This remembrance of outsider artist Charles Crumb, who committed suicide in 1994, and was the brother of the cartoonist, has been linked everywhere.
The first saint: Charles Crumb, of Zwigoff’s great documentary. He never moved out. In the end, he barely left his room. He read; piles of books everywhere. He hadn’t read Hegel and Kant, he says in the film, but he might do. Meanwhile he’s rereading books he read twenty years ago. He is around fifty years old; he has a year before his suicide. Gentle and withdrawn, bullies tormented him at school. Hutch – that was the name of one of them. That was his name. Hutch and his cronies. Hutch would beat him in the school hall until he fell to the ground. There he was, Hutch, the cronies and everyone looking at him on the ground.
Above: a still from TREASURE ISLAND — Charles’s great love in life was Bobby Driscoll, who played Jim Hawkins.
It’s funny — I just watched the ‘Crumb’ doc again over the weekend. Because of that, all the stuff with Charles is fresh in my mind. So odd to see a tribute pop up right now (to me) a dozen years after his passing.
Strangely enough, Bobby Driscoll became an early beat poet in the late ’50s. He died of a heroin overdose in the early ’60s. But when he was still alive, wasn’t Driscoll’s poetry published by Charles Plymel…who went on to publish Zap Comix #1?
Former child stars Driscoll and Dean Stockwell (who was in the film The Boy With the Green Hair as a lad) went on to be early pioneers of media that filled the gap between the Nervous Generation of the ’50s and the underground press of the ’60s.
I to by chance have recently rewatched Crumb, in a limited time on screen Charles left an impression as a warm, intelligent and funny human being. RIP
The name is incorrect. The bully who intimidated Charles was named ‘Skutch.”
I just watched ‘Crumb’ a moment ago and was also especially moved by Charles there. Still, I can’t understand why the article linked above holds any interest for anyone. It’s nothing but a poorly written, utterly silly, self-consciously ‘profound’ and factually incorrect, even insulting, rehash of a what I just watched an hour ago. It reminds me of something I might’ve written in high school English class for an assignment, and no that is, to repeat, not a good thing…
For the record, the name “Bobby Driscoll” belonged to Disney, so after Bobby’s successful lawsuit against Walt Disney (for unwanted sexual behaviors), the Disney corporation decided it would be better if Bobby Driscoll were dead.
Eleven months after an unknown addict died of an overdose, a Disney executive decided to identify “that body” as being Bobby’s.
Meanwhile, the actor went back to using his real name, and he lived in North Charleston SC until last month. I had the privilege of meeting him in May 2014 and several times until mid 2015. A friend of mine kept in regular contact.
Jim, his (birth) first name showed me recordings from concerts he gave in later years.
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