"She's a square," Zola decided, noticing that Emira was coming to court in sneakers. Fox), a prison-hardened former shoplifter and prostitute. Fox as three women claiming to be the legal wife of Lymon and heir to his recording royalties. Editor Nancy Richardson. 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. Taylor, of Los Angeles, a singer with the Platters, contends she married Lymon in 1965 in Tijuana, Mexico. Cinematographer Ed Lachman. He then located Emira, put her in touch with an attorney, and helped line up witnesses and documentation. ", "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" was part of the American Graffiti film soundtrack and album, a big pop hit single and album for Diana Ross in 1981, and had been used in a greeting card commercial. At one point, Levy owned more than 90 companies that employed 900 people.These included record pressing plants, tape-duplicating plants, a distribution company, a prominent New England chain of record stores, and numerous record labels. The way '50s singer Frankie Lymon is presented in "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" is "mostly true. At her insistence he checked into a Manhattan hospital to cure his drug habit, and maybe he succeeded for a time. Ronnie had raised a large amount of money from the benefit concerts and donations, but he had been in limbo because of the legal battle, recalled Bill Olb. Im sure it probably would bring back some good memories, she said of the show that was being staged at the Imperial. Set designers Clare Scarpulla, Michael Bernard. And then he went out and proved it. Whie serving at Ft. Gordon in Georgia, Frankie married again. He (Frankie) sort of changed my life, she told the judge. 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. Watch a performance of "Little Boy And Girl" by Pearl McKinnon and the Kodakshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP6P329DMKY. "Some drug users, they rob, they steal, and they do everything to sustain that habit." Emiras Frankie Lymon is not this drunken bum, Pomeroy said. Mays Mortuary, 1221 James Brown Blvd. Family and friends said goodbye Friday to Emira Eagle Lymon Bryant, who. By the time Waters connected with Lymon, he had become a junkie, and she ended up ruining herself trying to pay for his drugs. Elizabeth testified that she did not object. Gender inclusive room options available. Her troubles with drugs and the law continued long after Frankie's death. Published by Mobile Register and Baldwin County from Jan. 25 to Jan. 27, 2023. Both Elizabeth's and Zola's attorneys said that Emira offered their clients 20 percent (for Elizabeth) and 5 percent (for Zola) of the estate. "I'm not a person to hold a grudge. Frankie marrying a schoolteacher? When Frankie Lymon died from a heroin overdose in 1968, he was broke and trying again for a comeback that he never achieved. This answer is: Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. 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. But her secretary and her booking agent both testified that they were witnesses to the wedding. Zola never saw him alive again. She had a big house in the hills with a swimming pool, and she immediately took the scruffy Frankie shopping for suits and tuxedos. "Remember, Frankie needed the money badly," Borstein said. Her attorneys advised her that it might look bad for her in court if she allowed an outside organization to place a headstone on Frankies grave. Click the "All Sizes" button above to read an article or to see the image clearly. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. Zola and Elizabeth declined, but say they were willing to accept an equal, three-way split. And that song, which he wrote or helped to write and which will bear his boyish vocal signature forever. Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. They point to the absence of documentation from Mexico as evidence that Zola and Frankie never married at all. She has been in one celebrity relationship averaging approximately 4.1 years. Running time: 1 hour, 56 minutes. That wasn't his style. At the least, records and witnesses' recollections seem to indicate that Frankie Lymon did stand before a magistrate or minister on three occasions to promise himself to each of these women until death parted them, which turned out to be a fairly short time. And while Fools ends with an on-screen disclaimer that it is a dramatization based upon certain historical events and the lives of real people, its inability to incorporate key elements of the real Lymon story hampers it dramatically. "She was so taken with the idea of being once and for all declared the real Mrs. Frankie Lymon." Screenplay by Tina Andrews. She's going to call it "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?". In one disturbing incident, James wrote that Levy arranged a 1967 attack on former Roulette artist Jimmie Rodgers by an off-duty police officer in response to Rodgers repeated demands for unpaid royalties he was owed by the label. Director Gregory Nava. He was a hustler, a liar and a thief. None of the three women in court, all of whom he deceived and betrayed, seemed willing to condemn him. Levys attorney responded that the agreements with Elizabeth and Zola amounted to standard industry contracts. * Playing in general release throughout Southern California. But he will apparently have little trouble with Elizabeth Waters. 