought a tear or two to my eye on several occasions. When people were nice and went, ‘Oh God, we really liked her, she’d come into the canteen and have a cup of tea with us and have a chat,’ I kind of loved it but also it made me sad,” she added.
The forthcoming documentary includes interviews with the likes of Paul, Ringo Starr, Liam Gallagher and Elton John.
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