Queen biopic ‘ignores role of Mercury’s one true love’
Actress who lived with Freddie and cared for him when he was ill has been ‘airbrushed’ out of history
THE Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody has been accused of ignoring the part played by a close friend in the singer’s life.
While it features several scenes with Mary Austin – a girlfriend who was said to have inspired the 1975 song Love of My Life – there is no sign of another woman he loved profoundly, a softporn actress called Barbara Valentin.
According to Mercury’s biographer Lesley-ann Jones, Valentin had a significant influence on the singer’s life and work. The film has already been accused of underplaying Mercury’s bisexuality and legendary promiscuity.
Even before its release the production suffered several setbacks, including the loss of Sacha Baron Cohen, who was originally lined up to play the lead, and the dramatic departure of director Bryan Singer midway through filming. Now Mercury’s biographer says that by missing out Valentin the film leaves a huge gap in the telling of his story. “I’m a bit annoyed about this film because they’ve left out the other one completely,” said Jones. “Mary Austin is kind of the grieving ‘widow’ that we’re all used to hearing about but there was another woman. It’s an airbrushing of somebody that was so vitally important to him.”
She said Valentin and Mercury met while Queen were recording in Germany in 1984 and they set up home together in Munich. It was also Valentin, not Austin, who cared for him when he contracted Aids and later died in November 1991 at the age of 45.
Jones added: “She was the love of his life. She was like him – they were a mirror image of each other.
“She completely got him in every way imaginable – sexually, psychologically, every single way.
“He went through all of that [HIV and Aids] with Barbara, not with Mary. Mary was somewhere else – I think she was probably pregnant.
“She was certainly pregnant at his funeral. Mary had to make room for Barbara. Mary was not the closest person to him towards the end of his life.”
Valentin, who appeared in the video of Queen’s single It’s a Hard Life, died from a stroke, aged 61, in 2002, by which point she had spent years fighting Queen’s management for some sort of recognition, including keeping the Munich flat she lived in with Mercury.
Jones also says many fans have tried to simplify Mercury’s complex personal life, wanting to reduce his sexuality to either straight or gay.
“I came to the conclusion when I was writing the book that he was definitely bisexual, but the gay community had claimed him by that time, and so that was a struggle,” she said.
“It was almost like the Queen Machine [the band’s management] wanted to portray that Freddie wasn’t really gay. There had to be a woman involved, to offset all the gossip and rumours that were circulating about Freddie.”