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. "A lot of people say I knew him so long I became like him.". 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. Lymon's 1967 marriage to Eagle, marked by a ceremony at the Beulah Grove Baptist Church, was invalid, according to the opinion, because he was still married to Waters. The opinion by Surrogate Court Judge Marie Lambert entitles Waters to an estate that may be worth $750,000 in accumulated royalties from Lymon's 1956 hit and its more recent incarnations. As Waters' claim went to court, Taylor claimed that she had been sexually active with Lymon as early as the "Biggest Rock "n" Roll Show of 1956" tour. The court found that "the decedent and Elizabeth {Waters} have satisfied the requirements of common law marriage in the State of Pennsylvania." Also Read:Antoinette Giancana Biography, Family and Movies. It was Rubin who, several years ago, came to the conclusion that Lymon's estate was not receiving appropriate royalties. 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. Fox), a prison-hardened former shoplifter and prostitute. When trading Miss Thing"-type insults doesnt clear the air, a lawsuit to determine the identity of the true widow and heir to Lymons royalties becomes inevitable. 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 . I often tell people that Frankie didnt end up living a glorified life. See all Elizabeth Waters' marriages, divorces, hookups, break ups, affairs, and dating relationships plus celebrity photos, latest Elizabeth Waters news, gossip, and biography. The first decision was made in Waterss favor; Eagle appealed, and in 1989 the New York State Supreme Court Appeals Division overturned the original decision and transferred ownership of Lymon to Eagle. Span reported that Zolas secretary and her booking agent both testified that they were witnesses to the wedding, and that her attorneys argued that California law made her a putative (believed to be) spouse entitled to share in Frankie Lymons property. Required fields are marked *. Span wrote that she was conscious of her stardom and arrived at court daily in a limousine. By the time I met Frankie, he was a record deal-needing, broke ass, scam-on-his-momma-for-a-fix druggie! I feel sorry for him, most of all," echoes Zola. The two surviving members of the Teenagers claim that they wrote the song with Lymon when they were all Harlem street-corner harmonizers hoping for a break. Rubin gets his share, too: 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 have already reached a substantial subtotal. Yes, the three women are gorgeous and talented, and it is fun to see them having at one another. And it stalls or kills a federal lawsuit Eagle had brought to reclaim control of the publishing rights to his song. Lymon was 14 years old when he began dating Zola Taylor (Berry), the lead singer of the Platters in the mid-1950s. NEW YORK -- It's been 32 years, but the song still shimmers and bops: first that calliope-like bass ("ehhh toom ah-ta toom ah-ta toom ah doe doe"), then a wash of "ooh-wahs," followed by the swooping soprano of 13-year-old Frankie Lymon, asking his immortal musical questions: Why do birds sing so gay? Elizabeth Waters - Director STEM Outreach - The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art | LinkedIn Elizabeth Waters Director STEM Outreach at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of. His bride was Emira Eagle, an elementary school teacher who lived with her family in nearby Augusta. If Emira wins, she'll share the proceeds with Chuck Rubin and go after Morris Levy. She has never remarried. This legal drama was made into a movie earlier this year, named after his hit song Why fools fall in love. 1 pop hit for Diana Ross in 1981 and recently turned up in a greeting card commercial. She and Frankie began living together in 1962, she testified. Cheesborough. It teaches him responsibility and how to stand on his own two feet. Kenneth Turan is the former film critic for the Los Angeles Times. Lymon didn't even leave a grieving widow to serve as keeper of his flame. Though this success was short-lived, Lymon on a personal level was apparently quite the boy who couldnt say no. It was not, for long, a happy one. The marriage to Eagle is valid, so she is entitled to a fief. and never miss an insightful take by the TFIGlobal team, This website uses cookies. Bigger than life! 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