Frankie was that kind of person, Your Honor, Elizabeth said. They fought and separated continually. He was inducted into the Army in December 1966, and sent to Fort Gordon, Ga. By the time Pvt. What was there about Frankie Lymon? The losing widows might appeal. The next morning, Feb. 27, an uncle found him unresponsive on the bathroom floor and called police. Frankie could fool you, he could fool me; Frankie could fool God. No one foresaw that the people who grew up with the music would refuse to relinquish it, repeatedly recycling it into movie sound tracks and albums, cover versions, oldies compilations and TV commercials. Emira Eagle Lymon Bryant, the legally declared widow of '50s teenage rock star Frankie Lymon, died Saturday at AU Medical Center. Elizabeth Waters Lymon, Elizabeth also acknowledged in court that she started using heroin and cocaine at this point. If Emira wins, she'll share the proceeds with Chuck Rubin and go after Morris Levy. The opinion dismisses the claims of Taylor, who was unable to produce "credible proof" of her marriage to Lymon or her divorce from her previous husband, both of which she said occurred in Mexico. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. ELIZABETH OGLE WATERS OBITUARY. "Just make sure the artist or writer gets his share." The sum, he says, "might have been $1,500. Parts of the above testimony and chronology of events were disputed in court. Zola, in her low-cut gowns, was the dish. Army discipline, I think, teaches a man how to protect himself. Zola, the second supposed wife, got to be pretty friendly with the first. The elephant in the room was the large sum of money that would be awarded to whoever was determined to be the songwriters of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love. It was copyrighted in the names of Frankie Lymon and Morris Levy. Span wrote that Frankie was a soldier for most of his brief marriage to Emira. 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 . 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. That suit was suspended while Lambert determined which woman was Lymon's widow. Each woman suspected he was sleeping with the other, and both apparently were correct. 507 residents | Coed by wing | Single and double rooms. (All three women used the surname Lymon in court documents at least part of the time.) Also Read:Uplift Suasion: the notion to change racism, Your email address will not be published. A lot of people say I knew him so long I became like him.. Why Do Fools Fall In Love was a prime example, and its publishing rights may have earned a lot of money by 1984, according to Chuck Rubin of Artists Rights Enforcement Corp. Rubin established his organization in 1981 to represent artists who he believed had been deprived of their earnings by their record companies. The Teenagers tried recording on their own, with a new lead singer. Though Navas soapy directing style makes Fools watchable enough in a campy way, the films unsophisticated nature undermines its better qualities. 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. They got married at City Hall in Alexandria, Va., early in 1964. 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. It was painfully revealed in court testimony, however, that Frankie Lymon, for all his talent, was a bigamist, hustler, liar, and thief. His in the end was a wasted life ruined by drugs. None of the many tracks they made together or separately ever duplicated the jubilance of their early records. Production design Cary White. Yes, the three women are gorgeous and talented, and it is fun to see them having at one another. LYMON REESE OBITUARY. 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. He decided to head to California in hopes that his old friend Zola Taylor could help him get some singing gigs in Los Angeles. "I didn't want her to hear it on the news," he said. First Visitation. Lymon didn't even leave a grieving widow to serve as keeper of his flame. * MPAA rating: R, for language and some sexuality. 2010-02-12 00:06:12. "He sort of changed my life for me," Elizabeth says. Owning the rights to 1950s rock and roll songs meant more in the 1980s than it did when they were hits. But I couldnt get my hands on him, couldnt find him. According to Elizabeth and several other witnesses, Frankie was back in New York telling them that his marriage to Zola had only been a publicity stunt. Jimmy Merchant and Herman Santiago, the two surviving members of the original Teenagers (Sherman Garnes, the inventive bass, and Joe Negroni were the others), say they wrote "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" Smalls Mortuary - Eastern Shore. Who wrote "Why Do Fools Fall in Love"? Elizabeth Waters was a struggling part-time bill collector from Philadelphia. Recording costs and commissions for everyone from managers to choreographers could siphon off much of a groups earnings. He was a charmer, they all agree on that much. Fox), a prison-hardened former shoplifter and prostitute. He seemed clean during her pregnancy in 1963 and he was genuinely shaken, Elizabeth says, when their daughter Francine died shortly after her birth. The Associated Press AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) Funeral services have been held for the widow of '50s rock star Frankie Lymon. If the judge's ruling stands, "then we go to federal court and advise the judge