Melinda Ledbetter

Melinda Kae Wilson (née Ledbetter, born October 3, 1946) is an American talent manager who is the second wife and longtime manager of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. She was formerly a model and car saleswoman. Ledbetter is credited with helping to initiate Wilson's court-ordered separation from his former psychologist, Eugene Landy, and leading Wilson to proper medical care. Her account of her early relationship with Wilson was dramatized for the 2014 biopic '' Love & Mercy'', in which Ledbetter is portrayed by Elizabeth Banks.

Background

Melinda Kae Ledbetter was born on October 3, 1946 in Pueblo, Colorado to Rosemary and Leonard Ledbetter, an Air Force pilot who had been stationed there. Melinda grew up in Whittier, California and is of German and Irish descent. She had a 16-year career as a commercial model for designers including Bob Mackie and Anne Klein, after which she became a sales representative for a Cadillac dealership in Los Angeles.

In 1986, while working at the car dealership, Ledbetter met Brian Wilson. At the time, Wilson had been a patient under Eugene Landy's 24-hour therapy program. Six months after meeting Wilson, she had reported Landy to the state's attorney general for ethical violations, but they informed her that nothing could be done without the cooperation of Wilson's family. According to Ledbetter, Landy ordered Wilson to sever ties with her in 1989, "when we rian and Istarted to get serious".

Marriage to Brian Wilson

After Landy was struck with a 1991 court order which barred him from contacting Wilson, Wilson and Ledbetter reconnected and were married on February 6, 1995. Ledbetter went on to become Wilson's manager in 1999, a job which she says is "basically negotiating, and that's what I did every single day when I sold cars." According to Ledbetter, "I was in the right place at the right time to help him. It's like the concept that you can lead a horse to water but you can't get him to drink. ... What he's missed out on is an environment where he feels safe. He didn't have that before with his family, his old band, his doctor, his first wife. But he finally has that."

Ledbetter is credited with leading Wilson to proper medical care, to tour regularly, and to complete his unfinished album ''Smile''. However, numerous reports surrounding Wilson's comeback alleged that his close associates, including Ledbetter, had been exploiting Wilson and applying undue pressure on him to maintain an active music career. In 1998, Wilson's daughter Carnie called her "Melandy", a reference to Landy and the control he formerly held over Wilson's affairs. In a 2007 interview, Wilson credited his relationship with Ledbetter for allowing him to resume his career as a musician. However, in the same interview, he remarked that he felt that he should have spent the early 2000s "in a mental institution under heavy sedation" due to his psychological issues. Whether Wilson truly consents to his semi-regular touring schedule since the 2000s remains a subject of debate among fans.

In the mid 1990s, Wilson collaborated with multi-instrumentalist Andy Paley on tracks earmarked for a potential Beach Boys comeback album. It was reported that Ledbetter influenced Wilson to scrap the project in favor of a new album with former wrestler Joe Thomas. In 1999, a suit was filed against Thomas, seeking damages and a declaration which freed Wilson to work on his next album without involvement from Thomas. Thomas reciprocated with a suit citing that Ledbetter "schemed against and manipulated" him and Wilson. The case was settled out of court.

According to Wilson's cousin and former bandmate Mike Love, the group's 50th anniversary reunion tour involving all original surviving members ended prematurely, partly due to interference from Ledbetter. He expressed disappointment that he was never allowed to collaborate with Wilson for the album ''That's Why God Made the Radio'', as had been promised, and that during the performances, she attempted to install an autotune unit on each of the band members' microphones. This was the beginning of some backstage quarrels between Love and Ledbetter, which ended with his stipulating that she be banned from rehearsals until the tour was over.

In 2015, Wilson credited Ledbetter for assisting with some of the production of his album ''No Pier Pressure''.

''Love & Mercy''

Half of the 2014 Brian Wilson biopic '' Love & Mercy'' is set from Ledbetter's point of view in the 1980s, with Elizabeth Banks playing Ledbetter. ''Love & Mercy'' screenwriter Oren Moverman stated that virtually every event in the film's 1980s portions was sourced from conversations he had with Ledbetter. She said after watching the film: "I remembered that what Landy did to Brian was even worse. You don’t get a sense of it in the movie, but it happened on a daily basis, for years."

Personal life

Ledbetter and Wilson have adopted five children: Daria Rose (born 1996), Delanie Rae (born 1998), Dylan (born 2004), Dash (born 2009) and Dakota Rose (born 2010).

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ledbetter, Melinda
American women in business
Living people
American female models
Brian Wilson
American salespeople
Wilson family (The Beach Boys)
Place of birth missing (living people)
1946 births