And The World Moves On

One of the things, I think, that has made my life such an interesting ride, has been the unusually large number of colorful characters that have passed through my world.

Among those colorful characters, Fred J. Lincoln was a Techicolor™ peacock.

Fred passed away this morning at the age of 75.

It may seem like I am being callous when I say this, but if you knew Freddy, you would know that he would tell you this, himself...

It's a miracle that he made it this far.

Freddy spent a good chunk of his life cheating death.

*Note*

The following is neither a biography or a eulogy, but, a recollection. Some of what I am about to write may be inaccurate, or even false. Freddy was, among other things, a gregarious raconteur and may have been prone to telling a few tall tales. There are some things that I have never been able to verify.

*End Note*

Born in Hell's Kitchen in NYC, Fred has been credited as one of the pioneers of the New York porn scene in the 1970s. For a time, he was the owner of New York's infamous sex club, Plato's Retreat.

He moved to Los Angeles where he worked as an actor and stuntman.

Freddy is probably best known to horror movie buffs as the rapist/killer Fred "Weasel" Podowski in Wes Craven's "The Last House on the Left."

In that film, Freddy's "Weasel" becomes the recipient of one of the most cringe inducing, revenge killings in cinematic history.


Let me describe it this way...

                                                           It's all fun and games until someone loses a penis.

Let's leave it at that.

Some years later, Wes Craven gave a shout-out to Freddy by naming his most famous "boogie man" Freddy Kruger.

But, (and as I said earlier, I have never been able to verify this, so I am not going to name the film, but I have heard the story from several sources, including Fred, so I will take him at his word,) Freddy may have had an impact on me as an early teen, with his involvement in one of the most bad-ass car stunts, ever.

*Digression*

The Blog thinks that he may have just set a "personal best" record for the most commas used in a run-on sentence.

*End Digression*

It was a cop movie. If I remember correctly, it took place in San Francisco, where you just can't do a car chase that isn't awesome.

But, it was the chase's climax that blew the young Blog's mind.

The cop's car plows into and under a semi-trailer, pealing the top of the car back like a sardine can.

                                                                                                This.

In The Blog's not so humble opinion, the most bad-ass car stunt in movie history, until John McClane launched a car at a helicopter from under the 105 in "Live Free or Die Hard."

Freddy, (I am told, but cannot confirm,) was the stunt driver for that scene.

You would think that that would be the crown jewel of a stunt driver's resumé.

But, according to Fred, it was actually a magnificent fuck-up.

You see, the scene, as envisioned by the director, had the car skidding to a stop, front end under the trailer, stopping just as the edge of the trailer tapped the windshield.

But, as Freddy told it, "I drank a bit, at the time."

This comment would spark gales of laughter.

More on that in a bit.

Fred continues...

"I didn't take into account the loose gravel on the road. If I had noticed it, I would have refused to do the stunt, until the stones were cleared away. But, I didn't. So, instead of slowly skidding to a stop, I just plowed right into the truck. I realized what was happening just in time to drop below the dashboard. If I hadn't, my head would have ended up in the back seat."

Still.

Bad-ass!

Fred, eventually left the high stress stunt business and returned to his roots, producing and directing adult videos.

Fred didn't so much battle a substance abuse problem.

Rather, he embraced it.

Until the late 1980s, when his doctor told him that his liver "had more holes in it than a wheel of swiss cheese." (Freddy's words.) And, would not live to see the new year if he did not take better care of himself.

With the help of his wife Patty, Fred got clean, and mostly sober, (he still had the occasional drink, and still smoked like a chimney.) But, he got his health back.

The last time I saw Fred was, almost exactly, ten years ago, at the Adult Video Convention in Las Vegas, that coincides with the Consumer Electronics Show and culminates with the Adult Video News Awards.

The Blog was there, working for the cable network that covered the awards show.

I spent some down time on the convention floor, saying "hello" to old friends from the biz that I had not seen in nearly a decade.

There he was, his mane of white hair flowing.

He greeted me with a hearty hug.

He said, "God damn! You got old!"

I replied, "God damn! You're still alive!"

And, God damn! It was good to see him!

Whatever your opinion of porn and pornographers may be...

The PC really doesn't care.

Back in the day, The PC made a good living working in that industry.

And, he made some good friends.

Fred J. Lincoln was one of the good guys.

He was a  character.

But, he was MY character.

And, my world is a bit emptier without him in it.

The world moves on.

One more quick obit...

Pauline Philips...

aka: Abigail Van Buren...

                                                                                        aka: "Dear Abby..."
... also passed away today.

The PC never knew her, but he grew up reading her column.

Several years ago, she turned her column writing duties over to her daughter, Jeanne Philips.

The Blog had the pleasure of working with Jeanne on a TV pilot.

She is one of the nicest people that I have had the honor of working with.

My condolences go out to her and her family.