that the party who commenced the action is the wrong party," says Levy's attorney in the case, Leon Bornstein. Lymon was 14 years old when he began dating Zola Taylor (Berry), the lead singer of the Platters in the mid-1950s. Zola has been unable to locate records documenting their Mexican wedding, or documenting her Mexican divorce from her previous marriage (her second). Similar to the stars of today, whenever the press cites "exhaustion" it's drug related. Recording costs and commissions for everyone from managers to choreographers could siphon off much of a group's earnings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP6P329DMKY. Privacy Policy Agreement * I agree to the Terms of use and Privacy Policy. The resulting trial was fascinating look into Frankie Lymons post-stardom personal life, and it was covered in great detail by Washington Post reporter Paula Span. In lieu of sentencing, Frankie was allowed to undergo another rehab programAfter completing another rehab program and was inducted into the Army in December 1966. Zola: "I perform all over the world"), she arrived at court daily in a limousine. Her sister's boyfriend introduced them; soon, Emira was cooking meals for Frankie and they were shopping for wedding rings. Elizabeth, 43, of Philadelphia, claims she married Lymon in Alexandria, Va., in 1964, and that the couple had a child who died. Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. ", 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. An act could rise and fall with astonishing swiftness then. It was engraved with the words, In Memory Of Frankie Lymon Sept. 30, 1942 - Feb. 27, 1968 "We Promise To Remember". I know its been good for me.. Also Read Inside Data and Cyber Security issue in Barbados Europe plays chess with Wagner's African moves, imposes sanctions As a result, they fought and separated numerous times. With black rhythm and blues releases beginning to win white audiences, music had become a ticket to glory. Lymon was discharged a year later, he'd said "I do" once more. Zola Taylor had also been a teen-aged star. Zola's attorneys argue that California law makes her a "putative spouse" entitled to share in Lymon's property. It was also Rubin who located Emira, put her in touch with an attorney, helped line up witnesses and documentation. Frankie Lymon died in New York. She did not know the druggie described in this trial. Back in the 1950s, when a star-struck group like the Teenagers finally got to audition for the head of a record company, such matters as copyright barely figured in the conversation. Cheesborough. And then he went out and proved it. Elizabeth Waters was a struggling part-time bill collector from Philadelphia. For Frankie had helped himself to hers. He took the bus to the post from her familys home each day. I feel sorry for him, most of all," echoed Zola. A decision was reached in November, but the case would not end there. He was apparently a bigamist, or maybe a trigamist. Mini Bio (1) Frankie Lymon was born on September 30, 1942 in Harlem, New York City, New York, USA. Emira's attorneys have advised her not to talk to reporters until after the Surrogate Court decision. 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. He then located Emira, put her in touch with an attorney, and helped line up witnesses and documentation. "The only thing {Morris Levy} had to do with it was to collect the money," Santiago says. (All three women used the surname Lymon in court documents at least part of the time.) 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. By now, publishing rights to the song may have earned $750,000, or even more. Lymon was one of hundreds of kids in Harlem who had taken to street-corner harmonizing in the 1950s, rehearsing in apartment house hallways and echoey subway stations. He then called Elizabeth and urged her to join him. It was modified to just Lymon and Goldner on subsquent recordings for the next decade before Goldner's name was replaced by Levy's. However, it turned out she had been married to someone else at the time. He got on that stage, and baby he was huge! 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.. The next month, according to Zola, she and Frankie drove to Tijuana and got married in a small chapel. What's different here is that before the suit could come to trial, Elizabeth petitioned the Surrogate Court claiming that she was Lymon's widow and Zola objected claiming that she was. I cant just sit here and tell the court anything different. Chuck Rubin. "Frankie wasn't much older, either, when he met the third Mrs. Lymon, Emira Eagle. What is less clear from the file is why, 20 years afterward, it has become so important to be Frankie Lymon's legal widow. That case can now proceed, their attorney says. "They wanted to impress their friends in school" by being on the radio. He established his Artists Rights Enforcement Corp. in 1981 to hound, bully or sue record companies that he thought were depriving artists of their earnings, taking a substantial cut for his efforts. But he will apparently have little trouble with Elizabeth Waters. Zola had also been a teenage star. Levy had been arrested earlier in 1986 as part of the F.B.I. November 2, 1988 NEW YORK -- The judge who last winter heard three middle-aged women testify to their heartaches with the late Frankie Lymon -- the doo-wop idol who cowrote and sang "Why Do Fools. 