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Vladimir Peter Sabich, Jr. (October 1, 1945 - March 21, 1976) was an American alpine ski racer. He was a member of the U.S. Ski Team in the late 1960s and competed at the 1968 Winter Olympics; he was the pro ski racing champion in 1971 & 1972.

Early life[link]

The grandson of Croatian immigrants, Sabich was the second child of Vladimir and Frances Sabich. He was given his lifelong nickname "Spider" by his father, because of his thin arms and legs at birth. Spider's father was a patrolman with the California Highway Patrol and had volunteered in World War II as a B-25 pilot in the Air Force; he was held as a POW in Siberia by the Soviets for a year after his plane was shot-up over northern Japan and forced down near Vladivostok. After the war, Vlad was a test pilot and then returned to his job with the CHP in Sacramento, and in 1950 he was transferred to Kyburz on Highway 50, southwest of Lake Tahoe.^[2]

The three Sabich children (Mary, Spider, & Steve) learned to ski at Edelweiss ski area, about a dozen miles (20 km) up the highway, a mile past Twin Bridges. They attended a one-room school in Kyburz, Silver Fork Elementary, and went to class in the summer and skied during the winter, frequently arriving in their father's patrol car.

Spider and Steve were altar boys at the Catholic church across the highway from the ski area (Chapel of Our Lady of the Sierras), and would often strap on their skis immediately following Mass. Their ski coach was Lutz Aynedter, a downhill champion from the 1940s who emigrated from Germany to California after the war. He taught the Sabich boys European-style ski racing, and Spider and Steve became junior stars among the fearless young racers of Edelweiss, who became known as the "Highway 50 Boys." The Edelweiss ski area closed in the early 1960s after a poor snow year; the location is now called Camp Sacramento.

Despite their outdated equipment, Spider and Steve established themselves as top junior ski racers in northern California in the early 1960s. Both were offered skiing scholarships to the University of Colorado, the dominant collegiate program of the era. Head coach Bob Beattie was also the coach of the U.S. Ski Team, and the national team was heavy with CU skiers. While at Colorado, Spider majored in aeronautical engineering and was selected to the national team. Steve's career was ended by a knee injury while at CU.

Skiing career[link]

Olympics and World Cup[link]

Sabich skied on the World Cup circuit for its first four seasons, and finished fifth in the slalom in the thick fog at the 1968 Winter Olympics at age 22. His sole World Cup victory came two months later in April, a slalom at Heavenly Valley at South Lake Tahoe, just east of his hometown of Kyburz.^[3] He finished 8th in the slalom standings for the 1968 season and was the U.S. downhill champion.

Sabich reached the World Cup podium (top three) three more times in the slalom in 1969. He finished seventh in the 1969 season standings for the slalom & 11th overall, but fell out of the top ten in the slalom the following year.

Sabich had 18 top ten finishes in Olympic and World Cup competition: two in downhill, three in giant slalom, and 13 in slalom.

World Cup podiums[link]

Season	Date	Location	Race	Place
1968	07-Apr–1968	Heavenly Valley, CA, USA	Slalom	1st
1969	12-Jan–1969	Wengen, Switzerland	Slalom	2nd
	26-Jan–1969	Megève, France	Slalom	3rd
1970	21-Dec–1969	Lienz, Austria	Slalom	3rd

Pro Tour[link]

Sabich turned professional after the 1970 season, following his friend Billy Kidd, who joined the pro tour in mid-season 1970 and won the first title. Pro ski racing was conducted in a dual slalom format, with racers going head-to-head in elimination heats. It was staged primarily in the United States, rather than Europe, and was headed by his former coach, Bob Beattie.

The attractive and charismatic Sabich helped popularize skiing in the U.S. in the late 1960s and early 1970s; he was the suspected inspiration (along with Kidd) for 1969 film Downhill Racer, starring Robert Redford (although Sabich was much more light-hearted than Redford's Dave Chappellet). Sabich won the pro championship in 1971 & 1972. The prize money was modest (he took home $21,189 as champion in 1971),^[4] but handsome endorsements for the era followed, which pushed his annual income well over $100,000. This allowed him to move from his collegiate (and World Cup) base of Boulder to the ski resort of Aspen in 1971.

