"Just make sure the artist or writer gets his share." At the age of 13 little Lymon and his group of singers Teens signed a recording contract. And if he put others through hell too, well, didn't he say, right in that song, that love is a losing game? "If you have any kind of heart at all," she says, "you know that he went through hell.". As the lead vocalist for the Teenagers, Lymon (played by Larenz Tate) helped turn Why Do Fools Fall in Love into one of the biggest hits of 1956. I cant just sit here and tell the court anything different. She has never remarried. ", "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. Lymon C. Reese Lymon Clifton Reese was born in Stanley, Pike County, Arkansas, on April 27, 1917, to Samuel Wesley Reese and Nancy Elizabeth (Betty) Daniel Reese. He moved into her home and her bedroom. They pointed to the contracts that Elizabeth and Zola signed with Levys publishing business, Big Seven Music Corp. Each assigned the songs copyright to Big Seven in exchange for an advance ($10,000 for Elizabeth and $7,500 for Zola) against her share of future royalties. Elizabeth 'Mickey' Waters : You see, y'all gotta understand. Emira came to New York to arrange for his funeral mass and burial, and she paid the bill -- $2,000. It was the hit that made him and the Teenagers famous back in 1956, and the one song that he recorded that remained both popular and valuable over the years. 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. It was Rubin who, several years earlier, came to the conclusion that Lymons estate was not receiving appropriate royalties. As a result, they fought and separated numerous times. Also Read:David Von Drehle: Biography, Career, Education and Books. 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 was characterized as The Octopus by Varietymagazine for his far-reaching control and power in the record industry and his connections to organized crime. So the trial went forward. Frankie was that kind of person, Your Honor, Elizabeth said. "Remember, Frankie needed the money badly," Borstein says. It spent months on the pop charts, led to national tours and TV appearances and bubble-gum cards with the Teenagers' picture on them. He was apparently a bigamist, or maybe a trigamist. 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. Rubin's 200 or so clients, from the Del Vikings to the Coasters, constitute an honor roll of early rock 'n' roll. This time his bride was Emira Eagle, an educated, churchgoing elementary school teacher who lived with her family in nearby Augusta. Conscious of her stardom (Reporter: "Are you still performing in California?" The losing widows might appeal. It is in fact three wives who face the camera, one after another, each claiming to be Lymons true love and legal spouse. Ten years after his initial success, however, he was wearing an Army uniform as a private at Fort Gordon. Like the jazz and blues artists before them, the rock 'n' rollers of the '50s and '60s were often ripe for rip-offs. 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. She knew a soldier., Frankie was interviewed by The Augusta Chronicle while he was stationed at Ft. Gordon. She says he didn't mean to hurt her, and blames his behavior on his addictions. Despite hearing that Emira had changed her mind, Ronnie maintained faith in their original agreement and ordered a headstone from a company in North Arlington, New Jersey. He was a soldier for most of their brief marriage, taking the bus from her family's home to the post each day. Her published account of the trial and the three women contesting to be named Frankies legal wife and heir was titled The Three Wives: The Legacy Of Love. 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. I loved him like a brother.". Whie serving at Ft. Gordon in Georgia, Frankie married again. In 1986, the women, who were never divorced from Lymon, filed copyright claims in federal court in New York for Lymons songs. He recorded other songs, alone and with his group the Teenagers, but none has inspired the same affection. (All three women used the surname Lymon in court documents at least part of the time.) Levy ruled his empire with an iron hand, using both fear and intimidation as part of his business model. This answer is: By 1962, Frankies career had been in decline for several years but she had nevertheless come with two girlfriends to meet her onetime idol. Elizabeth, now 46, said she had been born again, but she still strove for glamor, her skirt fashionably above the knee, her fingernails long and orange. She told Span that she never recovered financially from the loss of her home and still feels "cheated." She did not know the druggie described in this trial. 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. 