Catherine James

Catherine was born on May 31st, 1950 in Beverly Hills, CA into one of the most dysfunctional upbringings of all time. Her father, Robert, was a race car driver who skipped town not long after she was born and her single mother, Dian, a failed folk singer. Her Aunt Claire was a famous beauty pageant queen who was briefly married to movie musical legend Busby Berkeley. When Catherine was a child, she was told the reason Robert was absent from parenting was because he was an alcoholic, but she later discovered that he was also secretly a transsexual who later successfully transitioned to living as a woman. Dian, on the other hand, was basically the real life equivalent of Cinderella’s stepmother, but 100x worse. When she wasn’t busy neglecting Catherine with the dozens of men she was involved with, she would pull some crazy stunts like locking her in rooms or dropping her off at strange locations for no reason at all. By the time Catherine was 11, she was placed in a local LA orphanage by child services when she attempted to run away after Dian hit her in a jealous rage. In 1966, Catherine began her most serious relationship with 21-year-old Denny Laine of the Moody Blues, during which she moved to London with a fake passport to live with him when she was 16. With Denny, Catherine got to party with legends like the Beatles, the Who, and Cream; and gave birth to their son, Damian in 1967. But soon after relocating to London, Denny became unpleasant and manipulative, and even punched her in the face once. Realizing her child didn’t need to be raised in a toxic environment like herself, Catherine left Denny and became a roommate of songwriter Jimmy Webb with Damian back in LA where she continued modeling as a single teenage mother. Throughout 1968-71, Catherine spent ages 18-21 involved with musicians such as Jackson Browne, David Gilmour and Ronnie Wood. She even got the chance to be a muse for John Mayall with the song ‘Miss James’ from his 1968 album ‘Blues from…

Known for

Acting

Born

1950-05-31 · Beverly Hills, California, USA