With his brother's help, Sabich built a house in 1971 in the gated Starwood area of Aspen, near the home of singer John Denver.
(Sabich's chalet was originally built for $90,000; its estimated value was $3 million by the mid-1990s.)^[5] A lifelong appreciator of aviation, Sabich earned his pilot's license and owned a twin-engine Piper Aztec that he flew to his pro skiing events in North America.^[6]

While chasing Jean-Claude Killy for the 1973 pro title, Sabich incurred a back injury (compressed vertebra) on the final weekend of the season at Aspen Highlands. In the semifinals of the giant slalom, he hurtled over the second jump at 50 mph (80 km/h) and caught his arm on a gate, and somersaulted onto the back of his neck in an explosion of snow and skis. He struggled to stand up, but was too stunned to walk and was hospitalized. Sabich was out of the next day's slalom, and Killy won the season title in his only season on the pro tour.^[7]

Unfortunately, this back injury curtailed Sabich's success in the next three seasons. His last victory on the pro circuit was at Mount Snow, Vermont, in January 1974 at age 28. Sabich was featured on the cover of GQ magazine that November as "pro skiing's richest racer", holding his tri-color K2 skis.^[8]

Death[link]

Late in the afternoon on March 21, 1976, Sabich had returned from a day of skiing in Aspen and was preparing to shower. He was shot in the bathroom of his Starwood home by his live-in girlfriend, singer-actress Claudine Longet, then age 34. The two had met at a pro-celebrity event four years earlier in 1972 in Bear Valley, California, and were quickly an item. She claimed the gun discharged accidentally, when he was showing her how it worked. He was hit in the abdomen and lost a significant amount of blood before the ambulance arrived. He died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, with Longet at his side. Spider Sabich was 30 years and 5 months old.

Longet was arrested and charged with the shooting. At the trial, Longet repeated the claim that the gun had accidentally backfired when Sabich was showing her how to use it.

The Aspen police made two procedural errors that aided Longet's defense: without warrants, they took a blood sample from her and confiscated her diary. According to prosecutors, the sample showed the presence of cocaine in her blood, and her diary reportedly contradicted her claim that her relationship with Sabich had not soured. In addition, the gun was mishandled by non-weapons experts. As they were unable to cite any of the disallowed material, prosecutors did use the autopsy report to suggest that when Sabich was struck he was bent over, facing away, and at least 1.80 m (6 feet) from Longet, which would be inconsistent with the position and relative distance of someone demonstrating the operation of a firearm.

The jury convicted her of a lesser charge—misdemeanor criminal negligence—and sentenced her to pay a small fine and spend 30 days in jail.^[9] The judge allowed Longet to choose the days she served, believing that this arrangement would allow her to spend the most time with her children, and she chose to work off most of her sentence on weekends. (Critical reaction to the verdict and sentencing was exacerbated when she subsequently vacationed with her defense attorney, Ron Austin, who was married at the time; Longet and Austin later married and still live in Aspen.) After the criminal trial, the Sabich family initiated civil proceedings to sue Longet. The case was eventually resolved out of court, with the proviso that Longet never tell or write about her story.

Burial[link]

Spider Sabich is buried at Westwood Hills Memorial Park in Placerville, since there was no cemetery in Kyburz at the time of his death in 1976. The presence of Claudine Longet and her supporters at Spider's funeral was awkward for the Sabich family.^[10]

Spider is buried next to his older sister, Mary, a physician who died of brain cancer in 1988 at the age of 45.
Their younger brother Steve died of melanoma in 2005 at age 57, following the deaths of their parents.^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

• FIS-Ski.com - World Cup - top ten results - Spider Sabich
• Ski-db.com - Spider Sabich
• TruTV.com - Crime Library - Claudine Longet & Spider Sabich
• AP photo - circa Jan-1974 - Claudine Longet (age 32) & Spider Sabich (28)
• skimuseum.net - Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum - Hall of Fame - Spider Sabich

Robert Wetherson "Bob" Beattie (October 16, 1902 – June 3, 1983) was a professional American football player who played offensive tackle/defensive tackle in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). He played for the AFL's Philadelphia Quakers (1926) and the NFL's New York Yankees (1927) and Orange/Newark Tornadoes (1929–1930).

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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2010)

Claudine Longet
Longet and Tim Conway, 1963.
Background information
Born	(1942-01-29) 29 January 1942 (age 70)
Origin	Paris, France
Genres	Pop Bossa nova French pop Standards Soft rock
Occupations	Singer, Actress
Instruments	Voice, Guitar
Years active	1963–1975
Labels	A&M, Barnaby Records
Associated acts	Andy Williams Nick De Caro

Claudine Georgette Longet (born 29 January 1942) is a French singer and recording artist who was popular during the 1960s and 1970s. She is also an actress and a dancer.

