Who was Lisa McNear?
Lisa McNear Lombardi was an American artist. She is widely known as the mother of Fox News journalist Tucker Carlson. She was married to Carlson’s father Dick Carlson for nine years before they divorced in 1976.
McNear disappeared from her children’s life to follow her artistry calling. She joined a crew of artists in the 1980s who inspired her to create weird but artistic sculptures. Her sculptures consisted of vibrant wooden oversized versions of everyday household items like peeled lemons and dice.
Age
McNear was born on June 6 1945 in San Fransisco, California. She was 66 years old at the time of her death.
Lisa McNear Cause of Death
McNear died on October 14, 2011, in Cazac, Haute-Garonne, France. She succumbed to breast cancer.
Lisa McNear Background
McNear was the daughter of Mary Nickel James and Oliver Lombardi. She came from a wealthy family but spent her life running away from her privileged heritage. Her father was a well-known insurance broker while her mother was a cattle baron heiress whose ancestors owned 3 million acres of ranch land across four states.
Lisa was raised alongside her three siblings. She attended UC Berkeley where she majored in architecture.
Related: Who Are Dana Perino’s Parents, Janice and Leo Perino?
Lisa McNear Husband
McNear met her husband while she was still a college student at UC Berkeley. She got married to her boyfriend Richard Carlson in 1967. At the time, Richard was a journalist working for a TV Station in San Fransisco. They had their children Tucker and Buckley after two years of marriage.
Their marriage began having issues after Richard was offered a job in San Diego as a local news anchor. Lisa stayed in Los Angeles while Richard moved with his boys to San Diego.
Richard got full custody of his sons after they divorced in 1976. He claimed that Lisa could not be trusted to supervise their children because she frequently used alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine.
McNear and McDermott
Lisa then met LA-based British sculptor Mo McDermott in LA and soon after began collaborating on colorful wood sculptures of animals, vegetables, and trees. The two told their friends that they were married to which tabloids also referred to them as husband and wife.
However, there was no record of them being married legally and some close friends believed McDermott was bisexual or gay.
They worked and lived together for nearly a decade until their friends began noticing that they did not seem happy. They both drank heavily and always had explosive arguments. McDermott died in 1988 from liver failure after he git sick from alcohol consumption.
Related: Audrey Toll Sachse Age, Husband, Daughter Dominique, Job, Net Worth
McNear and Michael Vaughan
Lisa met British painter Michael Vaughan in 1987. Michael was one of Hockney’s peers in the British art scene known as the “Bradford Mafia. They got married in February 1989.
Lisa McNear Children
McNear and her ex-husband Richard Carlson had two sons Tucker Carlson and Buckley Carlson. She left her family when Tucker was six years old in search of a “bohemian” lifestyle.
After her death, in 2011, it appeared that Lisa might have disinherited Carlson and his brother. The protracted battle over her estate finally went to the California Appellate Court, which allowed the Carlson brothers to keep their shares in 2019.
Related: Latarra Eutsey Age, Birthday, Son Demetrius Flenory Jr., BMF, Husband
Lisa McNear Grand Children
McNear has grandchildren from Tucker called Hopie Carlson, Buckley Carlson, Dorothy Carlson, and Lillie Carlson.
Lisa McNear Art and Net Worth | Wealth
McNear was a free-spirited artist who created sculptures consisting of vibrant wooden oversized versions of household items like peeled lemons and dice. After her divorce from her husband, she would mostly showcase her work at night gallery openings on La Cienega Boulevard.
Lisa then moved in with McDermott, an LA-based British sculptor, and shared a studio in Hollywood. They collaborated on colorful wood sculptures of animals, vegetables, and trees.
Eight months before her death, she had a joint exhibition with Vaughan at Redfern Gallery. Some of her sculptures are now in Molly Barnes’s collection who exhibited her work with McDermott in 1983 and 1984.
