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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Bob Clark, Director Of 'A Christmas Story" Killed In Car Accident
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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 04-04-2007 07:27 PM
Yahoo!/AP News Story
quote:
'Christmas Story' director dies in crash
By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 32 minutes ago
Film director Robert Clark, best known for the beloved holiday classic "A Christmas Story," was killed with his son Wednesday in a car wreck, the filmmaker's assistant and police said.
Clark, 67, and son Ariel Hanrath-Clark, 22, were killed in the accident in Pacific Palisades, said Lyne Leavy, Clark's personal assistant.
The two men were in an Infiniti that collided head-on with a GMC Yukon around 2:30 a.m. PST, said Lt. Paul Vernon, a police spokesman. The driver of the other car was under the influence of alcohol and was driving without a license, Vernon said.
The driver, Hector Velazquez-Nava, 24, of Los Angeles, remained hospitalized and will be booked for investigation of gross vehicular manslaughter after being treated, Vernon said. A female passenger in his car also was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and released, police said.
In Clark's most famous film, all 9-year-old Ralphie Parker wants for Christmas is an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle.
His mother, teacher and Santa Claus all warn: "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."
A school bully named Scut Farkus, a leg lamp, a freezing flagpole mishap and some four-letter defiance helped the movie become a seasonal fixture with "It's A Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street."
Clark specialized in horror movies and thrillers early in his career, directing such 1970s flicks as "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things," "Murder by Decree," "Breaking Point" and "Black Christmas," which was remade last year.
His breakout success came with 1981's sex farce "Porky's," a coming-of-age romp that he followed two years later with "Porky's II: The Next Day."
In 1983, "A Christmas Story" marked a career high for Clark. Darrin McGavin, Melinda Dillon and Peter Billingsley starred in the adaptation of Jean Shepard's childhood memoir of a boy in the 1940s.
The film was a modest theatrical success, but critics loved it.
In 1994, Clark directed a forgettable sequel, "It Runs in the Family," featuring Charles Grodin, Mary Steenburgen and Kieran Culkin in a continuation of Shepard's memoirs.
In recent years, Clark made family comedies that were savaged by critics, including "Karate Dog," "Baby Geniuses" and its sequel, "Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2."
Among Clark's other movies were Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton's "Rhinestone," Timothy Hutton's "Turk 182!", and Gene Hackman and Dan Aykroyd's "Loose Cannons."
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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 04-07-2007 03:06 AM
Here's the text for Phil's Los Angeles Times Story Link
quote:
Driver accused in crash that killed director pleads not guilty
The man at the wheel of an SUV that killed Bob Clark and his son had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit, police say.
By Valerie Reitman and Andrew Blankstein
Times Staff Writers
3:19 PM PDT, April 6, 2007
Hector Velazquez-Nava, the driver accused of causing the crash that killed movie director Bob Clark and his son, pleaded not guilty today to a pair of counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
He remains in custody at Van Nuys Jail with bail set at $200,000, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office.
Velazquez-Nava, 24, had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit when the crash occurred early Wednesday on Pacific Coast Highway, police said. He is a native of Mexico who federal authorities said was in the U.S. illegally.
The crash killed Clark, the director of "A Christmas Story" and the "Porky's" movies, and his son Ariel, 22.
Velazquez-Nava suffered minor injuries in the accident.
The high-speed collision left the mangled vehicles about 100 feet apart amid a long trail of debris, including parts of wheels, undercarriages and axles.
The passenger sides of both vehicles sustained the heaviest damage, indicating that Velazquez-Nava may have swerved toward the ocean and Clark the opposite way as they collided at high speed.
Velazquez-Nava had a blood alcohol level of 0.24 percent, three times the 0.08 legal limit for driving. There was no evidence the Clarks had been drinking, police said.
Velazquez-Nava does not have documentation of legal U.S. residency, nor does he appear to have ever had a U.S. driver's license, authorities said.
Velazquez-Nava lives in Los Angeles, but little other information was available. He told authorities that he was on his way from Hollywood to West Covina when he crashed, although he was traveling in the opposite direction.
Law enforcement sources said Velazquez-Nava pleaded guilty in 2005 in Los Angeles to a prostitution-related charge and was sentenced to two years' probation. He could face at least four to 10 years imprisonment if convicted of vehicular manslaughter.
The article states that the driver is being held at the Van Nuys Jail. Belive it or not, I live within walking distance of there. Anyone have a message for the accused? I could personally deliver the message! I certainly have a few things I'd like to say to the jackass, not the least of which would be to inform him that West Covina is east of Hollywood. EAST!!! (Malibu is west of Hollywood.)
And to think he pleaded not guilty. What's his defense gonna be: The Clarks were in his way? Whatever. The worst part is that there's probably some morally bankrupt lawyer out there licking his chops for an opportunity to defend this dude. Just deport his ass; skip a trial.
I attended a screening of "A Christmas Story" in '03 (a promo event tied to its DVD release) which included a cast & crew reunion. If I'd have known that Clark was gonna be taken out by some drunken illegal jackass I would've made a greater effort to meet and speak with him.
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