Born in Paris, France, Longet was married to pop singer Andy Williams from 1961 until 1975. She has maintained a private profile since 1977, following her conviction for misdemeanor negligent homicide^[1] in connection with the death of her boyfriend, former Olympic skier "Spider" Sabich.

Career[link]

Her first appearances as an actress on television were in two 1963 episodes of the comedy series McHale's Navy. She also acted in the 1964 theatrical feature film of the same title. Many of her acting roles during the 1960s were in episodes of television adventure series that included Twelve O'Clock High, Combat!, The Name of the Game, The Rat Patrol and Hogans Heroes Episode #20: It Takes a Thief ... Sometime.

She appeared many times on The Andy Williams Show series and specials. She also occasionally appeared as a singer on other variety and music programs, including those of singers Bobby Darin and Tom Jones. Williams called Longet — a beautiful, athletic, slender, petite sleek brunette with large doe eyes — "my favorite French singer."

Her career breakthrough occurred in 1966. She had a guest-starring role in the season-one finale of the NBC television adventure series Run for Your Life, which starred Ben Gazzara. In the episode "The Sadness of A Happy Time," she performed her English-French bilingual rendition of Jobim's bossa nova song "Meditation" ("Meditação"), singing with a very soft angelic voice filled with longing and melancholy but also with a cheerful optimism. The episode was first broadcast on 16 May 1966.

A&M Records cofounder Herb Alpert was among the viewers whom Longet charmed with her performance of "Meditation." When Alpert met Longet by happenstance at a club in New Orleans later in 1966, he offered her a recording contract with his company.^[2] Longet recorded singles, and five albums, for A&M Records between 1966 and 1970.

"Meditation" was Longet's first single release for A&M. Other Jobim compositions that she has recorded include "A Felicidade," "How Insensitive" ("Insensatez"), and "Dindi."

In 1968, Longet costarred with Peter Sellers in the MGM motion picture The Party, a box office hit that Blake Edwards wrote, produced, and directed. Elvis Presley reportedly identified The Party as his favorite film.^[3] Longet sang "Nothing to Lose" (music by Henry Mancini and lyrics by Don Black) in the film.

In 1971, she joined Williams' Barnaby Records label. She released singles and two albums for Barnaby, We've Only Just Begun in 1971 and Let's Spend the Night Together in 1972. She also recorded songs for a projected third album for Barnaby that went unreleased. Many of the songs for the planned third album finally appeared on the 1993 compact disc release titled Sugar Me, after the Lynsey de Paul song that Longet covered in the early 70's but the masters for some of the other songs are missing and presumed lost.

In 1975, she appeared as "The Flower" (a nonsinging role) with Richard Burton, Jonathan Winters, and others, on the children's album The Little Prince, based on the Antoine de Saint Exupéry novel. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Album for Children in 1976.

She has enjoyed success on the music popularity charts. Her 1967 debut album, Claudine, peaked at #11 on the Billboard pop albums chart in the United States. Claudine became a RIAA-certified gold album, selling more than 500,000 copies. Subsequent albums The Look of Love peaked at #33 in 1967 and Love is Blue peaked at #29 in 1968 on the Billboard pop albums chart in the U.S.

Longet's musical cohort on her charting albums was arranger Nick De Caro. He also arranged her other two albums on A&M, Colours (1968) and Run Wild, Run Free (1970), and We've Only Just Begun on Barnaby.

She also has had hit singles in America on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Her charting singles include "Here, There and Everywhere" (music and lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney), "Hello, Hello" (composed by Terry MacNeil and Peter Kraemer), "Good Day Sunshine" (composed by Lennon and McCartney), "Small Talk" (music and lyrics by Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon), and "Love is Blue" (music by André Popp and French lyrics by Pierre Cour [Pierre Lemaire]). Another song, "Wanderlove" (music and lyrics by Mason Williams), went to #7 on the singles charts in Singapore and still occasionally gets airplay on Asian radio. She remains popular in Japan, where all of her original albums were reissued on compact disc.

