Catherine James

May 31, 1950 (75 years old)Beverly Hills, California, USA4 credits

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.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 Laurel Canyon.’ While living with Eric Clapton in 1969, Catherine got more familiar with Mick Jagger, and eventually had a hot and steamy fling with the Stones frontman. But it instantly ended after only two months when Catherine called Mick’s hotel room on tour and was ‘greeted’ by his future wife Bianca Macias. Regarding Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, Catherine claims they bumped into each other a handful, sporadic times whenever the guitar god was in LA or NYC. The first time they met during LZ’s 1969 US tour, the pair went on a legit date and Catherine later called Jimmy the best kisser she ever had (luckeh). By 1975, Catherine was completely done with sex, drugs and rock & roll, and settled in suburban Connecticut to raise Damian with a normal life. Besides modeling, Catherine’s professional life included being a band vocalist, a housekeeper, a personal cook, a matte painter, and a film set stand-in for Diane Keaton during her later career (luckeh x2). She also published a memoir called Dandelion in 2007. That same year she was interviewed in a chapter of Pamela des Barres’ groupie chronicle Let’s Spend the Night Together, and was featured in the 2010 documentary version of the book. Some of her close friends over the years include fellow groupies Pamela and Nurit Wilde, rock muse Linda Lawrence, Heather Daltrey and Monkee girl Valerie Kairys.Show more

Filmography

Let’s Spend the Night Together: Confessions of Rock’s Greatest Groupies poster