Mary at Home, July 1979

Mary Millington 1979

In hindsight, this picture, taken in July 1979, turned out to be unintentionally poignant. It shows Mary photographed in the upstairs back bedroom of her home at Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey. This spacious room, with Oriental-style wallpaper and en-suite bathroom, was where Mary slept alone during the last 12 months of her life. It was also the same room where Mary and fellow model Rosemary England posed for Playbirds magazine, and where, just months earlier, director George Harrison Marks shot scenes (with Mary’s blessing) for his hardcore 8mm romp Cockpit Cunts.

Mary looks tired in the photograph, but she was attempting to get her life back on track. In the summer of 1979 she was in the throes of divorcing her husband, and was finally managing to control her addiction to cocaine. Tragically, just a few weeks after this picture was taken, Mary died in this room, on 19 August 1979.

Rest in peace, Mary.

All words strictly © Simon Sheridan 2015

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