Marriage to Andy Williams[link]

Longet and Williams met in Las Vegas in 1960 when she was 18 and he was 32. Longet was experiencing problems with her car and had pulled over to the side of the road. Driving by, Williams stopped to offer assistance. She was the lead dancer of the Folies Bergère revue at the Tropicana Resort & Casino. They married on 15 December 1961 in Los Angeles,^[4] and had three children: Noëlle (born on 24 September 1963), Christian (born on 15 April 1965), and Robert ("Bobby") (born on 1 August 1969). They legally separated in 1970^[5] and divorced in January 1975.^[6] According to Williams, they remain "very good friends" to the present day.^[7]

Relationship with Robert F. and Ethel Kennedy[link]

Longet and Andy Williams were close friends of Robert F. "Bobby" Kennedy and his wife, Ethel Kennedy. During the mid-1960s, they regularly socialized at Longet's and Williams's residences in Bel Air and Palm Springs and at the Kennedy residences at Hickory Hill and New York City.^[8] They also took summer cruises on the Salmon River in central Idaho and on the Colorado River.^[9]

On or before 4 June 1968, the day of the 1968 Democratic Party presidential primary in California, Kennedy — a contending Democratic presidential candidate — and his wife made tentative arrangements with Williams and Longet to visit a trendy local disco called The Factory. According to Williams, Robert Kennedy told them that he would make a hand signal at the conclusion of his televised speech at the Ambassador Hotel to confirm their get-together.^[8]

Shortly after midnight on 5 June, Longet and Williams watched Senator Kennedy's televised primary victory speech in Kennedy's suite in his hotel. When they saw Kennedy make the "little hand gesture." Williams rushed down to the hotel ballroom, he heard loud noises in the hallway and learned that Kennedy had been shot. Longet and Williams eventually joined Kennedy's family and friends at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, where doctors labored to save the Senator's life. They stayed at the hospital for about 24 hours. After Kennedy died during the early morning hours of 6 June, Longet and Williams went into his hospital room and saw Ethel Kennedy asleep near her husband.

Longet and Williams attended Senator Kennedy's funeral Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City on 8 June. A television camera captured Williams consoling a sobbing Longet during the Mass. After Kennedy's brother Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy delivered a brief and emotional eulogy, Williams and a choir sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" in what a Washington Post reporter described as a "hauntingly slow tempo."^[10] Outside the cathedral on the streets of New York, thousands of people were listening to the Mass over loudspeakers. When they heard Williams singing, they began singing with him.^[11]

After the funeral Mass, Longet and Williams boarded the 21-car funeral train that took Senator Kennedy's body to Washington, D.C. and Arlington National Cemetery for burial. Longet and Williams were with Senator Kennedy's body, Ethel Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, and other Kennedy family members in the end car of the train. The front page of the 9 June 1968 edition of the Washington Post has a large photograph that depicts Ted Kennedy and Longet standing together on the rear platform of the funeral train as it passed through North Philadelphia.^[12]

Longet and Williams named their son Bobby (who was born in August 1969) in remembrance of Robert Kennedy.

Arrest and trial[link]

Longet was arrested and charged with fatally shooting her boyfriend, Olympic skier Vladimir "Spider" Sabich, at his Aspen, Colorado, home on 21 March 1976. At trial, Longet said the gun discharged accidentally as Sabich was showing her how it worked. Williams publicly supported Longet throughout the trial, even escorting her to and from the courthouse.

The Aspen police made two procedural errors that aided Longet's defense: Without warrants, they took a blood sample from her and confiscated her diary. According to prosecutors, the sample showed the presence of cocaine in her blood, and her diary reportedly contradicted her claim that her relationship with Sabich had not soured. In addition, the gun was mishandled by non-weapons experts. As they were unable to cite any of the disallowed material, prosecutors did use the autopsy report to suggest that when Sabich was struck he was bent over, facing away, and at least 1.80 m (6 ft) from Longet, which would be inconsistent with the position and relative distance of someone demonstrating the operation of a firearm.

The jury convicted her of a lesser charge — misdemeanor criminal negligence — and sentenced her to pay a small fine and spend 30 days in jail.^[13] The judge allowed Longet to choose the days to be served, believing that this arrangement would allow her to spend the most time with her children. She chose to serve most of her sentence on weekends. (Critical reaction to the verdict and sentencing was exacerbated when she subsequently vacationed with her defense attorney, Ron Austin, who was married at the time; Longet and Austin later married and still live in Aspen.) After the criminal trial, the Sabich family initiated civil proceedings to sue Longet. The case was eventually resolved out of court, with the proviso that Longet never tell or write about her story.

