Bobby Driscoll won an Oscar at 12-years-old, but now lies buried in an unmarked pauper's grave in New York City. I am writing a book to explain what went wrong.
New York's Pauper's Cemetery is run by the Department of Corrections: It is a Prison for the dead.
Most people, if they remember Bobby Driscoll at all, remember him for dying alone of a heart attack at age 31 in an abandoned tenement at 371 East 10th Street in New York City on March 30, 1968. He now lies buried in an unmarked pauper's grave on Hart Island in New York. Bobby won an Oscar at 12-years-old, but was fired by Walt Disney because he developed acne. After that his life collapsed. He was 16 when he was fired for pimples and 17 when he injected heroin for the first time.
pub134.ezboard.com/fscarl...=1&stop=20
The Pauper's Cemetery is run by the New York Department of Corrections and staffed with prison guards and prisoners. Hart Island lies along Long Island sound within yards of millions of people, but No visitors are allowed. It truly is a prison for the dead.
If I could have my way, I would turn Hart Island into a park. I would run a ferry there and never charge anyone to go there. I would welcome all who are willing to come and visit. Having never gotten enough love during their lifetimes, the people buried there should receive all the love we have to share. And all of our love would still not be enough. Like Oliver Twist, they deserve more... They deserve paradise, because they have already been to hell.
My opinion is irrelevant because I don't count, The Department of Corrections opinion is irrelevant because they don't care; and The State of New York is irrelevant because to them it is a question of money.
It should be a question of love. I believe that the only people who have earned the right to decide the fate of the people buried on Hart Island are the people who loved them. Bobby deserves that much, anyone does.........everyone does.
In 2005, The Santa Monica Museum of Art, in association with The Getty Museum, will have a retrospective of the works of Modern Artist Wallace Berman. Mr. Berman's collected works and letters are in The Smithsonian Institution. The exhibition at The Santa Monica Museum of Art will include works by his colleagues and proteges. Among the paintings exhibited will be three paintings by Bobby Driscoll. Mr. Berman was a Mentor to Bobby. Bobby also studied under Andy Warhol and was a frequent visitor to his studio, The Factory, on 47th Street.
No one should be remembered for the way they died; they should only be remembered for the way they lived.
I never met Bobby though I have met some of his friends. I like him and I know that I would have been lucky to have had him as a friend.
People should remember Bobby as an actor, an artist and a poet: not a bad legacy that.
A promise made, a promise kept?
Dean Stockwell was Bobby's best friend in Hollywood. Even though it has been almost 35 years since Bobby's death, Dean still can't talk about him without breaking down. Russ Tamblyn(West Side Story and Dad of "Joan of Arcadia's" Amber Tamblyn) was a friend of Bobby's and Dean's. Russ and Dean shared an apartment in the 1950's. A few years ago Russ was going to write Bobby's biography, but Dean couldn't even speak to him about Bobby. Most of their friends were the same way.
Bobby was a Boy Scout who played Little League and made movies on the side. He had an IQ of over 140. He was perhaps the most unaffected star to ever come out of Hollywood. He had no ego, was always politie and respectful. Adults thought he was an angel. Even though he won an Oscar at 12-years-old, he never lauded it over anyone's head. He remained very popular with the kids at The Hollywood Professional School where he was a student. When he wasn't working, he wore jeans and t-shirts. He was hardly ever recognized and seemed to prefer it that way. Although, if you did recognize him, he would gladly give you his autograph.
Until Walt Disney fired him, there was nothing wrong with Bobby; but in five minutes his life fell apart and he was never the same again. And it isn't so much what Walt Disney did as the way he did it. Walt Disney had a secretary fire Bobby after eight years(Bobby had worked at Disney since he was eight years old) of working at Disney and then had the crying, distraught teenager ejected from the studio escorted by a security guard. It would be hard to imagine a more cruel way to handle the situation.
I have gotten to know Bobby's best friend from the neighborhood he grew up in. Bobby's parents were from Iowa. The family never lived in Bel Air, Malibu or Beverly Hills; they lived in a nice middle class neighborhood in West LA. His best friend still chokes up talking about Bobby: he still misses him to this day. Everyone that knew Bobby liked him. The people who knew him best loved him: that isn't a bad legacy either... If you remember Bobby at all, I think that is the right way to remember him.
Bobby's best friend tried writing Bobby's biography a few years back too. He found it too emotional also.
Someday I hope to finish the task these friends started. Though my talents may be wanting, I hope to model it on John Gunther's "Death Be Not Proud". The best book about love and remembrance ever written.
Remember Me
Remember me with smiles and laughter,
Because that is the way I will remember you all.
If you can only remember me with tears,
Then don't remember me at all.
An Irish Poem of Remembrance
I promised Bobby's best friend, who I now consider my friend, that I will fight to have Hart Island turned into a park. This is my quest; that is why I came here and that is why I have posted here.
