Dorothy Rhone

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From The History of The Beatles in Mississauga – Kind of… — Modern Mississauga Media, October 4, 2023:

[…] More than 10,000 teens descend upon Toronto International Airport hoping to catch a glimpse of the Fab Four. Despite its name, Toronto (Pearson) International Airport is in Mississauga’s aviation hub – Malton. Back before our amalgamation in 1974, Malton was just another small village in the Toronto Township (historic Mississauga), and a lot sleepier than it is today. Certainly, Malton was not ready for what was approaching. High up above the skies of historic Mississauga were four Liverpudlians sitting in the rear of a Lockheed L-188 Electra dubiously pondering a statement their handler had said before boarding the plane. Things would be different in Toronto (Malton, actually). Canadian girls were calm, demure, and polite, nothing like the hordes of screaming teens they had met around the world. It would be different. However, they were not convinced, and rightfully so.

The plane touched down in Malton at 12:15 AM, drowned out by the sound of screaming. If The Beatles had been prepared, we were not. The plane taxied to a discreet hanger where customs agents and a police escort were waiting. The crowd surged toward the 60-metre chain-link fence, grasping for a glance at The Beatles. One-by-one, teens dropped to the ground, overcome by their emotions. 36 fainting teens had to be treated by St. John Ambulance. Meanwhile, the police urged for calm and quiet to no avail. The fence bent and groaned as police tried desperately to hold them back. Quick as anything, The Beatles jumped in a car and the police escort took off towards their hotel, the King Edward Sheraton on King Street. Martin Bridgman was an officer on scene that day. He remembers the sound of the crowd that seemed to follow him! It seemed impossible, but it was true. “We knew we were in trouble,” he later remembered, “But we didn’t really have a plan.” By the time the escort reached the QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way), they were speeding at 160 km/h and yet, each time Bridgman looked back, there was a bumper just inches away from his Harley 74! They reached the hotel by 1 AM.

Interestingly, the next day The Beatles gave an interview and were asked about their speedy ride in. Ringo responded, “Very good, one of the best actually”. As none of this seemed at all normal except to the pop stars, the reporter retorted, “What do you mean by one of the best?” Thanking the local police, Ringo replied, “Well, it was well-organized with the police escort, you know.” At least the four lads had appreciated Martin Bridgman and his fellow officers. In that same interview, the reporter commented that Paul was a favourite in Toronto, to which McCartney quipped, “I thought Ringo was.” I am going to go out on a limb here and say he was spot-on for one and only one reason: did you know that at Pearson airport, there is a therapy dog named “Ringo Starr”? Yes! The fab pooch claims that, “All I need to do is act naturally to make your day at Toronto Pearson”. Well, that and the fact that when The Beatles left the next day to continue their grueling tour schedule, a voice was distinctly heard amid the roar of the engines and the rattling of the fence screaming, “Rin-go! Rin-go! Come back!”

However, little did they know, but there was probably one woman in Mississauga who was happy to see them leave – sort of. But to tell that story, I have to go back to Liverpool in 1959. Dorothy “Dot” Rhone met John Lennon and Paul McCartney at the Casbah Club in Liverpool. They were young, handsome and their rock-and-roll lifestyle with the Quarrymen attracted the Liverpool bank worker. She was initially drawn to the older Lennon, but when she realized he was with Cynthia Powell (later Cynthia Lennon), she turned her sights on the younger McCartney. After a few hints, he finally caught on and asked her out. They quickly became quite the item. It was the first serious relationship for both Rhone and McCartney. However, she found it hard to keep up with Lennon and McCartney’s fast-lipped quips and jabs, and her meek, quiet personality was quickly overcome by Paul’s overbearing personality.

She found that this new relationship had many rules. She couldn’t see her friends, then she couldn’t smoke, then she had to dye her hair blonde and sport a short, tight miniskirt. But she was smitten and wanted to make him happy, so she complied. Years later, Paul addressed his inappropriate behaviour towards Rhone saying, “At the time everyone was trying to turn their girlfriend into a bargain basement [Brigitte] Bardot. […] We were all smitten. So the girls had to be blonde, look rather like Brigitte and preferably pout a lot. John and I used to have these secret talks intimating, although not actually saying it, that we could be quite happy for our girlfriends to be Liverpool’s answer to Bardot. My girlfriend was called Dot and, of course, John had Cynthia. We got them both to go blonde and wear miniskirts. It’s terrible really. But that’s the way it was.”

For following his rules, he lavished Rhone with gifts. She remembers that despite his rules, he was kind and caring.

Then, sometime in 1961, Dot became pregnant. Having been conceived from love, Paul bought Dot a gold ring and was ready to “do the right thing”. The two were engaged, but after three months, she had a miscarriage, and the wedding was cancelled. She was heartbroken. When he left for Hamburg, Germany later that year with the band, she worried she would never see him again. However, she soon found herself a little relieved. No more rules, no more watchful eyes on her. She was free. Nevertheless, she missed him and as he missed her.

Among the love songs he wrote for her, “PS I Love You” was written for Dot during their time apart. The song would later be featured on their debut 1963 album Please, Please Me that launched them to international stardom. […]

Yet, the reality was something a little different. Paul’s life was becoming centrally focused on The Beatles and he and Rhone began drifting apart. In the summer of 1962, faced with either settling down or The Beatles, he chose the latter. In hindsight, Dot knew it was inevitable and ultimately the right decision. But both Dot and Paul were heartbroken, nonetheless. Trying to restart her life, Dot joined the Civil Service, but she could never escape visions of her past. On every billboard and plastered on the mouth of every girl around the country was her ex. “It was Beatles, Beatles, Beatles,” she recalled, “I couldn’t escape.” Therefore, in 1964, she made the decision to move to Canada and start over. Four days after arriving, she met her future husband and they settled in Mississauga. That’s right, Mississauga of all places.

Rhone briefly saw Paul again when The Beatles played a gig in Toronto in 1965 and again in 1976 when The Wings played at Maple Leaf Gardens. Paul invited Dot and her family to the show and the two former lovers had a chance to sit down afterwards and get the closure they both deserved.

Then in 1994, Cynthia Lennon arrived in Toronto for Beatlerama. Dot’s old friend had vowed she would keep in touch but did not know where in Canada Dot would be living. She had no sooner asked the organizer to track her down (which was no easy feat before the internet) than Dot herself had called the Beatlerama hotline! Low and behold, she was still living in nearby Mississauga! A reunion was quickly arranged for October 7, 1994, at the Doubletree Hilton Hotel on Dixon Road, only a stone’s throw from Malton and the airport. They met as dear friends and Cynthia revealed she had a surprise for her. She was finally able to return the gold ring Paul had gifted Rhone all those years ago, which had been left back in Liverpool. Dot accepted it for the second time, a sign of a past she had left behind long ago.

However, some have been less than kind to the memory of Dot and Paul’s budding romance. In Barry Miles’ official 1997 biography Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now, Dot’s importance in Paul’s early life was downplayed as if simple eye candy hanging onto the coat tails of the rising star. Her name was even spelled wrong. But Dot would always know the truth, saying, “Maybe I didn’t mean that much to him after all – but I don’t really believe that. I know that, for a few years at least, I did”. Now a mother and grandmother, Dot Rhone (now going by her married name) continues to live quietly in Mississauga, as best we know.