Recent years[link]

Longet has not performed publicly since the trial.^{[citation needed]} Her public appearances since then have been limited to writing liner notes for a 2005 CD compilation and providing voice-over (off-camera) commentary for a 2003 A&E Biography documentary about Williams.^{[citation needed]} Interest in her music has resurged in recent years following several CD releases, inclusion of her songs on television and film soundtracks, and expressions of admiration by several young performers.^{[citation needed]}

Marriages[link]

• Ron Austin (1 June 1985–present)
• Andy Williams (1961–1975) (divorced), three children — daughter Noelle Williams and sons Christian Williams and Bobby Williams, who was named for Robert F. Kennedy.

Pop culture references[link]

• Season 1, Episode 12 (18 January 2001) of Gilmore Girls features Longet. They play Longet's version of the song "God Only Knows" (composed by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher). Season 5, Episode 22 (15 May 2005 season finale) of the show features Longet's recording of "I Think It's Going To Rain Today" (composed by Randy Newman, who played piano at the session).^{[citation needed]}

• Season 1, Episode 18 of Saturday Night Live featured a skit titled "The Claudine Longet Invitational," which parodied the shooting incident, showing skiers making runs down the slopes until they are "accidentally" shot by Claudine Longet, resulting in abrupt wipeouts. Longet's attorneys wrote a cease-and-desist letter to Lorne Michaels and an apology was given in the next week's show.^[14]

• Mick Jagger wrote a song about the murder of Spider Sabich in 1980 that was intended to be on the Rolling Stones album Emotional Rescue. The song, titled "Claudine," carried lyrics that painted a graphic picture of some of the more salacious aspects of the affair and killing. However, it was deemed too controversial and it was removed. It was included on several bootleg Rolling Stones albums. In November 2011, the track "Claudine" was released on the Rolling Stones' deluxe reissue of their album "Some Girls." ^[15]

Discography[link]

U.S. albums[link]

Notable foreign albums[link]

Charting U.S. singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Claudine Longet at Allmusic
• Claudine Longet at the Internet Movie Database
• Cuddle Up with Claudine fansite
• Blog featuring Longet ephemera

Andy Williams
Andy Williams performing at the Moon River Theater in Branson, MO late 2006
Background information
Birth name	Howard Andrew Williams
Also known as	A Voice of National Treasure The King of Hearts The Golden Voice The Emperor of Easy The Emperor of Class The Crooning King The King of Easy Listening Mr. Moon River The American Idol Mr. Christmas[citation needed]
Born	(1927-12-03) December 3, 1927 (age 84)
Origin	Wall Lake, Iowa, United States
Genres	Traditional pop Jazz Country Pop Easy Listening
Occupations	Singer Songwriter Actor Record producer
Years active	1938–present
Labels	Sony BMG/Columbia/Cadence
Website	AndyWilliams.com

Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams (born December 3, 1927) is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold-^[1] and three Platinum-certified^[2] albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns the Moon River Theatre^[3] in Branson, Missouri named after the song "Moon River", with which he is closely identified.

Early life and career[link]

Williams was born in Wall Lake, Iowa,^[4] the son of Jay Emerson and Florence (née Finley) Williams. He first performed in a children's choir at the local Presbyterian church.^[4] Williams and his three older brothers Bob, Don, and Dick formed the Williams Brothers quartet^[4] in late 1938, and they performed on radio in the Midwest, first at WHO in Des Moines, Iowa, and later at WLS in Chicago and WLW in Cincinnati. Williams graduated from Western Hills High School in Cincinnati and his brother was engaged to Gene Ingram's car-pool partner, Peggy. The Williams Brothers appeared with Bing Crosby on the hit record "Swinging on a Star" (1944). They appeared in 4 musical films: Janie (1944), Kansas City Kitty (1944), Something in the Wind (1947) and Ladies' Man (1947). This led to a nightclub act with entertainer Kay Thompson from 1947 to 1951.^[4]

Solo career[link]

Williams' solo career began in 1953.^[4] He recorded six sides (individual songs) for RCA Victor's label "X", but none of them were popular hits.^[5]

After finally landing a spot as a regular on Steve Allen's Tonight Show in 1954,^[6] he was signed to a recording contract with Cadence Records, a small label in New York run by conductor Archie Bleyer. His third single, "Canadian Sunset" reached #7 in the Top Ten in August 1956, and was soon followed by his only Billboard #1 hit, "Butterfly" (a cover of a Charlie Gracie record on which Williams imitated Elvis Presley) in February 1957. More hits followed, including "The Hawaiian Wedding Song" (U.S. #11), "Are You Sincere" (U.S. #3 in February 1958), "The Village of St. Bernadette" (U.S. #7 in December 1959), "Lonely Street" (U.S. #5 in September 1959), and "I Like Your Kind Of Love" with Peggy Powers (U.S. #8 in May 1957) before Williams moved to Columbia Records in 1961, having moved from New York to Los Angeles and gaining another hit with "Can't Get Used to Losing You" (U.S. #2). In terms of chart popularity, the Cadence era was Williams' peak although songs he introduced on Columbia became much bigger standards. Two top ten hits from the Cadence era, "Butterfly" and "I Like Your Kind of Love" were apparently believed to not suit Williams' later style; they were not included on a Columbia reissue of his Cadence greatest hits of/from the 1960s.

