Eagle's New York counsel Ira Greenberg agreed that his "current inclination" was to appeal. According to Paula Spans story, he was arrested a least three times in New York for grand larceny or heroin possession, and the Selective Service, hungry for recruits as the war in Vietnam escalated, was after him. He figured that once the case was over there would be no problem," Olb recalled. 8822 County Road 64. Editor Nancy Richardson. Rochon portrayed Bryant, who married Lymon on June 30, 1967, at Beulah Grove Baptist Church near Paine College when Lymon was stationed that year at Fort Gordon. Final briefs are due next week, with a decision expected later this spring. In a matter that grew steadily more complex, Jimmy Merchant and Herman Santiago, the two surviving members of the original Teenagers, filed their own federal suit against Levy and his companies, with Emira also named as a defendant. We played down certain things and fudged others to make it work as a film," said director Gregory . Hell, the boy had so many needle marks on him, I thought he was a God-damned . She had insisted that he check himself into a Manhattan hospital to cure his drug habit. He claimed that both women thought that their agreements with Levy were fair, and that neither planned to take legal action against him if she is found to be Frankies widow. The losing widows might appeal. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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. Levy ruled his empire with an iron hand, using both fear and intimidation as part of his business model. That wasn't his style. He changed the spelling of the group's name on the record label to "Kodoks" to avoid a possible lawsuit from Eastman Kodak, and released their first single, "Teenager's Dream" and . Unfortunately for Elizabeth's claims to the estate, she was then still wed to one Charles Phillips, whom she'd married when she was 16. Lymon didn't even leave a grieving widow to serve as keeper of his flame. His in the end was a wasted life ruined by drugs. (All three women used the surname Lymon in court documents at least part of the time.) Family and friends said goodbye Friday to Emira Eagle Lymon Bryant, who. A headstone was not part of the package, however, and Frankie Lymon was buried in an unmarked grave at St. Raymonds Cemetery. The Lymon she knew was more of a homebody than a homeboy--someone so different than the man the other two women married that, as someone sarcastically comments, it seems like anything in a skirt was Frankies type.. Borstein, Levy's attorney, says the agreements amount to standard industry contracts. Macron wont let go off Africa so easily, he is love sick, Canadas Debt Crisis: A Never-Ending Burden Passed On From Generation to Generation, Alcohol tax in Canada: Canadian government is taking a sip out of your beer. None of the three women in court, all of whom he deceived and betrayed, seemed willing to condemn him. Leon Borstein, Levy's attorney, said that Levy "assisted in the writing of the song; you have to remember, if he added one word, that's sufficient" to justify co-authorship. None of the many tracks they made together or separately ever duplicated the jubilance of their early records. I cant just sit here and tell the court anything different. She knew a soldier., Frankie was interviewed by The Augusta Chronicle while he was stationed at Ft. Gordon. The sum, he says, "might have been $1,500. He was previously married to Emira Lymon, Zola Taylor and Elizabeth Waters. "He had the type of personality that would draw people," she said. All these arguments were laid forth in voluminous briefs, memoranda, and affidavits filed in Surrogate Court. Back in 1956, the hit song had first been credited to Frankie Lymon, Herman Santiago, and George Goldner - head of Gee Records. Emira Lymon, who was appointed administrator of his estate in Georgia in 1973, sued her dead husband`s record company in 1984 for $500,000 in royalties. Obituary. She testified that she and Frankie had started living together shortly after they met. Rubin's 200 or so clients constituted an honor roll of early rock and roll. 1200 Observatory Drive | Madison, WI 53706-1212 | Map. Both Elizabeth's and Zola's attorneys say Emira offered their clients 20 percent (for Elizabeth) and 5 percent (for Zola) of the estate. Also Read:David Von Drehle: Biography, Career, Education and Books. According to Paula Span, her sisters boyfriend introduced them, and soon after, Emira was cooking meals for Frankie and they were shopping for wedding rings. If Emira won, she would share the proceeds with Chuck Rubin and go after Morris Levy. The fact came to notice from a judge during a trial where three middle-aged women (Ash Taylor, Elizabeth Waters, and Amira Eagle) spoke about their miseries. Elizabeth Lymon said in court papers that she married Lymon on Jan. 23, 1964, in Alexandria, Va., and had his daughter, Gloria Francine, who died shortly after birth in 1965. Consequently, he left behind a tangled and miserable legal and financial mess along with three wounded women. He was inducted into the Army in December 1966, and sent to Fort Gordon, Ga. By the time Pvt. Span wrote that Frankies relationship with Zola was not entirely maternal. It was Rubin who, several years earlier, came to the conclusion that Lymons estate was not receiving appropriate royalties. It was painfully revealed in court testimony, however, that Frankie Lymon, for all his talent, was a bigamist, hustler, liar, and thief. A Rhino Films Production. Running time: 1 hour, 56 minutes. Fox), a prison-hardened former shoplifter and prostitute. He had the looks; he had the voice; he had the moves. "Remember, Frankie needed the money badly," Borstein said. Emira came to New York to arrange for Frankies funeral mass and burial. I know some of these characters, and some I like very muchI knew Cardinal Spellman, too. When he died of a drug overdose in 1968, just past his 25th birthday, he left behind a marital history worthy of a man several times his age. Not to mention that two other members of the Teenagers have filed suit claiming they cowrote "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" Ah, Frankie. Her complaint charges fraud, misappropriation and copyright infringement, among other offenses. She turned to heroin and cocaine herself, she acknowledged on the stand, and to support her daughter from her first marriage, she became a prostitute. According to Span, Rubin was not opposed to generating new income from old music. with Frankie Lymon, and they have filed their own federal suit against Levy et al., with Emira also named as a