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. Lymon's managers tried packaging him as a solo crooner in a cravat. Zola Taylor had also been a teen-aged star. "I'm not going to wear mink coats with {you} in jeans," she announced. Elizabeth Waters may be entitled to an estate worth $750,000 in accumulated royalties from Lymon 1956 hit and its more modern iterations, according to Surrogate Court Judge Marie Lamberts ruling. She plays Lemmons second wife. Cinematographer Ed Lachman. She called the work "moonlighting" and testified that she was arrested for it 15 or 20 times. Donald Ray Lymon Sep. 6, 1964 - Jan. 23, 2023 Lie in State Fri. 1/27/23, 4-8pm at Small's Mortuary. Waters Residence Hall is centrally located in the heart of campus along the shore of Lake Mendota. ("I thought royalties was a dessert," says Elizabeth.). Elizabeth Waters claimed to have married Lymon in 1964 in Virginia. DONALD LYMON OBITUARY. Not that their relationship was entirely maternal. became part of the "American Graffiti" sound track and album, was a No. They also pointed to the absence of documentation from Mexico as evidence that Zola and Frankie never married at all. 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. "I'd have killed him, I was so angry," she says. Legacy.com reports daily on death announcements in local communities nationwide. It makes him not only a good soldier, but a better individual. Emira Eagle Lymon. 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. He got on that stage, and baby he was huge! 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. "Some drug users, they rob, they steal, and they do everything to sustain that habit." Fox), a prison-hardened former shoplifter and prostitute. She also stole the hearts of many people and led to a five-year legal battle to answer which of the three women who claimed to be married to the star was the real Mrs. Frankie Lemmon . Hell, the boy had so many needle marks on him, I thought he was a God-damned . 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?" 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. Paula Span reported that Frankie and Elizabeth got married in Alexandria, Virginia, in early 1964. Frankie Lymon died in New York. She and Frankie became teenaged lovers in 1956 while they were on an Alan Freed bus tour of 81 one-nighters, each performing with their group along with an all-star cast. Zola Taylor said she married Lymon on Oct. Both Elizabeth's and Zola's attorneys say Emira offered their clients 20 percent (for Elizabeth) and 5 percent (for Zola) of the estate. Borstein, Levy's attorney, says the charges are "complete speculation; there's absolutely no proof.". Times guidelines: a bloody beating and some genteel scenes of lovemaking. The essence of their dispute was which of the marriages was legally binding, given a certain laxity in some quarters about divorce. ", Meanwhile, Paula Span used both interviews and court testimony to profile each of the widows in her story. She attempted to recover all the royalties from the date of the records release because she alleged that neither Levy nor his predecessor as co-writer, George Goldner who discovered and recorded the Teenagers, was actually a songwriter. 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. He was previously married to Emira Lymon, Zola Taylor and Elizabeth Waters. Elizabeth Waters Found 1,173 people in Florida, Georgia and 49 other states. Heres the glamorous Zola Taylor (Halle Berry), a member of the Platters, one of early rocks supergroups. 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. Elizabeth went on to testify that she also saw Frankie the day before he took his last, fatal dose of heroin. I often tell people that Frankie didnt end up living a glorified life. 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. Although most of Rubin's cases don't wind up in court, the allegations Emira made are not unusual. She also turned to prostitution to support her daughter from her first marriage, to one Charles Phillips, when she was just 16. Friday, November 06 2020. She'd come with two girlfriends to meet her onetime idol. "I didn't want her to hear it on the news," he said. He (Frankie) sort of changed my life, she told the judge. "He had been busted in California again for drugs. Most record buyers did not become aware of this latest change until the Happenings recorded a cover version of "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" in 1967 with Levy's name listed on the label. probe. Neither Zola nor Elizabeth could quite. "Frankie wasn't much older, either, when he met the third Mrs. Lymon, Emira Eagle. Zola's attorneys argue that California law makes her a "putative spouse" entitled to share in Lymon's property. 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. Neither Zola nor Elizabeth could quite figure Emira Eagle Lymon, the 48-year-old third wife from Augusta, Ga. Frankie marrying a schoolteacher? Royalties were underestimated or simply never paid. He had the looks; he had the voice; he had the moves. 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. Left-Wing Meloni: Italys Attempt to Replicate Giorgia Meloni, Europe is dumping its migrants in Africa in exchange of money, Antoinette Giancana Biography, Family and Movies, David Von Drehle: Biography, Career, Education and Books, Uplift Suasion: the notion to change racism, Mexicos constitutional crisis has its roots in Washington, The EU-Mercosur Deal: Macrons Duplicity Unveiled, Paraguay declares Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation. Span wrote that Frankie was a soldier for most of his brief marriage to Emira. 