If anyone wants to help me, email me at bkohatl@hotmail.com
Many Thanks,
Brian Keith O'Hara
New York's Pauper's Cemetery is run by the Department of Corrections: It is a Prison for the dead.
Most people, if they remember Bobby Driscoll at all, remember him for dying alone of a heart attack at age 31 in an abandoned tenement at 371 East 10th Street in New York City on March 30, 1968. He now lies buried in an unmarked pauper's grave on Hart Island in New York. Bobby won an Oscar at 12-years-old, but was fired by Walt Disney because he developed acne. After that his life collapsed. He was 16 when he was fired for pimples and 17 when he injected heroin for the first time.
pub134.ezboard.com/fscarl...=1&stop=20
The Pauper's Cemetery is run by the New York Department of Corrections and staffed with prison guards and prisoners. Hart Island lies along Long Island sound within yards of millions of people, but No visitors are allowed. It truly is a prison for the dead.
If I could have my way, I would turn Hart Island into a park. I would run a ferry there and never charge anyone to go there. I would welcome all who are willing to come and visit. Having never gotten enough love during their lifetimes, the people buried there should receive all the love we have to share. And all of our love would still not be enough. Like Oliver Twist, they deserve more... They deserve paradise, because they have already been to hell.
My opinion is irrelevant because I don't count, The Department of Corrections opinion is irrelevant because they don't care; and The State of New York is irrelevant because to them it is a question of money.
It should be a question of love. I believe that the only people who have earned the right to decide the fate of the people buried on Hart Island are the people who loved them. Bobby deserves that much, anyone does.........everyone does.
In 2005, The Santa Monica Museum of Art, in association with The Getty Museum, will have a retrospective of the works of Modern Artist Wallace Berman. Mr. Berman's collected works and letters are in The Smithsonian Institution. The exhibition at The Santa Monica Museum of Art will include works by his colleagues and proteges. Among the paintings exhibited will be three paintings by Bobby Driscoll. Mr. Berman was a Mentor to Bobby. Bobby also studied under Andy Warhol and was a frequent visitor to his studio, The Factory, on 47th Street.
No one should be remembered for the way they died; they should only be remembered for the way they lived.
I never met Bobby though I have met some of his friends. I like him and I know that I would have been lucky to have had him as a friend.
People should remember Bobby as an actor, an artist and a poet: not a bad legacy that.
A promise made, a promise kept?
Dean Stockwell was Bobby's best friend in Hollywood. Even though it has been almost 35 years since Bobby's death, Dean still can't talk about him without breaking down. Russ Tamblyn(West Side Story and Dad of "Joan of Arcadia's" Amber Tamblyn) was a friend of Bobby's and Dean's. Russ and Dean shared an apartment in the 1950's. A few years ago Russ was going to write Bobby's biography, but Dean couldn't even speak to him about Bobby. Most of their friends were the same way.
Bobby was a Boy Scout who played Little League and made movies on the side. He had an IQ of over 140. He was perhaps the most unaffected star to ever come out of Hollywood. He had no ego, was always politie and respectful. Adults thought he was an angel. Even though he won an Oscar at 12-years-old, he never lauded it over anyone's head. He remained very popular with the kids at The Hollywood Professional School where he was a student. When he wasn't working, he wore jeans and t-shirts. He was hardly ever recognized and seemed to prefer it that way. Although, if you did recognize him, he would gladly give you his autograph.
Until Walt Disney fired him, there was nothing wrong with Bobby; but in five minutes his life fell apart and he was never the same again. And it isn't so much what Walt Disney did as the way he did it. Walt Disney had a secretary fire Bobby after eight years(Bobby had worked at Disney since he was eight years old) of working at Disney and then had the crying, distraught teenager ejected from the studio escorted by a security guard. It would be hard to imagine a more cruel way to handle the situation.
I have gotten to know Bobby's best friend from the neighborhood he grew up in. Bobby's parents were from Iowa. The family never lived in Bel Air, Malibu or Beverly Hills; they lived in a nice middle class neighborhood in West LA. His best friend still chokes up talking about Bobby: he still misses him to this day. Everyone that knew Bobby liked him. The people who knew him best loved him: that isn't a bad legacy either... If you remember Bobby at all, I think that is the right way to remember him.
Bobby's best friend tried writing Bobby's biography a few years back too. He found it too emotional also.
Someday I hope to finish the task these friends started. Though my talents may be wanting, I hope to model it on John Gunther's "Death Be Not Proud". The best book about love and remembrance ever written.
Remember Me
Remember me with smiles and laughter,
Because that is the way I will remember you all.
If you can only remember me with tears,
Then don't remember me at all.
An Irish Poem of Remembrance
I promised Bobby's best friend, who I now consider my friend, that I will fight to have Hart Island turned into a park. This is my quest; that is why I came here and that is why I have posted here.
If anyone wants to help me, email me at bkohatl@hotmail.com
Many Thanks,
Brian Keith O'Hara
