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| Birth Name(s) : Paula Yates |
Date of Birth: April 24, 1960 |
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| Profession:
Public Figure |
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Full Paula Yates Biography
Television personality Paula Yates' life was dogged by tragedy from an early age. The man she regarded as her father, Jess Yates, left her family home when Paula was eight years old. It was later revealed that her mother had a string of affairs, and that Paula's biological father was Opportunity Knocks presenter Hughie Green. On arrival in London aged 16 she immersed herself in the punk scene where she met Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof. They married ten years later in 1986 and the pair were famed for the eccentric names they gave their children, Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches and Pixie.
Her career mirrored a new era of non-conformist television in the UK, beginning as a presenter of The Tube, she then devised and presented Baby, Baby, before becoming a presenter on the Big Breakfast. She left Bob Geldof for INXS singer Michael Hutchence, having interviewed the star in bed for the Big Breakfast. The singer was found dead in a Sydney hotel room in 1997. Paula Yates suffered depression following Hutchence's death, and finally surrendered to her long-running drug problems. |
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Additional Paula Yates Biography
Paula Yates (24 April 1960 - 17 September 2000) was a British television presenter, best known for her work on cult TV music show, The Tube.
Born in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, she was brought up in a show business family. Her mother was Elaine Smith, a former showgirl, actress and writer of erotic novels, who used the stage names Hellen Thornton and Heller Toren. Until late in her life, Yates believed her father to be Jess Yates, who was known as "the Bishop" and presented the ITV religious programme Stars On Sunday. Yates and Smith were married from 1958 to 1975, though Yates was 16 years older than his wife and their marriage was unconventional. Jess Yates was sacked from his job in 1974 because of scandalous newspaper stories about his private life.
In an unsettled childhood, Paula attended school at Penrhos College, Ysgol Aberconwy. The Yates' ran the Deganwy Castle Hotel for a time, before moving to a large house in Rowen, Conwy. After the break-up of her parents' marriage in 1975, Paula lived mostly with her mother, including periods in Malta and Mallorca, before returning to Britain.
Yates met Bob Geldof in the early days of the Boomtown Rats. They got together as a couple in 1976 when she travelled by aeroplane to Paris, to surprise him while the band was playing there. Their first daughter, Fifi Trixibelle, was born on 31 March 1983. After 10 years together, they married on 31 August 1986 in Las Vegas, with Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran acting as Geldof's best man. The couple then had two more daughters, Peaches Honeyblossom Michelle Charlotte Angel Vanessa Geldof on 16 March 1989, and Little Pixie Geldof on 17 September 1990. Pixie is said to be named after a celebrity daughter character from the cartoon Celeb in the satirical magazine Private Eye, itself a lampoon of the unusual names the Geldofs gave to their first children.
After the birth of her daughters, Yates wrote two books on motherhood. In 1982 Paula released a cover version of the Nancy Sinatra hit single "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'".
Yates continued with her rock journalism, in addition to being presenter of cutting-edge music show The Tube. She became most notorious for her "on the bed" interviews on the show The Big Breakfast, produced by Geldof. On 27 October 1995 Yates appeared on the quiz programme Have I Got News For You and repeatedly clashed with Ian Hislop. Yates referred to Hislop as being "the sperm of the devil".
Yates interviewed the INXS singer Michael Hutchence in her Big Breakfast boudoir, and fell in love with him. In 1995, Yates left Geldof for Hutchence. Geldof and Yates divorced in May 1996. Two months later Yates' daughter with Hutchence, Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily Hutchence (known as Tiger) was born on 22 July 1996.
In November 1997, Hutchence was found hanged in a hotel room in Sydney. Yates became distraught, refusing to accept the coroner's verdict of suicide. She eventually sought psychiatric treatment. Yates never entirely recovered from losing him, and even attempted suicide. Meanwhile, she battled Hutchence's mother Patricia Glassop and her daughter Tina for custody of Tiger Lily.
Yates' dispute with Hutchence's family over Michael's estate saw her struggling to bring up her daughter. While battling grief and problems with addiction, she was also in an extremely difficult financial situation. Yates resorted to selling her jewellery in order to pay bills, including the three amethyst rings Geldof gave her after the birth of each of their daughters. She downsized to living in a small mews house in the years prior to her death.
While fighting for custody of Tiger, it was reported in the media that Jess Yates had not been Paula's natural father. A paternity test proved that the late quiz show host Hughie Green had in fact been her natural father. Shortly after this announcement, Yates was found dead, at the age of 40, of an accidental heroin overdose, leaving her youngest child an orphan. The coroner ruled that it was not a suicide, but a result of "foolish and incautious" behavior.
Soon after her death, Tiger Lily, in agreement with Hutchence's parents, was adopted by Yates' ex-husband Bob Geldof, so that she could be raised with her three older half sisters Fifi, Peaches, and Pixie.
Several people have written books claiming to know the truth about Paula Yates, including her estranged mother Heller Toren, half-brother Christopher Green and one-time manager and friend Gerry Agar.
In his memoir Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins (2006), actor Rupert Everett included the revelation that he conducted a six-year affair with Yates.
Paula Yates was the author of several books, including:
- Rock Stars in Their Underpants (1980)
- A Tail of Two Kitties (1983)
- Blondes (1983)
- Sex With Paula Yates (1986)
- The Fun Starts Here (1990)
- The Fun Don't Stop: Loads of Rip-roaring Activities for You and Your Toddler (1991)
- And the Fun Goes On: A Practical Guide to Playing and Learning with Your Pre-school Child (1991)
- Village People (1993) |
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Paula Yates Quote(s)
| To stay alive for another year. -- when asked about her goals for 1998 |
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