Fess Parker's Death Sparks Nostalgia
The death of actor Fess Parker on Thursday triggered memories and sadness in baby boomers from all over. They remembered their coonskin caps, their rifles and their imaginary adventures on the frontier.
ROBERT SIEGEL, Host:
Unidentified Man #1: Yeah. Everybody went out and bought the coonskin cap. He had the old Flintlock muskets, you know, they sold in the stores and everything.
SIEGEL: Unidentified Man #3: Home of the frontier, something like that.
SIEGEL: I don't remember it. I just remember the tune.
SIEGEL: Yeah, that was actually, I think, bigger than Elvis because it affected everybody.
SIEGEL: Unidentified Man #6: Some kids wore them to school.
A: Unidentified Man #10: (Singing) Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee.
SIEGEL: Unidentified Group: (Singing) Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier.
(SOUNDBITE OF THEME SONG)
MELISSA BLOCK, Host:
Baby boomers recalling the Davy Crockett craze of the 1950s. The actor who portrayed him on TV, Fess Parker, died yesterday at age 85. We heard from Cathy O'Neil(ph) of Massachusetts, Thomas Maxwell(ph) of Washington, D.C., Sean Hamlin(ph) of Australia, Ed and Claire Robertson(ph) of Indiana, Jim O'Leary(ph) of Maine, Lawrence Burns(ph) of Tennessee.
SIEGEL: Also, Bill Stiart(ph) of New York. Del and Maryanne Benner(ph) of Pennsylvania. John and Jenny Craigs(ph) of the U.K. Guy and Peggy Fisher(ph) of Delaware, Mike Durning(ph) of New Jersey, Bob Esposito(ph) of New York and Bill Coleman(ph) of Maryland.
(SOUNDBITE OF "DAVY CROCKETT" THEME SONG)
SIEGEL: (Singing) Took over Washington, so I heard tell, and patched up the crack in the Liberty Bell. Davy, Davy Crockett, seeing his duty clear. When he come home...
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