The undisputed king of showbiz reporters, Don Short always beat his Fleet Street rivals to the biggest scoops… and even became a friend to the stars he wrote about.
The Daily Mirror legend broke some of the most important rock ’n’ roll exclusives of the 60s and 70s, including the biggest of them all, the break-up of the Beatles.
The writer, who coined the term Beatlemania, was closer to the Fab Four than any other journalist.
He had them over to his house for dinner, rode with them in their limousine as they toured the world and even once filled in for Ringo as their drummer at a rehearsal.
Admired as much by megastars as by his readers, Don dined with Muhammad Ali at his Chicago home, was gifted with a huge stuffed dog by Elvis Presley and stayed with David Niven at his French home.
But Don, who died last week aged 90, always found his biggest fans back home - his three children Amanda, Ashley and Louise.
Amanda, now 65, recalls: “My dad genuinely liked a lot of the people he interviewed, and because of that they went on and stayed friends.
“Even at the age of 10 I thought it was pretty cool having a dad who knew all the music people.”
She remembers the day Paul McCartney, George Harrison and his girlfriend Pattie Boyd came for dinner, when she was six. Amanda adds: “I was in bed and they came to see me. I couldn’t sleep so Paul sang me a lullaby.
“At school I wrote about it in an essay, and the headmistress rung my mother and complained about her daughter’s wild imagination. My mother told her it was true and so she said, ‘Well in that case can they talk at the school concert?’
“Around the house the cupboards were full of demo records bands had sent my dad to review for the Mirror.
“He’d sometimes take me to meet them, like when he interviewed Davy Jones from the Monkees. I was 10 and a big fan. It was very exciting growing up with him as a dad.”
Don was born in London in 1932. He later won a scholarship at Chiswick Polytechnic where he learned shorthand and typing. At 15 he became a junior reporter on the Staines and Egham News.
After RAF National Service aged 18 Don moved through local papers to the Daily Sketch, before joining the Mirror, the world’s largest selling paper, in 1960. He soon made a name for himself, and after breaking several world exclusives, including the drowning of Rolling Stone Brian Jones and Elizabeth Taylor’s marriage to Richard Burton, he was given the paper’s showbiz column. Don started following The Beatles since before they became global, and sensing the band was on the brink of stardom, travelled with them on their first UK tour in 1963.
Speaking of coining the term Beatlemania, Don said: “It was the only term that fit what I witnessed at one of the earliest concerts… the cacophony of hysterical fans as they mobbed the stage, the energy.”
The following year he was the sole national reporter to accompany the Beatles on their first tour of America, and soon became one of their trusted confidants.
During one Australian tour, manager Brian Epstein asked him to play drums in rehearsal as Ringo Starr was ill. But halfway through the first song, Paul called a halt and told him: “Stick to the day job, Don.”
Amanda says: “He was travelling for half of the year. He’d be flown off here there and everywhere.
“Dad enjoyed his life and lived for every single moment.”
Don’s journeys included watching a football match with Pele in Brazil, a Madrid drinking contest with actor Oliver Reed and joining Roger Moore on a Bond shoot in Thailand, where he dined with Britt Ekland.
He also met the likes of Olivia Newton-John , Cliff Richard, 60s pop stars Twinkle and Sandie Shaw and Italian actor Ira von Furstenberg.
In 1971, Don was Mick Jagger’s bodyguard at his wedding to Bianca at St Tropez.
He was also the first journalist in Lennon and Yoko Ono’s honeymoon suite at the Amsterdam Hilton where they held their week-long “bed-in” for peace in 1969.
But Don’s biggest story was yet to come. On April 9, 1970, a Beatles contact phoned telling him Paul was leaving and the band was splitting up. Hours later his scoop “Paul Quits The Beatles” was splashed on the Mirror’s front page.
By morning, distraught fans were sobbing in the street outside the Mirror’s office in London.
Don left the paper in 1974 and later setup his own literary agency and syndication firm. He also became a ghostwriter for stars including Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland
He also became a ghostwriter for stars including Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland.
Don retired in 1999, spending time gardening with his wife of 68 years Wendy, and his growing family, which by the time he died included eight grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.
After years of persuasion by Amanda, Don finally wrote his own memoir, The Beatles and Beyond, published in 2019.
Amanda says: “After dad retired he spent his time gardening and being with his family. He stopped writing for a while, and every year that went by I kept telling him, ‘You’ve got to write your memoir.’
“When he did we were amazed at how fast he could still type.
“We were so pleased that after breaking so many stories the world finally got to read his own.”
