For those of you who don't know, Tony Orlando was a total scumbag. He was much older than Freddie, he influenced his drug use, partied with him and then when Freddie was dead he told the tabloids that Freddie "died in his arms." Read Maria Pruetzel's book. She totally slams Tony Orlando and exposes him for the user he is...

Tony Orlando is on my s%^$ list

Really??? I remember seeing a Behind The Music on Tony Orlando and it talked about he and Freddie being friends and all, but it never said anything like that (of course, why would it, they wanted to make Tony look good.) Amazing. Thanks for the info.

where in his mothers book does she "slam" tony orlando? i do not think she said a bad word about anybody except the doctor who gave him the drugs. in fact i think tony is only mentioned once and that is when he came to the hospital when freddie was dying. perhaps you are thinking of the playboy article? it did "slam" tony pretty good.

Yes, I may be confusing the two. But I also remember a newspaper article where Kathy was quoted as saying she didn't want Tony Orlando or Richard Pryor at the funeral because they were his (Freddie's, i.e. druggie) types.

By the way, if you look at the way Tony Orlando tried to get mileage out of Freddie's death, you wouldn't doubt the info.

I mean, he gave an interview to the National Enquirer shortly after Freddie's death and said Freddie was his best friend and that Freddie had "died in his arms."

From what I read, he hadn't seen Freddie in a long while before his death and he didn't even go to the hospital for the 33 hours that Freddie was in a coma.

Originally posted by croiter:
Yes, I may be confusing the two. But I also remember a newspaper article where Kathy was quoted as saying she didn't want Tony Orlando or Richard Pryor at the funeral because they were his (Freddie's, i.e. druggie) types.

Croiter - On the E Hollywood special Kathy and Maria (Mom was not on the show) both agreed that Tony Orlando was no good. That he lied about being close to Freddie. The playboy article states that they didn't want them at the funeral.

Originally posted by croiter:
By the way, if you look at the way Tony Orlando tried to get mileage out of Freddie's death, you wouldn't doubt the info.

I mean, he gave an interview to the National Enquirer shortly after Freddie's death and said Freddie was his best friend and that Freddie had "died in his arms."

From what I read, he hadn't seen Freddie in a long while before his death and he didn't even go to the hospital for the 33 hours that Freddie was in a coma.

I never heard Tony say Freddie died in his arms. Who was with him in the hospital when they pulled the plug?

oh i am not defending tony orlando. he has gotten alot of mileage out of the so called friendship with freddie. i have no respect for that person at all! i believe freddies mom was with him at the end and kathy. also mando i think.

Kathy said in the E! special that "there was no way" she was going to stay in the room when they pulled the plug--I couldn't believe it!

I found Kathy' statement a little hard to swallow, too. But I have been to hospitals when someone is near death. For some people, the experience is too hard for them to take, even if they love the person. I have never personally witnessed someone dying, so I'm not sure how I would take it.

BTW, I have the E! special and watched over, and over. I don't remember when they slammed Tony. In fact I don't remember him mentioned much at all. Did I miss something, or are you confusing the source of your info. I don't doubt that it was said, just where you heard it. I'll go back and check again.

I had read that Tony Orlando was close friends with him & after Freddie died, he had a nervous breakdown because of it. I wonder if he was just friends with Freddie only when Freddie wanted to do drugs with him etc & was maybe using him as someone to hang out & do drugs with. Didn't know he was hanging out with Richard Pryor. The drugs goofed him up I think & now he has MS I think. Freddie needed some friends who cared aneough to help him instead of feeding his addictions. I don't know much about Orlando tho other than his hit songs & TV show & he was friends with Freddie...

Well back then Tony and Freddie were friends. They guested on each other's shows and they would hang out together. When Freddie died Tony supposedly had a nervous breakdown and left show business for awhile. (Something like 3 years - not sure). Before he left show business he made a series of interviews talking about how he and Freddie were like brothers he mentioned this in magazines, newspapers etc. He also mentioned that everyone said they looked alike. When Freddie died http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/frown.gif Tony was being slammed because of what Freddie did to himself. They said if he was such a good friend to Freddie then Why didn't he help him? (Maybe that's why he disssappeared for awhile) Instead he took drugs with Freddie. I think it's the E biography that said that Kathy & Mom were angry at Tony that Tony lied about being such close friends with Freddie. They said that Tony exaggerated their friendship.

