2010-02-12 00:06:12. With the matter now in a confused state, the federal judge stayed Emiras lawsuit. I cant just sit here and tell the court anything different. He was a soldier for most of their brief marriage, taking the bus from her family's home to the post each day. "Some drug users, they rob, they steal, they do everything to sustain that habit." The Associated Press AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) Funeral services have been held for the widow of '50s rock star Frankie Lymon. Lymon's managers tried packaging him as a solo crooner in a cravat. "He had been busted in California again for drugs. Yet she also talked about Lymon's ruptured family, and, again, his drug dependency. "I'm not a person to hold a grudge. Zola: "I perform all over the world"), she arrived at court daily in a limousine. Frankie, by 1965, had pretty much been reduced to lip-synching at record hops on the East Coast. Instead of filling my house with old moldy magazines, I scanned them (in most cases, photographed them) and filled a storage area with moldy magazines. By 1964 he was using again, and she was hiding the money from his occasional gigs in a hole in the wall of their apartment to keep him from buying heroin with it. He and two codefendants are busy preparing for their April 11 trial for extortion and conspiracy in federal court in Camden, N.J., stemming from an FBI investigation of organized crime in the recording industry. Elizabeth, 43, of Philadelphia, claims she married Lymon in Alexandria, Va., in 1964, and that the couple had a child who died. ", Doo-wop historian Philip Groia, author of "They All Sang on the Corner," attended one of Alan Freed's legendary rock 'n' roll shows at the Brooklyn Paramount in the spring of 1956. Celebrity Biographies Frankie Lymon's relationship with Elizabeth Waters ended when Frankie Lymon died on February 28, 1968. Zola Taylor had also been a teen-aged star. Lymon was discharged a year later, he'd said "I do" once more. If none of the women was found to be Frankie's widow, the surviving members of his family stood to inherit. In January 1964, he began a relationship with Elizabeth Mickey Waters, from whom he gave birth to his only daughter Francine, who died two days later. She testified that she and Frankie had started living together shortly after they met. Set designers Clare Scarpulla, Michael Bernard. She and Frankie were riding a tour bus together in 1956, doing 81 one-nighters with a rock 'n' roll cavalcade that included Chuck Berry, the Coasters, the Penguins and Bo Diddley, as well as the Platters and the Teenagers. Lymon was 14 years old when he began dating Zola Taylor (Berry), the lead singer of the Platters in the mid-1950s. Elizabeth, now 46, says she's been born again, but she still strives for glamor, her skirt fashionably above the knee, her fingernails long and orange. She met Frankie when he was 20-years-old, backstage at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. He once told a magazine interviewer that he'd been a pimp since he was 10. Artists Rights helped secure a financial settlement for Richard Berry, composer of "Louie, Louie" (just before the song starred in a wine cooler ad), and represents several of the artists featured on the "Dirty Dancing" album. When she and Frankie fought about it, Elizabeth told the court, he pulled a gun on her and fled. That suit was suspended while Lambert determined which woman was Lymon's widow. ("I thought royalties was a dessert," says Elizabeth.). This trio first meets as a group in 1985 in the offices of Morris Levy (Paul Mazursky), the shrewd operator whose company released Lymons hits. Friday, November 06 2020. Waters provides convenient access to libraries, the . She has never remarried. Why does the rain fall from up above? Frankie's particular scam, she believed, was getting married. We played down certain things and fudged others to make it work as a film," said director Gregory . Obituary. She met Frankie when he was 20-years-old, backstage at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. They're awaiting the decision now, the quiet schoolteacher from Georgia, the brassy singer from California and the struggling part-time bill collector from Philadelphia, all nursing their separate memories of life with a former teen idol. These scans come from my rather large magazine collection. 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Phils 2023-24 season lineup celebrates the 20th anniversary of Walt Disney Concert Hall, Cardi B changes tune on community service, calls it best thing, spiritual journey, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, Shocking, impossible gas bills push restaurants to the brink of closures, The chance of a lifetime: Five friends ski the tallest mountain in Los Angeles, Im visiting all 600 L.A. spots on the National Register. Zola and Elizabeth didn't get close to Emira; she didn't have anything much to say to them, either. Span wrote that Rubin gets his share too. Debunking the Myth: Is Maduro a Dictator? 8822 County Road 64. He was characterized as The Octopus by Varietymagazine for his far-reaching control and power in the record industry and his connections to organized crime. Mays Mortuary, 1221 James Brown Blvd. In his book, Me, the Mob, and the Music, Tommy James characterized Levy as willing to strong-arm the artists signed to Roulette, and that the label was notorious for not paying its artists for their record sales. Levy ruled his empire with an iron hand, using both fear and intimidation as part of his business model. None of the many tracks they made together or separately ever duplicated the jubilance of their early records. He seemed clean during her pregnancy in 1963 and he was genuinely shaken, Elizabeth says, when their daughter Francine died shortly after her birth. According to Paula Span, people sometimes compared Frankie with the young Michael Jackson, who also knew how to combine innocence and knowingness. I often tell people that Frankie didnt end up living a glorified life. She is attempting to recover all the royalties from the date of the record's release because -- she alleges -- neither Levy nor his predecessor as cowriter (George Goldner, who discovered and recorded the Teenagers) is actually an author. Though other people testify in the trial, notably Little Richard playing himself and saying things like I am the originator, the emancipator, the motivator, most of Fools is told in flashback as each woman takes the stand and relates her portion of Lymons life. It was also Rubin who located Emira, put her in touch with an attorney, helped line up witnesses and documentation. Lymon related that he started singing publicly with his three brothers in a choral group at Gospel Church in New York City. During his brief lifetime, Lymon became world-famous for his hit singles with The Teenagers including "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" Army discipline, I think, teaches a man how to protect himself. Zola and Elizabeth didn't get close to Emira; and she didn't have anything much to say to them either during the 10 days they spent in court reliving the past. Artist Rights Enforcement Corporation was heralded by the New York Times as the white knight of rock n roll for its efforts in recovering uncollected royalties for a host of artists including Wilbert Harrison, Richard Berry, the Coasters, and the Dell Vikings to name just a few. "And he was still just a kid when he started on the next wife, Elizabeth Waters," said Nava. Lymon didn't even leave a grieving widow to serve as keeper of his flame. 