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. It teaches him responsibility and how to stand on his own two feet. His widow in 2013 said she was lucky to know and love Lymon at a good time in his life when he was happy being in the Army and still had hopes for the future. Best Answer. He didn't mind. Next comes the feisty Elizabeth Waters (Vivica A. Zola has been unable to locate records documenting their Mexican wedding, or documenting her Mexican divorce from her previous marriage (her second). And if Zola wins she's also decided to record an album of Frankie's hits -- "I Want You to Be My Girl," "I Promise to Remember," all the big ones. A lot of people say I knew him so long I became like him.. Costumes Elisabetta Beraldo. It is copyrighted in the names of Frankie Lymon and Morris Levy, head of Roulette Records, an independent label that bought out the Gee label, which originally released the record. Pearl, who emulated Frankie Lymon with a distinctive sound all her own, sealed the deal for Robinson, and the Kodaks were signed to the Fury label. 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. 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. Zola and Elizabeth declined, but said they were willing to accept an equal, three-way split. "He sort of changed my life for me," Elizabeth says. She has been in one celebrity relationship averaging approximately 4.1 years. 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. The Surrogate Court judge hearing the widowhood case pushed for a settlement. "I'm not a person to hold a grudge. She told the judge that Frankie Lymon was a charmer. "Frankie was that kind of person, your honor," she said. Zola: "I perform all over the world"), she arrived at court daily in a limousine. By now, publishing rights to the song may have earned $750,000, or even more. Zola and Elizabeth didn't get close to Emira; she didn't have anything much to say to them, either. He had the type of personality that would draw people, she said. Published by Legacy on Jul. Back in 1956, the hit song had first been credited to Frankie Lymon, Herman Santiago, and George Goldner - head of Gee Records. Undisputed, however, was the song's impact. It was put on hold until the completion of a new trial to determine which of three women Frankie Lymon was said to have married, but none of whom he ever divorced, was his rightful widow and heir. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. She told the court that she wanted to help him get back on his feet and regain all he had lost, but that trying to help him wasnt easy. Zola Taylor Lymon, now 50, one of the original Platters, had flown in from Los Angeles. When she and Frankie fought about it, Elizabeth said in court, he pulled a gun on her and she fled. Elizabeth Waters was a struggling part-time bill collector from Philadelphia. Her singing group, the Platters, was sometimes referred to as the Four Platters and a Dish; Zola, in her low-cut gowns, was the dish. The origins of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" Obituary. "Emira's Frankie Lymon is not this drunken bum," Pomeroy says. 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. 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 . If none of the women is Frankie's widow, the surviving members of his family stand to inherit. Lymon in February 1967 talked about his life and show business career with Chronicle reporter P.K. No one could have foreseen that the people who grew up with the music would refuse to relinquish it, and the songs would be repeatedly recycled into movie soundtracks and albums, cover versions, oldies compilations, and television commercials. She let him live in her hillside house with instructions to pay bills out of an allowance forwarded to him by her attorney. By the time Waters connected with Lymon, he had become a junkie, and she ended up ruining herself trying to pay for his drugs. Editor Nancy Richardson. It is Frankie Lymon's only real legacy, that two minutes and 15 seconds of doo-wop. Span wrote that Frankies relationship with Zola was not entirely maternal. Back in New Jersey, Ronnie Italiano and the UGHA had adhered to Emiras aforementioned wishes and held off on moving forward with their project to acquire and place a memorial tombstone on Frankie Lymons grave until her lawsuit was settled. Emira Eagle Lymon Bryant, the legally declared widow of '50s teenage rock star Frankie Lymon, died Saturday at AU Medical Center. He once told a magazine interviewer that he'd been a pimp since he was 10. He died on February 28, 1968 in New York City, New York, USA. Lymon's work had largely been reduced to lip-syncing at record hops; he said Zola could help get him some gigs in Los Angeles. and never miss an insightful take by the TFIGlobal team, This website uses cookies. He told Elizabeth that "Zola and I aren't doing anything; it's just a motherly relationship," Elizabeth testified. Span wrote that she was conscious of her stardom and arrived at court daily in a limousine. If Elizabeth or Zola is found to be his widow, they have agreed to share the proceeds of his estate equally. Zola, the second supposed wife, got to be pretty friendly with the first. "He had always regarded Zola as his stage mother," Elizabeth explained during the trial. By the time I met Frankie, he was a record deal-needing, broke ass, scam-on-his-momma-for-a-fix druggie! Levys attorney responded that the agreements with Elizabeth and Zola amounted to standard industry contracts. The next month, according to Zola, she and Frankie drove to Tijuana and got married in a small chapel. Who owns the rights to old songs matters as much or more now than it did when they were hits. The small wedding party celebrated by getting very drunk, not an uncommon state for Frankie at the time. According to Paula Span, people sometimes compared Frankie with the young Michael Jackson, who also knew how to combine innocence and knowingness. Zola had also been a teenage star. Music Stephen James Taylor. "Even though she had said no, she had said yes in the beginning; so Ronnie went ahead without going back and contacting Emira again. 