In 1964, Williams ultimately became the owner of the Cadence master tapes, which he occasionally licensed to Columbia, including not only his own recordings, but those of his fellow Cadence-era labelmates, The Everly Brothers, Lenny Welch, The Chordettes, and Johnny Tillotson. In 1968, although he was still under contract with Columbia for his own recordings, Williams formed a separate company called Barnaby Records not only to handle reissuing of the Cadence material, especially that of The Everly Brothers (one of the first Barnaby LPs was a double LP set of the brothers long out of print Cadence hits) but new artists as well. Barnaby also had several Top 40 hits in the 70s with novelty artist Ray Stevens (who had done a summer replacement show for Williams in 1970), including Top 10s such as "Everything Is Beautiful" in 1970, and "The Streak" in 1974.

Also in 1970, Barnaby signed and released the first album by an unknown singer-songwriter named Jimmy Buffett ("Jimmy Buffett Down to Earth") produced by Travis Turk. Columbia was initially the distributor for Barnaby, but later distribution was handled first by MGM Records and then GRT. Once Barnaby ceased operating as a working record company at the end of the 1970s, Williams licensed the old Cadence material to various other labels (such as Varese & Rhino in the U.S.) after 1980.

During the 1960s, Williams became one of the most popular vocalists in the country and was signed to what was at that time the biggest recording contract in history. He was primarily an album artist, and at one time he had earned more gold albums than any solo performer except Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis and Elvis Presley. By 1973 he had earned as many as 18 gold album awards. Among his hit albums from this period were Moon River, Days of Wine and Roses (number one for 16 weeks in mid-1963), The Andy Williams Christmas Album, Dear Heart, The Shadow of Your Smile, Love, Andy, Get Together with Andy Williams, and Love Story. These recordings, along with his natural affinity for the music of the 1960s and early 1970s, combined to make him one of the premier easy listening singers of that era. In the UK, Williams continued to reach high chart status until 1978. The albums Can't Help Falling In Love (1970), Andy Williams Show (1970) Home Lovin Man ( #1 1971), Solitaire (1973), The Way We Were (1974) and Reflections (1978) all reached the Top 10.

Williams forged an indirect collaborative relationship with Henry Mancini, although they never recorded together. Williams was asked to sing Mancini and Johnny Mercer's song "Moon River" at the 1962 Oscar Awards (where it won), and it quickly became Williams' theme song; however, because it was never released as a single, "Moon River" was never actually a chart hit for Williams.^[7] The next year Williams sang "Days of Wine and Roses" which was written by Mancini and Mercer (this song also won). Two years later, he sang Mancini's "Dear Heart" at the 1965 awards and "The Sweetheart Tree" (also written with Mercer) at the 1966 awards.

On August 5, 1966, the 14-story, 700-room Caesars Palace casino and nightclub opened in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the stage production of "Rome Swings", in which Williams starred. He performed live to a sold out crowd in the Circus Maximus showroom. He headlined for Caesars for the next twenty years.

In 1968, Columbia released a 45-rpm record of two songs Williams sang at the funeral of Robert F. Kennedy, a close friend: "Ave Maria" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". These were never released on a long-playing record.

Williams also competed in the teenage-oriented singles market as well and had several charting hits including "Can't Get Used to Losing You", "Happy Heart", and "Where Do I Begin", the theme song from the 1970 blockbuster film, Love Story. In addition Williams hit the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart with "Almost There" (1965), "Can't Help Falling In Love" (1970), "Home Lovin' Man" (1970) and "Solitaire" (1973).

Both Williams and Petula Clark recorded "Happy Heart" at the same time, just prior to his guest appearance on her second NBC-TV special. Unaware that she, too, was releasing the song as a single, he asked to perform it on the show. The exposure ultimately led to his having the bigger hit with the tune. The song "Happy Heart" is played during the final scene, and throughout the end credits, of the Danny Boyle film Shallow Grave.