22, 2021. Her obituary was posted on February 9, 2023. It is in fact three wives who face the camera, one after another, each claiming to be Lymons true love and legal spouse. "Remember, Frankie needed the money badly," Borstein said. By the time I met Frankie, he was a record deal-needing, broke ass, scam-on-his-momma-for-a-fix druggie! Frankie had started using heroin again, and she was forced to hide the money from his occasional gigs in a hole in the wall of their apartment to prevent him from using it to buy drugs. investigation of the infiltration of organized crime in the recording industry. He had the type of personality that would draw people, she said. In 1986, the women, who were never divorced from Lymon, filed copyright claims in federal court in New York for Lymons songs. The essence of their dispute was which of the marriages was legally binding, given a certain laxity in some quarters about divorce. There was nothing in writing in regards to the fundraisers or purchasing the headstone, Olb said. Absent the kind of star performance Jennifer Lopez gave in Selena (and that films cleaner, more direct story line), cornball dramaturgy can take audiences only so far and not one note further. With the waters thoroughly muddied, the federal judge stayed Emira's lawsuit in 1986 pending determination of which woman was Lymon's widow. Running time: 1 hour, 56 minutes. Zola Taylor said she married Lymon on Oct. Paula Span reported that, during the trial, the judge even raised the disquieting possibility that none of his three supposed marriages was legally contracted, that Lymon had no widow. Elizabeth Waters was a struggling part-time bill collector from Philadelphia. The film travels back and forth in time to explore their relationship with the singer. Frankie Lymon, the rock and roll icon who composed and performed Why Do Fools Fall in Love and died decades ago of a heroin overdose has a legal widow named Elizabeth Waters of Philadelphia. He was an actor and composer, known for American Graffiti (1973), October Sky (1999) and The Big Fix (1978). Paula Span reported that Frankie and Elizabeth got married in Alexandria, Virginia, in early 1964. What was there about Frankie Lymon? ", Like the jazz and blues artists before them, the rock and rollers of the 1950s and 1960s were often ripe for rip-offs, and royalties were underestimated or simply never paid. Span wrote that Frankies relationship with Zola was not entirely maternal. Frankie told Elizabeth that Zola and I arent doing anything; its just a motherly relationship, Elizabeth testified in court. Why Do Fools Fall in Love With Frankie Lymon is more like it. "He was honest, completely honest," Elizabeth insisted, "Up to a point." Zola got to be pretty friendly with the first wife. That's why we're here today.". He was inducted into the Army in December 1966, and sent to Fort Gordon, Ga. By the time Pvt. Frankie marrying a schoolteacher? Before the case came to court, Emira changed her mind about the tombstone, despite initially agreeing to have Ronnie Italiano and the UGHA to undertake the project. After learning of this, Elizabeth went to court to request the suspension of the law. Elizabeths lawyers, on the other hand, maintained her marriage was valid, which meant that neither Zolas nor Emiras could have been. His bride was Emira Eagle, an elementary school teacher who lived with her family in nearby Augusta. During the trial, the judge even raised the disquieting possibility that none of his three supposed marriages was legally contracted, that Lymon has no widow. According to the obituary published Sunday in The Augusta Chronicle, funeral arrangements will be announced by W.H. Zola and Elizabeth declined, but said they were willing to accept an equal, three-way split. Borstein, Levy's attorney, says the charges are "complete speculation; there's absolutely no proof.". "He had always regarded Zola as his stage mother," Elizabeth explained during the trial. "The only thing {Morris Levy} had to do with it was to collect the money," Santiago says. She has been in one celebrity relationship averaging approximately 4.1 years. Although Emiras attorneys advised her not to talk to Paula Span until the Surrogate Court reached a decision, Anne Pomeroy of the Artist Rights Enforcement Corporation, who was working with Emiras lawyers, spoke with the reporter. With black rhythm and blues releases beginning to win white audiences, music had become a ticket to glory. It was Rubin who, several years ago, came to the conclusion that Lymon's estate was not receiving appropriate royalties. He followed it with Im Not a Juvenile Delinquent, I Want You to Be My Girl and other songs characterized by his trademark piercing high voice. With the trial about to begin and still believing that he had a firm agreement with Emira, Ronnie ran a second benefit concert in the fall of 1985 to raise additional funds for Frankie Lymons tombstone. "Just make sure the artist or writer gets his share." It was Rubin who, several years earlier, came to the conclusion that Lymons estate was not receiving appropriate royalties. It makes him not only a good soldier, but a better individual. Waters Residence Hall is centrally located in the heart of campus along the shore of Lake Mendota. The record company executive has other problems: He was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison for his conspiracy conviction arising from an FBI investigation of racketeering in the recording industry. By 1962, Frankies career had been in decline for several years but she had nevertheless come with two girlfriends to meet her onetime idol. He moved into her home and her bedroom. Producers Paul Hall, Stephen Nemeth. It was not, for long, a happy one. So the trial went forward. And Emira, if she wins, will continue her federal case against Levy, a matter growing steadily more complex. People sometimes compare him with the young Michael Jackson, who also knew how to combine innocence and knowingness. 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