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. We played down certain things and fudged others to make it work as a film," said director Gregory . Her complaint charges fraud, misappropriation and copyright infringement, among other offenses. 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. -- those he abused and betrayed seem loath to condemn him. She met Frankie when he was 20-years-old, backstage at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. 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. Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. That eventually led to singing on street corners with friends and being discovered at age 12 by George Goldner of GEE Records. If none of the women was found to be Frankie's widow, the surviving members of his family stood to inherit. When she returned in April, the house was in foreclosure and Frankie was gone; she never saw him alive again. Also a plus is the entertainment value of the films infectious classic rock soundtrack, which (besides the Teenagers hits sung by Lymon) includes songs like The Great Pretender, Try a Little Tenderness and Heat Wave., Hampering this on the negative side, besides the films awkwardness with its dark moments, is an inability to provide more than the most superficial look at anything. Elizabeth Waters Lymon, Elizabeth also acknowledged in court that she started using heroin and cocaine at this point. Visit Sat. What is less clear from the file is why, 20 years afterward, it has become so important to be Frankie Lymon's legal widow. "And he was still just a kid when he started on the next wife, Elizabeth Waters," said Nava. Borstein, Levy's attorney, says the agreements amount to standard industry contracts. Copy. I know some of these characters, and some I like very muchI knew Cardinal Spellman, too. The monetary figure was estimated by Chuck Rubin, a former agent, who Paula Span described as a kind of musical bounty hunter. She also wrote that 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, while taking a substantial cut for his efforts. Production design Cary White. Screenplay by Tina Andrews. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Last in line is Emira Eagle (Lela Rochon), a demure, well-bred Southern educator. And the true imponderable, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?". He was used and misused, and he used others also, she concluded. He then was a private in the Army taking basic infantry training at Fort Gordon and assigned to Company D, 16th Battalion, 2nd Training Brigade. He took the bus to the post from her familys home each day. 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. They were married in June 1967 at the Beulah Grove Baptist Church, with 50 members of Emiras family in attendance and a reception afterward at the Capri Lounge. And that led to his 1955 smash hit "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?," singing for Queen Elizabeth II at the London Palladium and performing in nightclubs and theaters worldwide. Her adversary, Morris Levy, was a powerful force in the music business. Emiras case was just beginning when Elizabeth Waters Lymon petitioned the Surrogate Court claiming that she was Frankie Lymons widow, and Zola Taylor also objected claiming that she was Lymons rightful widow. 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. He decided to head to California in hopes that his old friend Zola Taylor could help him get some singing gigs in Los Angeles. Span wrote that Rubin gets his share too. Next comes the feisty Elizabeth Waters (Vivica A. Final briefs are due next week, with a decision expected later this spring. The trial of the three wives went forward, and final briefs were due in early 1988. Zola testified that their affair continued off and on for several more years. While growing up in New York City, I never had much discipline, Lymon told The Chronicle. Gender inclusive room options available. Unfortunately, shes also involved in the films least convincing area, the jarring sections that deal with the troubles brought on by Lymons habit. The doo-wop classic (its earnings boosted by Diana Ross' 1981 version and by its use in a greeting card commercial) was recorded by Lymon's group the Teenagers. "He had the type of personality that would draw people," she said. 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. Last in line is Emira Eagle (Lela Rochon), a demure, well-bred Southern educator. "Knowing the facts like I know them, I feel confident there will be an appeal," McCracken predicted. Frankie, bouncing at the mike, was "this adorable little boy, with this little smile, the little suit; you wanted to take him home All I remember was the girls screaming about how cute he was.". 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