The following news accounts will help illuminate the difficulties young Driscoll was having with law enforcement in the year 1961---poor lad . . .
New York Times, Tuesday, May 30, 1961, p. 14, c. 5:
Bobby Driscoll's Trial Set
LOS ANGELES, May 29 (UPI)---Bobby Driscoll, 24 years old, an Academy Award winner as a child movie star, today pleaded not guilty to a felony narcotics charge and was ordered to stand trial June 18.
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Chicago America, Tuesday, May 30, 1961, p. 3, c. 4:
Bobby Driscoll Must Stand Trial
LOS ANGELES (UPI)---Bobby Driscoll, 24, an Academy award winner as a child movie star, must stand trial June 19 on a narcotics charge.
Driscoll was arrested May 3 on suspicion of driving while under influence of narcotics just two hours after he was released after an arrest on forgery charges.
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New York Times, July 28, 1961, p. 19, c. 4:
Ex-Child Star Admits Forgery
LOS ANGELES, July 24 (UPI)---Bobby Driscoll, 24 years old, one-time child actor, pleaded guilty in Superior Court today to forging an endorsement on a stolen check. Sentencing was set for Sept. 6.
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New York Times, Thursday, October 19, 1961, p. 15, c. 8:
Ex-Child Star Committed
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 18 (UPI)---Bobby Driscoll, who won a special Academy Award as a child star, was committed to Chino State Hospital today for a minimum of six months treatment as a narcotics addict. The action was taken by Superior Judge Allen Miller under a new state law allowing treatment instead of prison sentence.
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Chicago America, Thursday, October 19, 1961, p. 1 c. l:
Former Child Star Begins Rehabilitation
Bobby Driscoll in Toughest Role
LOS ANGELES (AP)---Bobby Driscoll, a one-time child movie star who had everything he wanted and nothing he needed is starting the long road back from nowhere.
Driscoll, 24, was committed yesterday to the State Narcotics Rehabilitation center at Chino, Cal., where he must spend at least 6 months.
He told Judge Allen Miller in the psychiatric department of Superior court: "I think I can find myself working with others who understand my problem."
Once Dricoll was making more than $50,000 a year. What happened to him? Driscoll told newsmen:
"I had everything . . . working steadily with good parts. Then I started putting all my spare time in my arm.
I'm not really sure why I started using narcotics. I was 17 when I first experimented with the stuff. In no time at all I was using whatever was available . . . Mostly heroin, because I had the money to pay for it.
I've spent all the money I earned, except what my parents have used wisely. Im not sure how much exactly but Im certain its been considerably more than $100,000."
He said he hasn't used narcotics since May and:
"I've kicked the habit. I think I can find myself again. It hasnt been easy. . . ."
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Chicago Tribune, Friday, October 20, 1961, pt. 1, p. 20, c. 2 (item):
Tower Ticker by Herb Lyon
" . . . Add another chapter to the unhappiness for former child stars: Bobby Driscoll's personal war against his narcotic addiction is the latest in the continuing story . . . "
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Afterward, he had no further troubles with the courts or police . . . the Los Angeles papers would perhaps have much more fuller accounts of all this . . .
New York Times, Tuesday, May 30, 1961, p. 14, c. 5:
Bobby Driscoll's Trial Set
LOS ANGELES, May 29 (UPI)---Bobby Driscoll, 24 years old, an Academy Award winner as a child movie star, today pleaded not guilty to a felony narcotics charge and was ordered to stand trial June 18.
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Chicago America, Tuesday, May 30, 1961, p. 3, c. 4:
Bobby Driscoll Must Stand Trial
LOS ANGELES (UPI)---Bobby Driscoll, 24, an Academy award winner as a child movie star, must stand trial June 19 on a narcotics charge.
Driscoll was arrested May 3 on suspicion of driving while under influence of narcotics just two hours after he was released after an arrest on forgery charges.
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New York Times, July 28, 1961, p. 19, c. 4:
Ex-Child Star Admits Forgery
LOS ANGELES, July 24 (UPI)---Bobby Driscoll, 24 years old, one-time child actor, pleaded guilty in Superior Court today to forging an endorsement on a stolen check. Sentencing was set for Sept. 6.
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New York Times, Thursday, October 19, 1961, p. 15, c. 8:
Ex-Child Star Committed
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 18 (UPI)---Bobby Driscoll, who won a special Academy Award as a child star, was committed to Chino State Hospital today for a minimum of six months treatment as a narcotics addict. The action was taken by Superior Judge Allen Miller under a new state law allowing treatment instead of prison sentence.