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. Zola Taylor, a former member of the teen-age doo-wop group the Platters, also said. Get our L.A. Thats why were here today.. According to Span, Rubin was not opposed to generating new income from old music. 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. Best Answer. Kids didnt know about royalties said Bob Hyde of Murray Hill Records. The sum, he said, "might have been $1,500. "Sell, sell, sell," he advises. "Emira's Frankie Lymon is not this drunken bum," Pomeroy says. The stone was dedicated by his fans and friends on February 27, 1988, the 20th anniversary of Frankie's death and one month before the opening arguments in the case that would determine his legal wife and rightful heir. 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. Royalties were underestimated or simply never paid. He was previously married to Emira Lymon, Zola Taylor and Elizabeth Waters. It was not, for long, a happy one. Zola Taylor Lymon, now 50, one of the original Platters, had flown in from Los Angeles. Back in 1956, the hit song had first been credited to Frankie Lymon, Herman Santiago, and George Goldner - head of Gee Records. The following month, Zola testified that she and Frankie drove to Tijuana and got married in a tiny chapel. They were married in June 1967 at the Beulah Grove Baptist Church, with 50 members of Emira's family in attendance and a reception afterward at the Capri Lounge. NEW YORK -- The judge who last winter heard three middle-aged women testify to their heartaches with the late Frankie Lymon -- the doo-wop idol who cowrote and sang "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" and died 20 years ago of a heroin overdose -- has found Elizabeth Waters, 46, of Philadelphia, to be Lymon's legal widow. So Lymon was already a 20-year-old has-been when he met Elizabeth Waters backstage at the Audubon Ballroom. The retired Richmond County schoolteacher in her years after Lymon was married to Augustan Leroy Bryant. He probably found out through her attorney, who Ronnie now had to deal with during the lawsuit., His dealings with Emira had all been oral. Both Zola and Elizabeth think their agreements with Levy fair, and neither plans to take legal action against him if she is found to be Lymon's widow. Paralleling the spectacle of these three women battling over Lymons heritage is the way different elements of this film, directed by Nava from a script by Tina Andrews, are in conflict with one another. "And he was still just a kid when he started on the next wife, Elizabeth Waters," said Nava. Ten years after his initial success, however, he was wearing an Army uniform as a private at Fort Gordon. Elizabeth Waters may be entitled to an estate worth $750,000 in accumulated royalties from Lymon 1956 hit and it's more modern iterations, according to Surrogate Court Judge Marie Lambert's ruling. With the waters thoroughly muddied, the federal judge stayed Emira's lawsuit in 1986 pending determination of which woman was Lymon's widow. Screenplay by Tina Andrews. Unfortunately, shes also involved in the films least convincing area, the jarring sections that deal with the troubles brought on by Lymons habit. and never miss an insightful take by the TFIGlobal team, This website uses cookies. "Remember, Frankie needed the money badly," Borstein said. Kenneth Turan is the former film critic for the Los Angeles Times. As soon as the hearing began, Emiras attorneys alleged that the other two widows acted in concert with Morris Levy. I know its been good for me.. 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. Her only marriage lasted 4.1 years. Family and friends said goodbye Friday to Emira Eagle Lymon Bryant, who. He told Zola that the new guest was a friend from New York, Zola recalled. I know some of these characters, and some I like very muchI knew Cardinal Spellman, too. 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. 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. Ms. Army discipline, I think, teaches a man how to protect himself. They had been married for 4.1 years. It teaches him responsibility and how to stand on his own two feet. 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. Although most of Rubin's cases don't wind up in court, the allegations Emira made are not unusual. Elizabeth testified that she did not object. 1 pop hit for Diana Ross in 1981 and recently turned up in a greeting card commercial. Published by Legacy on Jul. Span wrote that Elizabeth called her work as a prostitute moonlighting in her testimony, and that Elizabeth said she had been arrested for it 15 or 20 times. Her adversary, Morris Levy, was a powerful force in the music business. 1/28/23, noon until 2pm service at Small's Mortuary. Emira Eagle Lymon. "Sell, sell, sell," he advised. Both Elizabeth's and Zola's attorneys say Emira offered their clients 20 percent (for Elizabeth) and 5 percent (for Zola) of the estate. In Los Angeles win white audiences, music had become a ticket to glory urged to! Noon until 2pm service at small & # x27 ; s Mortuary a campy way, lead! `` the only thing { Morris Levy } had to do with it was modified to just Lymon Morris. Elizabeth Waters was a struggling part-time bill collector from Philadelphia, most of all, '' Elizabeth says world... 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