Although Linda McCartney's biography won't hit bookstore shelves until fall, plans are already in the works for a TV miniseries version of the Beatle wife's story.| The four-hour film, based on a book by longtime family friend Danny Fields and set to air on CBS, will focus on Linda's thirty-year relationship with Paul McCartney, which came to a tragic end when Linda lost her battle with breast cancer last year.

"The McCartney love story is really a model for a highly visible, highly committed relationship," said the film's executive producer, Barnet Bain. "[It's] the story of a woman whose innate spirituality gave herstrength to overcome a high-profile relationship that had all the rigors and all the strains of any relationship -- but one that had to be played out before billions. She was quite an extraordinary woman."

McCartney's career as a rock photographer, capturing artists like Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones during the heights of their careers, and her involvement in animal rights campaigns will also be depicted. The as yet untitled biopic, which will be jointly produced by Mandalay Pictures, Lions Gate TV and Barnet's company, Metafilmics, is tentatively scheduled to air sometime next year. Meanwhile, Fields' book, Linda McCartney: A Portrait will be out in late November on Renaissance Books.

JENNY ELISCU(June 16, 1999)