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Chicago America, Thursday, October 19, 1961, p. 1 c. l:
Former Child Star Begins Rehabilitation
Bobby Driscoll in Toughest Role
LOS ANGELES (AP)---Bobby Driscoll, a one-time child movie star who had everything he wanted and nothing he needed is starting the long road back from nowhere.
Driscoll, 24, was committed yesterday to the State Narcotics Rehabilitation center at Chino, Cal., where he must spend at least 6 months.
He told Judge Allen Miller in the psychiatric department of Superior court: "I think I can find myself working with others who understand my problem."
Once Dricoll was making more than $50,000 a year. What happened to him? Driscoll told newsmen:
"I had everything . . . working steadily with good parts. Then I started putting all my spare time in my arm.
I'm not really sure why I started using narcotics. I was 17 when I first experimented with the stuff. In no time at all I was using whatever was available . . . Mostly heroin, because I had the money to pay for it.
I've spent all the money I earned, except what my parents have used wisely. Im not sure how much exactly but Im certain its been considerably more than $100,000."
He said he hasn't used narcotics since May and:
"I've kicked the habit. I think I can find myself again. It hasnt been easy. . . ."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Chicago Tribune, Friday, October 20, 1961, pt. 1, p. 20, c. 2 (item):
Tower Ticker by Herb Lyon
" . . . Add another chapter to the unhappiness for former child stars: Bobby Driscoll's personal war against his narcotic addiction is the latest in the continuing story . . . "
_____________________________________
Afterward, he had no further troubles with the courts or police . . . the Los Angeles papers would perhaps have much more fuller accounts of all this . . .
Chicago Tribune, Monday, April 21, 1958, pt. 3, p. 11, c. 1:
Looking At Hollywood
by Hedda Hopper
"Connie Stevens, a teen-age New Yorker whose father has been a night club musician around here for 30 years, has made a smash hit in the movies. Jerry Lewis had her in "Rock-a-Bye Baby," her first big film; since then she's hit the jackpot. Both Paramount and Warner Bros. signed her to picture contracts and a recording deal. Now she gets the lead role in "The Party Crashers" which starts production next week with William Allen producing. . . . . "
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Looking At Hollywood
by Hedda Hopper
"Connie Stevens, a teen-age New Yorker whose father has been a night club musician around here for 30 years, has made a smash hit in the movies. Jerry Lewis had her in "Rock-a-Bye Baby," her first big film; since then she's hit the jackpot. Both Paramount and Warner Bros. signed her to picture contracts and a recording deal. Now she gets the lead role in "The Party Crashers" which starts production next week with William Allen producing. . . . . "
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Chicago Tribune, Wednesday, June 12, 1957, p. B2:
TOWER TICKER by Herb Lyon
" . . . The Dandy-Lyon Patch: Ed Sullivan has signed Frances Farmer, the "hardluck" gal, for an appearance on his June 30 TV show. Frances, once a top movie star, is now a reservations clerk in a San Francisco hotel and hoping to make a comeback . . . . "
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Chicago Sun-Times, Sunday, April 22, 1962, p. 40, c. 1:
KUP'S COLUMN
Front and Center: Frances Farmer, the movie actress who hit the skids and served a term in jail and then was discovered working in a San Francisco hotel as a reservation clerk, is now making her way back on TV in Indianapolis. She's the "Lee Phillip" of WFBM and is one of the town's more popular figures. We learned this cheerful earful about Frances while addressing the Indianapolis Advertising Club the other day. . . .
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Chicago Tribune, Wednesday, March 19, 1969, s. 1, p. 26, c. 1:
TOWER TICKER
by Robert Wiedrich
. . . . Former actress Frances Farmer checks into the Ambassador East tomorrow--she'll talk about her autobiography, soon to be published.
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TOWER TICKER by Herb Lyon
" . . . The Dandy-Lyon Patch: Ed Sullivan has signed Frances Farmer, the "hardluck" gal, for an appearance on his June 30 TV show. Frances, once a top movie star, is now a reservations clerk in a San Francisco hotel and hoping to make a comeback . . . . "
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Chicago Sun-Times, Sunday, April 22, 1962, p. 40, c. 1:
KUP'S COLUMN
Front and Center: Frances Farmer, the movie actress who hit the skids and served a term in jail and then was discovered working in a San Francisco hotel as a reservation clerk, is now making her way back on TV in Indianapolis. She's the "Lee Phillip" of WFBM and is one of the town's more popular figures. We learned this cheerful earful about Frances while addressing the Indianapolis Advertising Club the other day. . . .
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Chicago Tribune, Wednesday, March 19, 1969, s. 1, p. 26, c. 1:
TOWER TICKER
by Robert Wiedrich
. . . . Former actress Frances Farmer checks into the Ambassador East tomorrow--she'll talk about her autobiography, soon to be published.