defendant. Borstein also says that Lymon, who was always pestering Levy for money, sold Levy the copyright to all his songs and that Levy has a signed document to that effect. Though Navas soapy directing style makes Fools watchable enough in a campy way, the films unsophisticated nature undermines its better qualities. Elizabeth Waters was a struggling part-time bill collector from Philadelphia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP6P329DMKY. "I'm not a person to hold a grudge. Frankie was that kind of person, Your Honor, Elizabeth said. "The only thing {Morris Levy} had to do with it was to collect the money," Santiago says. Artists Rights helped secure a financial settlement for Richard Berry, composer of "Louie, Louie" just before the song was used in a wine cooler ad. Whie serving at Ft. Gordon in Georgia, Frankie married again. What was there about Frankie Lymon? Celebrity Biographies Frankie Lymon's relationship with Elizabeth Waters ended when Frankie Lymon died on February 28, 1968. He was a charmer, they all agree on that much. While growing up in New York City, I never had much discipline, Lymon said. 22, 2021. The female lawyer stated that the battle began shortly after Emira asked the Georgia court to declare her as the administrator of Lemmons Estate. Royalties were underestimated or simply never paid. Depending on how the judge rules, the decision may reactivate a federal suit to wrest Lymon's royalties and publishing rights from the record industry executive who claims to own them. All rights reserved. Elizabeth Waters was not yet divorced when she married Lymon, but the marriage became lawful once her first husbands divorce was finalized. Frankie's particular scam, she thinks, was getting married. "He was honest, completely honest," Elizabeth insisted, "Up to a point." Opened 1940 | Named after Elizabeth Waters. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. She had a big house in the hills with a swimming pool, and she immediately took the scruffy Frankie shopping for suits and tuxedos. While growing up in New York City, I never had much discipline, Lymon told The Chronicle. That's why we're here today.". 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. The small wedding party celebrated by getting very drunk, not an uncommon state for Frankie at the time. 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. As a been-around woman never at a loss for an insulting put-down (He dropped you like a whores panties is one example), Fox gives Fools most engaging performance. "Frankie wasn't much older, either, when he met the third Mrs. Lymon, Emira Eagle. He was staying in his grandmother's apartment on West 165th Street. She's going to call it "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?". Ash Taylor, Elizabeth Waters, and Amira Eagle reached out to Morris Levy, a music entrepreneur who retained Lymons copyrights and copyrights, claiming to be Lymons legal widow; Lymon didnt bother to divorce any of them. He was a master manipulator, however, and it was just two months after his less than honorable discharge for repeatedly being AWOL that he went to New York, telling Emira that he wanted to see about reviving his career while also secretly planning to contact lady friends and drug pushers in the city. DAPHNE, AL 36526. His was a wasted life, and he was so talented., Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. "A lot of people say I knew him so long I became like him.". The Teenagers tried recording on their own, with a new lead singer. Elizabeth Waters was a struggling part-time bill collector from Philadelphia. Its a mark of how shallow Fools is that even as gifted an actor as Tate (excellent in Menace II Society and Dead Presidents) cant turn Lymon into anything more than a cipher. Sound Veda Campell. Waters bore Lymon's only known child, a daughter who died shortly after birth. Zola, the second supposed wife, got to be pretty friendly with the first. Lymon was 14 years old when he began dating Zola Taylor (Berry), the lead singer of the Platters in the mid-1950s. When a star-struck group like the Teenagers finally got to audition for a doo-wop impresario, such matters as copyright barely figured in the conversation. It spent months on the pop charts, led to national tours and TV appearances and bubble-gum cards with the Teenagers' picture on them. And the true imponderable, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?". Elizabeths claim to be Frankies wife and heir was weakened by the fact that she was still legally married when she wed Frankie in 1964. But the case may not end there, of course. However, it turned out she had been married to someone else at the time. Big Seven agreed to pay Elizabeth an additional $5,000 if the federal lawsuit is dismissed because the plaintiff (Emira) is not the legal widow. "Some drug users, they rob, they steal, and they do everything to sustain that habit." The names of Frankie Lymon and Morris Levy were now listed as the songwriters. Emira testified in Surrogate Court that her arrangement called for any money recovered through her suit to be shared 50-50 with Rubin, after expenses and legal fees, which had already reached a substantial subtotal. 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. It is Frankie Lymon's only real legacy, that two minutes and 15 seconds of doo-wop. The marriage to Eagle is valid, so she is entitled to a fief. Lymon and his group followed up with three more hits in 1956 and another in 1957. Art director John Chicester. Elizabeth Waters claimed to have married Lymon in 1964 in Virginia. As a child star, however, I was subjected to discipline from agents, managers and lawyers, but it was a discipline that protected me from myself so to speak. Bigger than life! When a touring musical about Lymon's life came to the Imperial Theater in May of 2013, the cast invited Bryant to be the honored guest with her family and took photos with her after the show. It makes him not only a good soldier, but a better individual. Then, two months after his dishonorable discharge (for repeatedly being AWOL), he went to New York, telling Emira he wanted to see about reviving his career. Although most of Rubin's cases don't wind up in court, the allegations Emira made are not unusual. Each woman suspected he was sleeping with the other, and both were apparently correct. He was the . He got on that stage, and baby he was huge! Why Do Fools Fall in Love is not quite the question asked by this up-tempo, relentlessly cartoonish biopic focusing on the tangled romantic life of an early rock star. 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