Building on his experience with Allen and some short-term variety shows in the 1950s, he became the star of his own weekly television variety show in 1962. This series, The Andy Williams Show, won three Emmy Awards for outstanding variety program. Among his series regulars were the Osmond Brothers. He gave up the variety show in 1971 while it was still popular and retrenched to three specials per year. His Christmas specials, which appeared regularly until 1974 and intermittently from 1982 into the 1990s, were among the most popular of the genre. Williams has recorded eight Christmas albums over the years and has been penned as Mr. Christmas.

Williams hosted the most Grammy telecasts, from the 13th Annual Grammy Awards in 1971 through the 19th Annual Grammy Awards in 1977, totaling seven consecutive shows. He returned to television to do a syndicated half-hour series in 1976–77.

In the early 1970s, when the Nixon Administration attempted to deport John Lennon, Andy Williams was an outspoken defender of the former Beatle's right to stay in the United States.

A caricature of Andy Williams is included in the montage of caricatures displayed on the cover of Ringo Starr's 1973 album, "Ringo".

Williams also sang the national anthem at Super Bowl VII in 1973 with Little Angels of Holy Angels Church in Chicago, Illinois.

National tour success[link]

His 1967 recording of "Music to Watch Girls By" became a huge surprise UK hit to a new young TV audience in 1999, when it reached #9 after being featured in new TV ads for the Fiat Punto--and later for Diet Pepsi--beating the original peak of #33 in 1967. A new generation was reminded of Williams' recordings and a sell-out UK tour followed the success of the single, and he was given the nickname "The Emperor of Easy" in the UK.

In 2002, he re-recorded "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" as a duet with British actress and singer Denise van Outen which reached number 23 in the UK singles charts.

He completed a sold-out tour of the United Kingdom and Asia in the winter and summer of 2007, in which he performed at several major concert halls including the Royal Albert Hall, singing among other classics, Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately".

Williams returned to the UK singles charts with his 1963 recording of "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" in December 2007 thanks to an advert for Marks And Spencer, reaching number 21 in its first appearance in the British charts, also reaching #108 on the EU Top 200. In 2008 he lip-synched the 45-year-old recording to welcome Santa at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

On October 3, 2009, Williams appeared live on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing^[8] in London, singing Moon River to promote the UK edition of The Very Best of Andy Williams, which peaked at number 10 in the main pop chart.

Moon River Theatre[link]

In June 1991, Williams' brother Don invited him to the small Ozarks town of Branson, Missouri. Don Williams at the time was the manager for entertainer Ray Stevens, who had just opened a theatre in Branson. While attending Stevens' show, Williams was encouraged by numerous Branson guests to open a venue in the town.^[3] This led Williams to build his own theater in Branson in time for the 1992 season,^[9] eventually opening on May 1, 1992 as the Moon River Theatre.^[10] The name came from a song he made famous from the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. It went on to become the first theater ever to be featured in Architectural Digest, and also won the 1992 Conservation Award from the State of Missouri.^[11]

The theater was designed to blend into the rough terrain of the Ozark Mountains. Reportedly when Williams was on his way to Big Cedar Lodge one day, he had noticed some rough rock outcroppings and said, "What about these? This could be the entrance." He had originally planned a marble style theater reminiscence of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, but soon had a change of mind. The Larson Company of Tucson, Arizona fabricated a section of rock on Missouri's Highway 76 and the theater was soon engulfed with waterfalls, koi filled ponds, ferns and trees native to the Ozarks. The inside of the theater incorporates the outside. Trees and plants are seen throughout the theater's three lobbies. Oak floors are accompanied by African ribbon striped mahogany walls that are filled with pictures of the Andy Williams Television Show. Williams' passion for art can be seen throughout as well. From the start of his career Williams had accumulated several paintings and sculptures and decided to fill his theater with his collection. Frankenthaler, Diebenkorn, Oldenburg, Pollock, Klee and Moore are a small list of artists the Moon River Theatre represents.^[12]

The theater's auditorium can accommodate 2,054 people. The seating is stadium style seating for the best view. The seats and carpets match Williams' Navajo rug collection and are forest green, magenta, gold and blue. On display inside the auditorium are nineteen Japanese Kimonos. The stage has accommodated numerous shows and guest celebrities. On stage Williams has been joined by Glen Campbell, Ann-Margret, Petula Clark and Charo. The theater has also played host to Phyllis Diller, Pat Boone, The Osmond Family, Robert Goulet, Rich Little, Shari Lewis & Lamb Chop, David Copperfield, Pat Benatar and Broadway on Ice starring Nancy Kerrigan, Tara Lipinski and Rudy Galindo. In November and December of each year he presents his annual Andy Williams Christmas Show at the theater.