_____________________________
Los Angeles Times, January 8, 1998, p. 22:
Bernard Girard, 79; Director, Writer, Producer for Film, TV
Bernard Girard, film and television director, writer and producer, has died at age 79. Girard, who won a Sylvania Award for directing the television series "Medic," died Dec. 30 at the Motion Picture & Television hospital in Woodland Hills.
Associated with more than 300 TV shows, Girard was nominated for Emmys for his work on "Playhouse 90" and "You Are There." Among his other television credits are "Alfred HItchcock Presents," "Twilight Zone," "McHale's Navy," "Wagon Train" and "Rawhide."
Girard traveled the globe directing and scripting such films as "The Party Crashers" in 1958, "Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round" in 1966 and "The Mad Room" in 1969. He also directed "The Happiness Cage" in 1972 and "Little Moon and Jud McGraw" in 1978.
Born in Vallejo, Calif., Girard served in the Army Air Corps before moving to Hollywood in the late 1940s. He is survived by his wife, Linda, of Santa Paula, Calif., and three sons, Chris of Miami, Peter of Los Angeles and Michael of Palo Alto. A memorial service is planned for today at 3 p.m., in the John Ford Chapel on the Woodland Hills campus of the Motion Picture & Television Fund. The family has asked that any memorial donations be made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
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Bernard Girard, 79; Director, Writer, Producer for Film, TV
Bernard Girard, film and television director, writer and producer, has died at age 79. Girard, who won a Sylvania Award for directing the television series "Medic," died Dec. 30 at the Motion Picture & Television hospital in Woodland Hills.
Associated with more than 300 TV shows, Girard was nominated for Emmys for his work on "Playhouse 90" and "You Are There." Among his other television credits are "Alfred HItchcock Presents," "Twilight Zone," "McHale's Navy," "Wagon Train" and "Rawhide."
Girard traveled the globe directing and scripting such films as "The Party Crashers" in 1958, "Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round" in 1966 and "The Mad Room" in 1969. He also directed "The Happiness Cage" in 1972 and "Little Moon and Jud McGraw" in 1978.
Born in Vallejo, Calif., Girard served in the Army Air Corps before moving to Hollywood in the late 1940s. He is survived by his wife, Linda, of Santa Paula, Calif., and three sons, Chris of Miami, Peter of Los Angeles and Michael of Palo Alto. A memorial service is planned for today at 3 p.m., in the John Ford Chapel on the Woodland Hills campus of the Motion Picture & Television Fund. The family has asked that any memorial donations be made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
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The Paramount film, The Party Crashers, had a February, Friday the 13th opening in Chicago at 7 neighborhood theatres, in 1959. The theatres being the Portage, Imperial, Marshall Square, Valencia (in Evanston), and three southside movie houses, Tivoli, Regal and Englewood.
The film was top-billed in some theatres, and the bottom-half of a double-bill in others. For example, at the above named Portage theatre, 4050 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, it appeared as the top-half; the bottom-half film being The Hot Angel. An interesting aside: at this very same theatre, exaclty five years later, Saturday, Feb. 13, 1965, Connie Stevens, herself, one of the stars of Party Crashers, made a personal appearance at this theatre to promote her film, Two on a Guillotine; that same y ear, in August, the British invasion group, Dave Clark 5 also appeared on stage at this movie house to promote their film, Having a Wild Weekend. Later still, in 2008, Johnny Depp did interior filming in this same theatre in 2008, for the film Dillinger . . . surprisingly, Bobby Driscoll's earlier movie, MGM's Scarlet Coast opened at the Portage .on Friday, October 28, 1955, and played a week . . . . . . in some theatres in Chicago Party Crashers played the bottom-half with the top rated Bell, Book and Candle.
The film was top-billed in some theatres, and the bottom-half of a double-bill in others. For example, at the above named Portage theatre, 4050 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, it appeared as the top-half; the bottom-half film being The Hot Angel. An interesting aside: at this very same theatre, exaclty five years later, Saturday, Feb. 13, 1965, Connie Stevens, herself, one of the stars of Party Crashers, made a personal appearance at this theatre to promote her film, Two on a Guillotine; that same y ear, in August, the British invasion group, Dave Clark 5 also appeared on stage at this movie house to promote their film, Having a Wild Weekend. Later still, in 2008, Johnny Depp did interior filming in this same theatre in 2008, for the film Dillinger . . . surprisingly, Bobby Driscoll's earlier movie, MGM's Scarlet Coast opened at the Portage .on Friday, October 28, 1955, and played a week . . . . . . in some theatres in Chicago Party Crashers played the bottom-half with the top rated Bell, Book and Candle.
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