http://www.tmz.com/2007/04/04/christmas-story-director-killed-in-l-a-car-crash/

Oh wow! What a tragedy!

:rip:

Oh my dear God. That is just heartbreaking.

RIP Bob Clark and son :(

Yesterday the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) was closed til this morning. I had no idea until this afternoon that it was Clark and his son. Again, the drunk driver walks away while the innocent victims die.

RIP Bob and son

They need to have a zero tolerance policy for drunk drivers! Not 2, 3 or 4 warnings and then punishment. There are far too many drunk drivers out there on the roads and some of that is due to the incredibly lax penalties.

I would put an entire paycheck on the line that says this jerk has already been arrested for DUI probably more than once. Enough of the 24 hour suspensions and fines, throw someones ass in jail for a week the very first time and get more severe with any further infractions.

I lost 2 friends in highschool in 2 separate drunk driving incidents, DUI needs to start being treated as a criminal act and not just a traffic violation :rant:

What a shame.

:(

I heard this on the news just a while ago. The Christmas Story was filmed in and around Cleveland so we're doubly sad here. :crying: My heart and prayers go to their loved ones, and thanks so much for putting together a movie still loved by millions today!! :rip:

R.I.P. Bob Clark.

RIP Bob Clark

Charges are expected against the driver who killed 'A Christmas Story' director Robert Clark and his son Ariel Hanrath-Clark, 22, late Tuesday/early Wednesday morning. Charges are gross vehicular manslaughter, DUI, (Driving Under the Influence) and driving without a license. On top of that, the driver's an illegal immigrant.


Anyway, here's Yahoo!'s article.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070404/ap_on_en_mo/obit_clark (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070404/ap_on_en_mo/obit_clark)


'Christmas Story' director dies in crash

JEREMIAH MARQUEZ, Associated Press Writer

Wed Apr 4, 6:55 PM ET

LOS ANGELES - 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."

Yahoo! News/AP-April 4, 2007


I have the special 2-disc DVD collection, the 20th anniversary edition as a matter of fact of the film and hopefully as a tribute to Clark, all three Turner networks, TBS, TNT and TCM (Turner Classic Movies) should all air 'A Christmas Story' for 24 hours during the holiday season for one day each, not all at once, IMO.

rest in peace Bob

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-crash7apr07,0,7158364.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Hector Velazquez-Nava pleads... not guilty? I'd sure like to hear his reasoning.

So in addition to Hector Velazquez-Nava being three times over the state's legal alcohol limit he's also an illegal immigrant without a license.

"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."

See, this I don't understand. If he was convicted in 2005 for a crime, didn't they uncover that he was an illegal? This makes no sense.

"He could face at least four to 10 years imprisonment if convicted of vehicular manslaughter."

Well, gross negligence of this caliber seems to fit a higher punishment than 4 years.

An illegal alien. Makes me sick.