The mystery surrounding former Beatle George Harrison’s death certificate has been solved-and it appears he really did die at Paul McCartney’s house. Sort of. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said Tuesday that friends of the late guitarist have corrected Harrison’s death certificate, after the first version listed a fake address as the place where he died.
As it turns out, Harrison died at a Hollywood Hills mansion once leased by McCartney. District Attorney Steve Cooley said that noted security expert Gavin de Becker, who was with Harrison in his final days, submitted a different address for Harrison’s location of death-a $4 million French country-style manor once owned by rocker Courtney Love.
It was a fitting controversy for the fiercely private Harrison, who died November 29 at age 58 following a long battle with cancer.
The original death certificate said Harrison died at 1971 Coldwater Canyon in Beverly Hills. Only problem was, the address didn’t exist-It was most likely fabricated in an attempt to keep memorabilia seekers away and keep the site from becoming another stop on Hollywood’s ghoulish celebrity death tours.
Days later, a Los Angeles TV station reported that Harrison actually died in a home owned by McCartney. But McCartney vehemently denied the claim through his publicist, calling it “complete and utter fiction.”
“The fact is that Paul McCartney does not own a home in the state of California, never mind Beverly Hills,” his spokesman said at the time.
Technically, McCartney’s rep may be right. According to the Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office, the owner of the home is listed as Mike Walley, who is said to have purchased the mansion in March 2001.
The confusion perhaps stems from a Los Angeles Times report dating from March 2001 saying it was McCartney who bought the house from Love, when apparently he was just leasing it for a period. It is unknown whether McCartney was leasing the home at the time of Harrison’s death.
Reps for McCartney have yet to comment.
Whatever the case, the DA’s office said Tuesday that because the address has been corrected, no criminal charges will be filed. Falsifying public documents is a misdemeanor offense in the state of California, and the District Attorney’s office initially got involved when celebrity attorney Gloria Allred filed a complaint arguing that no one-not even celebrities-should be above the law and allowed to file false information.
Meanwhile, another Harrison mystery lingers. There’s still no official word on the whereabouts of his remains. His ashes were supposed to be scattered in the Ganges River but never turned up, and his family has refused to discuss his final resting place