Thanks Jenny Lee for the very articulate comments....Also, the Playboy article (which I know many of you don't put a lot of faith in) said that at the funeral Tony Orlando began "orating" to the crowd of TV cameras and that Jack Albertson turned away in disgust.

hi croiter,
this is what the playboy article says regarding the funeral and jack. albertson felt weak. as he left the burial site, he glanced over to see orlando , whose arms were raised in evangelical fashion, orating to the fans and the press. albertson shook his head, muttered something and started toward his car. also it says, komack, albertson, and DeBlasio delivered eulogies.so did tony orlando, who had miraculously reappeared on the scene to be quoted as prinze's "best friend,".

now this is what the article says that freddie said about tony. one of his biggest disappointments was, he would tell her "tricia" tony orlando. "I can't understand him" freddie would say. "when his show was on the air, we'd get together all the time. now I never hear from him. some friend." Indeed, orlando and prinze hadn't talked for three months. It wasn't a feud- they just hadn't talked. the relationship had simply evaporated, along with freddie's marriage, and that hurt him.

Thanks for the info, Tracy. I think the Playboy article is accurate. You can just see how full of himself Tony Orlando was by the way he conducted himself on CATM and even on his own show...

Sounds like Tony wasn't much of a friend & probably used him as a friend to do drugs with & to get publicity from. Where was he when Freddie needed him? Maybe Tony had the breakdown cuz he realized he had neglected Freddie in his hour of need. I'd love to see Tony come out & share the truth of what went on. I wonder how many friends Freddie had that were real friends & not just friends to do drugs with or friends just for the purpose of getting publicity?

[This message has been edited by Cheryl Harrell (edited 04-16-2001).]

His friends all scattered away....... I was looking at the E hollywood story on Joey Heatherton and it said that when she was on heavy duty drugs in 1979 her family & close friends intervened. Granted she looks bad but, she's still alive.

Celebs have been going to rehab way earlier than the seventies.

Bela Lugosi was one of the first to admit he had an addiction to morphine and he checked himself into a hospital back in the late 40s or early 50s.

Rehab is nothing new, horselover

Tricia was the new girl that Freddie was dating shortly before his death.

How can a person stay mad at Mr. Orlando, with that golden voice. Wasn't he the one who sang, You'll never find as long as you live
someone who understands you
like I do.
You'll never find
the rhythm the rhyme
You'll be searching and searching
your whole life through... Well I don't wish you no bad luck baby but there's no ifs and buts or maybes. You are gonna miss my loving...

Yes it was Lou Rawls. It's listed on his web page as his gold single. I was mistaken. It's been awhile since I've heard it. It was a smash in its day. I remember it was on the radio all the time.

Yep, it was Lou Rawls. Tony could've easily done a version of that one tho. Didn't realize Freddie was dating someone before his death...

Some articles on Tony Orlando mentioning Freddie plus a few other articles mentioning Freddie:
http://imusic.artistdirect.com/showcase/contemporary/tonyorlandoanddawn.html
http://www.getmusic.com/artists/amg/Artist/408/111408.html


This site seems to indicate that Freddie is alive! I wish it were so! http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/smile.gif
http://www.intrlink.net/smartchoices/celebs.htm

More:

http://people.aol.com/people/where_now/9907/orlando.html


Freddies HBO's Special was the very first comedy one on HBO & Gary Mule Deer (haven't heard of him in yrs) was in it:
http://www.pattersonandassociates.com/bios/Gary_Mule_Deer/
http://www.garymuledeer.com/biography.html

Poems dedicated to Freddie:
http://www.toad.net/~morlando/page8.html

Thanks for vindicating me, Cheryl. I told everyone that Freddie did an HBO special and some people insisted that HBO wasn't around then.

To all you non-believers -- a Bronx rasberry!!

You go Croiter! Anyway, I'm still wondering what to believe in the Tony Orlando/Freddie P. saga. I did see a picture of him going to the hospital concerned, after Freddie shot himself. - When Freddie died there was Tony Orlando carrying the coffin in the front and Paul Williams behind him. Maybe Freddie's mom & Kathy are angry with Tony for something we really don't know of. Sure they took drugs together but Freddie was using drugs way before he met Tony.