Her divorce didn't come through until 1965. Levys attorney responded that the agreements with Elizabeth and Zola amounted to standard industry contracts. The flyer advertised performances by Pearl McKinnon and the Kodaks, Earl Lewis and the Channels, the Cleveland Still Dubs, and the Impalas. Hell, the boy had so many needle marks on him, I thought he was a God-damned . 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. And while Fools ends with an on-screen disclaimer that it is a dramatization based upon certain historical events and the lives of real people, its inability to incorporate key elements of the real Lymon story hampers it dramatically. Zola testified that their affair continued off and on for several more years. When he died of a drug overdose in 1968, just past his 25th birthday, he left behind a marital history worthy of a man several times his age. What was there about Frankie Lymon? Legacy.com reports daily on death announcements in local communities nationwide. He then located Emira, put her in touch with an attorney, and helped line up witnesses and documentation. Levy had been arrested earlier in 1986 as part of the F.B.I. View contact information: phones, addresses, emails and networks. It spent months on the pop charts, led to national tours and TV appearances and bubble-gum cards with the Teenagers' picture on them. Executive producers Gregory Nava, Mark Allan, Harold Bronson. The opinion by Surrogate Court Judge Marie Lambert entitles Waters to an estate that may be worth $750,000 in accumulated royalties from Lymon's 1956 hit and its more recent incarnations. Gender inclusive room options available. Running time: 1 hour, 56 minutes. 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. It was also Rubin who located Emira, put her in touch with an attorney, helped line up witnesses and documentation. He can't remember what Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers sounded like that day -- the girls' shrieks all but drowned them out -- but he recalls the excitement. Waters bore Lymon's only known child, a daughter who died shortly after birth. Levy declined direct comment of the Lymon matter. Emira refused. 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?" Watch a performance of "Little Boy And Girl" by Pearl McKinnon and the Kodakshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP6P329DMKY. If none of the women was found to be Frankie's widow, the surviving members of his family stood to inherit. "Frankly, we do not believe that the claims set forth in the federal court case have merit," says Terrance McKnight, one of Zola's attorneys. He was told, after he raised the money, that she didnt want the headstone for the grave and that he wasnt authorized to put it on there.. Next comes the feisty Elizabeth Waters (Vivica A. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. Though other people testify in the trial, notably Little Richard playing himself and saying things like I am the originator, the emancipator, the motivator, most of Fools is told in flashback as each woman takes the stand and relates her portion of Lymons life. Elizabeth Waters was a struggling part-time bill collector from Philadelphia. At the age of 13 little Lymon and his group of singers Teens signed a recording contract. I know some of these characters, and some I like very muchI knew Cardinal Spellman, too. Levy was aware of all the details of Frankie Lymons love life, and he used it to his advantage by bringing in Elizabeth Waters and Zola Taylor to challenge Emiras claim to be Frankies widow and, by having the court determine her marraige to be invalid, derail her lawsuit. Similarly, one of the unexamined factors in his turning to hard drugs was apparently the difficulties caused by his voice beginning to change. Obituary. Also Read:Family of Lorenzo Dominic Lavalle. 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 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. None of the many tracks they made together or separately ever duplicated the jubilance of their early records. Her adversary, Morris Levy, was a powerful force in the music business. Last in line is Emira Eagle (Lela Rochon), a demure, well-bred Southern educator. Zola never saw him alive again. A headstone was not part of the package, however, and Frankie Lymon was buried in an unmarked grave at St. Raymonds Cemetery. Why does the rain fall from up above? Absent the kind of star performance Jennifer Lopez gave in Selena (and that films cleaner, more direct story line), cornball dramaturgy can take audiences only so far and not one note further. Lymon didn't even leave a grieving widow to serve as keeper of his flame. Although Emiras attorneys advised her not to talk to Paula Span until the Surrogate Court reached a decision, Anne Pomeroy of the Artist Rights Enforcement Corporation, who was working with Emiras lawyers, spoke with the reporter. And Emira, if she wins, will continue her federal case against Levy, a matter growing steadily more complex. 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. Lymon is always short of money, no childhood, and, in most descriptions, lacks calmness, but when a small star appears on the stage, he always steals the limelight. That wasn't his style. Zola, the older woman, was 17. She also turned to prostitution to support her daughter from her first marriage, to one Charles Phillips, when she was just 16. Your email address will not be published. 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. Their affair continued off and on for several years. Elizabeth Waters Found 1,173 people in Florida, Georgia and 49 other states. Morris Levy - Roulette Records. Levy was the head of Roulette Records, the independent label that bought out the Gee label which originally released the record. 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. In his book, Me, the Mob, and the Music, Tommy James characterized Levy as willing to strong-arm the artists signed to Roulette, and that the label was notorious for not paying its artists for their record sales. 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. Rodgers, who had been Roulettes top-selling artist in the 50s and early 60s with his #1 hit Honeycomb and 26 other charting singles, suffered traumatic head injuries from a blunt instrument in the beating. Cheesborough. 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. 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. Zola Taylor, a former member of the teen-age doo-wop group the Platters, also said. Production design Cary White. "He had the type of personality," says Elizabeth Waters Lymon, Wife No. "Frankie was that kind of person, your honor," she said. He claimed that both women thought that their agreements with Levy were fair, and that neither planned to take legal action against him if she is found to be Frankies widow. She'd come with two girlfriends to meet her onetime idol. He didn't mind. By now, publishing rights to the song may have earned $750,000, or even more. In fact, Elizabeth says she saw him the day before he took his last, fatal dose of heroin. 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. 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. Elizabeth Waters is currently single. She has been in one celebrity relationship averaging approximately 4.1 years. with Frankie Lymon, and they have filed their own federal suit against Levy et al., with Emira also named as a defendant. "Just make sure the artist or writer gets his share." A lot of people say I knew him so long I became like him.. Editor Nancy Richardson. Her obituary was posted on February 9, 2023. Years later, in the wainscoted courtroom where Lymon's love life was being retraced in painful detail, Elizabeth turned to the judge. He was a soldier for most of their brief marriage, taking the bus from her family's home to the post each day. He then called Elizabeth and urged her to join him. He recorded other songs, alone and with his group the Teenagers, but none has inspired the same affection. And that song, which he wrote or helped to write and which will bear his boyish vocal signature forever. Span wrote that back in Los Angeles, the club where Zola was performing tossed a celebration with a cake and champagne. This legal drama was made into a movie earlier this year, named after his hit song Why fools fall in love. It was not, for long, a happy one. Emira's attorneys argue that Elizabeth and Frankie separated in mid-1965 and never lived together as man and wife thereafter, invalidating her claim to a common-law marriage. Waters Residence Hall is centrally located in the heart of campus along the shore of Lake Mendota. 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. Frankie could fool you, he could fool me; Frankie could fool God. 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. ", But in 1984 (as the original copyright term of the song was expiring) Emira Eagle Lymon brought suit in U.S. District Court in New York against Levy, his attorney, his record label and his publishing company. Zola and Elizabeth declined, but say they were willing to accept an equal, three-way split. For part of Lymons appeal to women was how uncommonly young he was; the singers first hit came before he was 14, younger than most romantic leads can play. 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