When it first opened, Williams' act was unique because it was the first non-country act to open in the then-mostly-country music town. It was said he was discouraged by many back home in California from making such a bold move, but that was what he wanted. Other non-country entertainers like Bobby Vinton, Tony Orlando, Wayne Newton and the Osmond Brothers soon followed.^[13]

Williams and his theater were featured on three episodes of the soap opera As the World Turns in July 2007. Several of the cast (Gwen, Will, Cleo, Jade, Luke, Maddie and Noah) went to Branson for a concert of Gwen Munson held in the Moon River Theatre. The Simpsons featured Williams at his Moon River Theatre in an episode titled "Bart on the Road". Nelson Muntz is an Andy Williams fan, and in the episode he forces the gang to make a detour to Branson so he could see his idol. The bully is reduced to tears as Williams performs "Moon River" during the second encore.

In the spring of 2007 Williams opened the Moon River Grill adjacent to his theater in Branson. The restaurant is decorated in photos from the Andy Williams Television Show with stars including Diana Ross, Elton John and Sammy Davis Jr. Art is center stage in the restaurant, with works by several artists including Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana.^[14]

Personal life[link]

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Williams met French-born Claudine Longet when he pulled over to aid her on a Las Vegas road. She was a dancer at the time at the Folies Bergère. They married on December 15, 1961. The union produced three children: Noelle, Christian, and Robert within the next eight years.

After a lengthy separation, Williams and Longet divorced in 1975. In March 1976, however, when Longet was charged with fatally shooting her boyfriend, alpine ski racer Spider Sabich in Aspen, Williams played a public role in the subsequent events, escorting her to and from the courtroom, testifying to her character at the trial, and providing legal assistance. Longet claimed the shooting was accidental, and eventually received 30 days in jail, which was served at her convenience. Shortly thereafter, Longet vacationed in Mexico with her defense attorney Ron Austin, whom she married in June 1985. They continue to reside in the Aspen area.

Andy Williams married a second time (May 3, 1991), to the former Debbie Meyer, whom he met through a mutual friend. They make their homes at Branson, Missouri, and La Quinta, California. Williams' homes have been featured in Architectural Digest, and he is a noted collector of modern art.

Williams is an avid golfer, and hosted the PGA Tour golf tournament in San Diego from 1968-88 at Torrey Pines. Then known as the "Andy Williams San Diego Open", the tournament continues as the Farmers Insurance Open, usually played in February.

Williams' birthplace in Iowa is a tourist attraction, and is open most of the year.

On Friday, November 4, 2011, it was reported in the press that Williams has been diagnosed with bladder cancer. The singer confirmed the condition in a surprise appearance that weekend at his theater in Branson, as reported by the Branson Tri-Lakes News.^[15] He is undergoing chemotherapy treatments in Houston and will then move with his wife to a rented home in Malibu, California to be closer to cancer specialists in the Los Angeles area.^[16]

Politics[link]

Williams was close friends with Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, campaigning for Kennedy '68 for President. Williams was among the celebrities who were present at the Ambassador Hotel on the night Sirhan Sirhan killed RFK in June 1968. Williams solemnly sang "Battle Hymn of the Republic" at RFK's funeral, by request of widow Ethel. By August 1969, over a year after Bobby Kennedy's death, Andy and Claudine named their newborn son 'Bobby' Williams. The Williams' friendship with Ethel Kennedy has endured, with Williams even serving as escort to Ethel, during events in the 1970s. He also raised funds for George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign, performing at benefit concerts.^[17]

While close friends with the Democratic Kennedys, Williams is a lifelong Republican.^[18] On September 29, 2009, Williams was quoted by the Daily Telegraph as accusing President Barack Obama of "following Marxist theory" and "wanting the country to fail".^[19][20] He gave Rush Limbaugh permission to use his recording of the song "Born Free" for the theme to the "Animal Rights Update" on his Limbaugh's radio show – in which a portion of the song is then followed by gunfire – saying "Hey, it's fine with me. I love what you're doing with it." The record company later blocked Limbaugh's use of the recording.^[21]

Discography[link]

Hit singles[link]

Albums[link]

Cadence Records[link]

Columbia Records[link]