After a long battle with bladder cancer, singer Andy Williams, 84, has died. He will always be remembered for this song:
Andy had a very popular television show in the 1960s from which the above clip was taken. The highlight of each season was the Christmas show, where he would appear with his family, reminding many of Bing Crosby's annual television Christmas specials with HIS family.
Although Andy was a registered Republican, he was close to the Kennedy family, especially RFK and wife Ethel. After RFK was murdered in 1968, one of Andy's sons was named after the late senator. Williams remained a close friend of Ethel's and rumors swirled that they were an item following Williams' separation and divorce. It appears, however, they were just friends. In any case, they never married. Williams didn't remarry until much later on, to a hotel executive named Debbie Haas. They divided their time between homes in California and Branson, Missouri. His wife, two brothers, three children, and six grandchildren survive him.
Williams was always a kind, caring soul. It was the kindness of being a good Samaritan that forever changed his life around 1960, when, walking to a Las Vegas hotel, he helped a stranded motorist when her car stalled. That stranded motorist was a French-born Vegas dancer named Claudine Longet. Williams helped her out by pushing her car, and although at 32 he was considerably older than the striking 18-year-old Longet, they hit it off and eventually married. The two had three children together before divorcing in 1975 following a long separation. Longet tried her hand in show business as a singer and had some success.
That is until March of 1976, when Longet was accused of murder in one of the most sensational cases in the history of the United States. She was accused of killing her lover, skiing great Vladimir "Spider" Sabich, 31, after an argument, as he was fed up with her possessiveness and wanted her to move out. Upset with losing yet another meal ticket, she shot him to death in his house in Aspen, Colorado. However, she claimed she "accidentally" killed him when she wanted to know how to use the gun and he was supposedly showing her how when it went off. Everybody, especially those in Aspen, thought she was guilty of murder rather than being involved in an accident.
Everybody except who seemed to be the only friend she had in the world:
To be fair, there may have been more than one person who believed in her innocence: her defense lawyer Ron Austin, who later shacked up with Claudine and then married her. They are still together after all of these years and still live in Aspen.
Anyway, back to the trial. Andy stood by Claudine through it all, escorting her to and from the courthouse. She eventually got a slap on the wrist, becoming the O.J. Simpson of the 1970s. However, her career was over.
Andy, though, continued on with his until he became ill, frequently making appearances in Branson and in other places.
From the obit:
The Iowa-born Williams began singing professionally as a boy with his three older brothers in the 1930s, and he went solo when the quartet broke up in the early `50s.
After becoming a regular featured singer on Steve Allen's "Tonight" show in 1954, Williams had hits with songs such as "Canadian Sunset," "Butterfly," "Are You Sincere," "Hawaiian Wedding Song" and "The Village of St. Bernadette."
He continued to turn out hits in the 1960s and `70s, including "Can't Get Used to Losing You," "Dear Heart," "Charade," "Music to Watch Girls By" and "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story."
The singer hosted "The Andy Williams Show" on NBC from 1962 to 1967. After doing three specials a year for two years, he returned to the weekly series from 1969 to 1971.
Just for fun, another musical clip, this one of Andy with his then-wife Claudine singing about their "favorite things" in the 1966 Christmas special:
