Tuesday, March 11, 2014

BLANCHE BARROW BLEW A FUSE

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

Please forgive me for foregoing GRATITUDE TUESDAY, but I'm on this Bonnie and Clyde kick and I simply must continue with Blanche Barrow's story.

You saw a bit of Blanche yesterday in FUN TIMES WITH BONNIE AND CLYDE, but let's go all the way back to Blanche's birth in 1911. Her father was 40; her mother was 16. They divorced when Blanche was young. I wonder why.



When Blanche was 17, her mother forced her to marry a much older man, who is alleged to have treated her very cruelly. She divorced John Callaway in 1931 and married Buck Barrow. They honeymooned right here in lovely Jacksonville, Florida. After Blanche and Buck joined Bonnie and Clyde in 1933, Blanche had only four months left with her second husband.



When last we saw beautiful Blanche (in this post), Buck had died of wounds received while running from the Laws, and Blanche went to prison, where she maintained that Oh, no, she didn't want to be with those awful people and she never helped with any crimes.

Blanche with a posse member who helped capture her.
He looks so pleased.

Blanche washing her hands after being fingerprinted.

Sentenced to ten years, she got out in a little less than six. She wrote her memoirs while in prison. At first, she stayed with her father. In 1940, she married a man named Eddie Frasure in Rockwall, Texas (my oldest nephew lives there -- it's a small world after all). Blanche tried to keep her notoriety a secret, but she had to check in with authorities every time she moved and had to seek permission to marry Eddie.



For the most part, Blanche and Eddie lived in Dallas. During 1965, they adopted a 12-year-old boy named Rickey. Eddie died from cancer in 1969, but before he went, he got to see his wife portrayed on the big screen in Bonnie And Clyde.

Warren Beatty, who played Clyde and was one of the producers of the film, paid Blanche for permission to use her name and likeness in the movie. He would stop by to see Blanche sometimes while working on Bonnie And Clyde. Blanche loved it when Warren played the piano and sang to her.

But then the movie came out. When Blanche and Eddie went to see it, she said she nearly died of embarrassment because it made her look like "a screaming horse's ass". Estelle Parsons, who played Blanche, won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award in 1968.

The lovely Estelle Parsons in Bonnie and Clyde

Occasionally, Blanche would tell a close friend about her wild days with Bonnie and Clyde, and she left her scrapbook, important papers, and other mementos to relatives when she died from cancer on Christmas Eve, 1988.



She was estranged from adopted son Rickey because he had served time in prison. Blanche's mother outlived her. The memoirs Blanche wrote in prison were published in 2004 as My Life With Bonnie and Clyde.




Well, I think that's about enough chitchat regarding Blanche. One of these days maybe we'll talk some more about other gang members, and we'll dish about Bonnie and Clyde again.

Moral of Blanche's story: Crime doesn't pay. Today, of course, she'd be all over The National Enquirer and on every talk show, making a fortune. She was known as a snazzy dresser, even when she was in prison.

Bye-bye, Blanche.





Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug



46 comments:

  1. Nice follow-up, JJ. It must have added insult to injury when Estelle Parsons won an Oscar for a portrayal that Blanche claimed made her look like "a screaming horse's ass". It's confession time. I'm strictly hetero but, dang it, I wouldn't mind having Warren Beatty play the piano and sing for me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never been much of a Beatty fan, even when he was at the height of his fame, but yeah, I would have liked having him stop by to play the piano and sing to me. He certainly looked good as Clyde. He must be kind of an old geezer now.

      Delete
  2. 40 and 11!?! I can't even have a conversation with someone ten years younger than me...though I'm guessing conversation wasn't of primary interest. Gross! I just grossed myself out! Gross gross gross.
    It's so weird to think about Blanche being alive to see herself portrayed in a movie. I just don't think about these bandits having a life beyond that small window of Bonnie and Clyde madness. Though, maybe that's because of the violent end issued to the Barrows.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 40 and 16! though she might as well have been 11 with that kind of age gap. I think a couple of other Barrow gang members lived to see old age. We think of it being Bonnie and Clyde and one other guy because that's what the movie fed us, but they had a number of gang members who came and went.

      Delete
  3. A very interesting post Janie!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a life she lived. It is amazing she lived as long as she did. I wonder what her relationship with her mom was like.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She did not have a good relationship with her mom because her mother forced Blanche to marry her first husband. I don't know what went on in that marriage, but it seems to have been horrible. Blanche said she couldn't have children because of something her first husband did to her. However, Blanche's mother visited Blanche in prison and visited her in the hospital when she had cancer. During the hospital visit, Blanche turned away from her mother.They may have had a difficult relationship during Blanche's childhood, too. Lillian and Matthew divorced. Blanche seems to have been more of a daddy's girl. She called Buck "daddy" and used the same nickname for third husband Eddie.

      Delete
  5. It doesn't sound like she lived a happy life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think she found some happiness in her third marriage, and she had good relationships with some relatives.

      Delete
  6. I think Frank James had a more interesting history, but, then, I like cowboys and cowboy stories. You have been doing some great research on the B&C story and my dad would have loved it. He subscribed to True Detective, True Crime and other magazines, and we had our shared of criminal types in my family tree. But mostly I love porn...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm just not interested in porn. Sometimes I like cowboy history. When I was really young, I remember my parents taking us to see some gang's hideout in Kansas, and we toured the museum. I wish I could remember who they were.

      Delete
  7. So many stories. It's a shame she had to keep reporting on her life and whereabouts. I think if you do the crime and do the time it should be behind you. A shame about Ronnie; maybe you know more about him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you mean Rickey, the adopted son? I don't know much about him. His wife divorced him when he was in prison. They later remarried and had a child. Blanche may not have known that she had a grandchild. She didn't leave anything to Rickey in her will. Blanche laughed about being an old lady and still being required to report to the authorities.

      Delete
  8. Hi Janie - you've done an excellent job with these two posting about the so called Bonnie and Clyde .. I knew nothing about their background .. so I've enjoyed this roller coaster ride of their lives, particularly Blanche's ...

    Thanks an informative read .. cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Hilary. It's nothing like English history, is it?

      Delete
  9. More things I didn't know! Love it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This has been fascinating! The next time I'm headed to the library I'm going to have to see if they have Blanche's book available.

    I agree with Shady: it must have been awful to see herself portrayed so unflatteringly, only to have the actress lauded for it. That would make me want to go on one final crime spree.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blanche liked Warren and had no idea she would be portrayed that way. If you find her book, keep in mind that she wrote it while in prison hoping to be paroled. She would have downplayed her involvement in crime, but she and Buck were up to no good before they joined Bonnie and Clyde, which Blanche always maintained was supposed to be temporary and she wanted to get away from them.

      Delete
  11. Hmm, I wonder if Blanche was as fond of Warren after the movie came out. Good use of prison time to write those memoirs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know if she ever saw Warren again, but she probably didn't like him very much after she saw the movie. I suspect she wrote her book to pass the time and to try to convince the powers that be that she didn't do anything and should be paroled. The book was published posthumously so she didn't profit from it. I don't know why she didn't publish it when she was alive. Although she tried to stay under the radar, she accepted money from Beatty for the movie and she gave some interviews in which she admitted to criminal activity. She might as well have gotten the big bucks for her memoirs.

      Delete
  12. Just your plain, regular ol' Texas gal. Not. But what a strange life she led.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe very strongly that people quite often get caught up in events beyond their control.

      Delete
  13. A gang out of Kansas is probably the Dalton Gang... cousins to Frank and Jessie James.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! The Dalton gang! I was probably five or six when we went there. The one thing I remember very well from the museum was a stuffed two-headed calf. I was in awe of that poor dead creature.

      Delete
  14. I would have been really embarrassed by the portrayal of her in the movie, too. They made Blanche out to be a screaming obnoxious ninny! She did the part well, but I couldn't stand the character she played--so I am glad to know a little more about the real Blanche. I would have written a book to tell my story after the movie came out--lol! ;)
    Warren is now 76, but he was a handsome devil, I thought, in those days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Remember the character of Blanche gives the Texas Rangers a clue that helps them find Bonnie and Clyde? That didn't happen, either. Warren was handsome. I didn't realize he's 76. I haven't seen him in a long time.

      Delete
  15. Wow you are really into this. So much info.
    www.thoughtsofpaps.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not difficult to get the information. So much is online. Some of it's contradictory, though. I'll move on to another facet of history before long.

      Delete
  16. Man! There's a view from the other side. You know, it just reminds me that no matter what our past may be, we're all people, and every person craves to being loved. Those who've made mistakes should be entitled to a degree of forgiveness, and gosh I wish we could let some people out of the spotlight to live their lives.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blanche stayed out of the spotlight. I'm surprised that a plethora of reporters didn't track her down when the movie came out, but maybe everyone thought she was dead. She did a few interviews with one man, but I think that was it.

      Delete
  17. I used to live in Jacksonville and I have a dog named Eddie. I feel like I have so much in common with Blanche. Well, except for the being dead part.

    -andi

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did you live in my Jacksonville? In Florida?

      Delete
  18. Buttholes.......that is all.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Rickey, my husband, is doing well. His premature son did not survive. His “prison stint” was 6 months county jail for being in a vehicle when someone else committed a crime. Blanche hardly waited for 3rd husband Bert Frasure to be cold before telling Rickey she never wanted him in the first place. He spent his senior year of high school on a friends couch in order to graduate. She kept his year books and all belongings. She sure sang her own praises a little different in her “book”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did blanche and rickey regain contact before she died, just curious and does he have kids today

      Delete
    2. Thank you for sharing this. After reading about Blanche, I can't imagine she was a proper mother, as she didn't seem to ever take responsibility. She survived by running away and blaming others. We all understand that ignorance, is not a defense. So after discovering a bit of who BB may have been, my heart goes out to RF. He got married had kids and moved forward, wonderful. The best thing she did, perhaps, was leave him. I have the exact same type of mother. I feel his pain, in my own way. All the best to you both.

      Delete
  20. Blanche was young -knew this man -her mother sign paper so she could marry this man her first husband,so why blame her mom?Blanche ,was married at time she met Buck Barrow,(He was escapee from prison for burglary)Then later decide to devorce 1st husband to marry Buck Barrow.She & Buck visit Clyde Barrow at Eastham. Then Blanche claim she talk Buck into serve out rest of his term. Then he got out March 1933,Then Clyde was out too. Then Buck & Blanche visit her mother Lillian & Stepfather Horton,near Dallas Tx, and Clyde came to visit probarbly got info from his mother Cumie Barrow. That is when Blanche met them all She claim in her statement affidavit Jack sherman was there but in the book she names him W.D.Jones. Next Day, She & Buck had quarrel cause He want to go Joplin Mo spend 2-3weeks with brother Clyde .That He would not listen to her & he said he would go without her & she felt she would lose him if she didn't go.What did she think marrying a THIEF and Barrows Boys are THIEVES?First Stole chicken & Turkeys?Then Cars? Then Stores&gas Stations & banks? Did she think she'd change Buck?

    ReplyDelete
  21. Blanche aka Bennie Iva Caldwell.Barrow Gang had ask her to go to W.Dallas to Cumie Barrow set up Meeting for Mother's day ,so that Bonnie Parker could see her mother Emma Parker and Clyde could see Mrs Cumie Barrow.Blanche claim that she took bus to W.Dallas but Others say that Clyde come in W Dallas thru copper road renamed Singleton (irving )thru Eagle Ford Bridge to Eagle Ford Rd renamed Singleton blvd .So why didn't Clyde -Buck drive there drop her off - instead she said she took a bus for meeting may15- if Blanche didn't want to be apart of the group -why didn't she leave the group then?She claim that Buck promised not to drink and that nite he would sleep but he later said Him & clyde & Bonnie that nite got drunk on Whiskey & didn't sleep . Blanche must of felt that Buck would not cheat on her? Blanche claim they used to dance at their campfire. That bonnie & her used to drive the vehicle so that Buck/C lyde sleep. She & Buck want their own car so Buck stole a car infact he stole cars few times .One time bank robber went wrong so they rob gas station.Blanche liked get her share of the booty and she sent money home to her father.She said they went to fla & drove S.C . N.C. Tn,Ga,Ms&Mo & Ark&Iowa&La&etc but she didn't mention Illinois but Ralph Fults said after did job in St louis drove over to IL stay nite at a house.(umored Bonnie and Clyde hideout in Grove City Illinois) Is this when Raymond Hamilton want his share of booty leave the gang .Floyd Hamilton ray brother was cohort of barrow gang they lived on County Ave W.Dallas.(next crossman ave around curve Star Barrow gas station).W.D.Jones lived mother Tookie 2410 Henry near Eagle Ford Rd later in life moved Houston lived next door to his mother and Clyde Jones did some jobs with Buck Barrow.Nell Barrow said She & Buck & clyde was farm out to work for Barrow uncle's & they didn't get enough to eat so they stole some food.Ralph Fults said the Barrow family at one time lived Free camp grounds beneath Houston St via duct then built shack txpacificR=R railroadtracks Muddy rutted streets unpainted shacks ,tin sheds,lean tos ,and tents lined eagle ford road west dallas tx. and Buck & clyde rob store took vault put in vehicle caught with it 1929. So did Buck teach Clyde how to be Thief?

    ReplyDelete
  22. Did blanche have a need for money or shopt with it?Blanche in prison cell wrote :My aunt (caldwell in Oklahoma) my aunt called me to the side,and she told me to be sure to leave my dad some money because the last of his clothes I had gotten for him spring before buck was released prison were just about gone. blanche said: I told her i would pay her for our dinner before i left . So it would seem that Blanche could not get along with her dad's family either or Her mother or step sister Lucinda Horton ,so what does that say about Blanche? Blanche says that Bonnie never clean her bedroom ,she never came out til 12 or 1 pm next day. Blanche said Bonnie never did work in the apartment in Joplin Missouri ,all the housekeeping,cooking&cleaning was all left up to her.Blanche said apt was small apt with 2bedrooms with small kitchenette.How could two females do stuff in there at the same time?Blanche said Buck loved when i cook for him his favorite was french fried potatoes. So since Blanche admits she gave Oklahoma's Caldwell's money for her dad, that meant she had to find ways to get money as she had a debt /obligation to take care of her dad Matt Caldwell.So was she a willing participant in the crimes?Did Blanche have a problem -issues with all females or is it just her family ?why did she treat ricky adopt child ? In March 1933 to April 1933 to July 29,1933 Buck died how many crimes did Blanche get involved with,spotter,willing cohort or get away driver?

    ReplyDelete
  23. John B Calloway had 2 Sons and 2 Daughters by his Wife.Does not give answer to the question if he is the reason for Blanche not have children by him or by any of her other Husbands?
    John B CallowayBIRTH 19 Oct 1888 Van Zandt County, Texas, USA
    DEATH 12 Mar 1986 (aged 97)PalFamily Members
    Parents
    Zachariah B. Callaway1867–1916
    Louella F. Hunter Callaway1871–1938
    Spouses
    Dagmar Virginia Flovin Calloway
    1891–1915 (m. 1907)
    Iva Bennie Caldwell Frasure
    1911–1988 (m. 1927)
    Bertha Lavinia Wheeler Calloway
    1896–1923
    Rosa Marie Davis Calloway
    1909–1998
    Siblings
    Thomas Carlton Callaway
    1890–1978
    Oney Augustus Callaway
    1895–1978
    Virgie Lillian Calloway Gibson
    1898–1970
    Lillian Calloway Terry
    1901–1958
    Annie M. Callaway
    1902 – unknown
    Children
    Evelyn Marie Calloway Westmoreland
    1947–2001estine, Anderson County, Texas, US
    John shares a stone with his wife, Rosa Marie Davis Calloway. He was residing in Palestine in Anderson Co, TX at the time of his death there. He was survived by his wife; two son, H. J. Calloway of Tyler and Weldon Calloway of Los Alamos, NM; two daughters, Millie L. List of Shamrock, TX and Evelyn Marie Calloway Westmoreland of Longview; and four grandchildren. His obituary was published in the Palestine Herald-Press, Friday, 14 March 1986.

    ReplyDelete
  24. lilian hamilton McBride 3111 Winnetka .(507-511 county ave).Buster brown wife Lucy Hamilton 507-511 county ave.Alice J Hamilton Mother 1257 Faerview St Dallas tx. L.A. Fults Mechanic AAA 4401 Singleton Blvd (eagleford road) Dallas Texas.Henry Barrow gas station Star 1620 Eagleford Rd( 1221 Singleton )west dallas - Cement City - Dallas Texas. Census-1930 -Barlow Fults 51,Sophie wife 51,Gladys 22,Alline20,Ralph 18,Emma 6,Census:1940:AndyB Fults 61,wife Solfia61,Gladys32,Ruth19,Emma16,Robert Davis21,Jenora22,Don Davis2,BobbieDavis1.=Ralph Fults dob 1-23-1911 DoD:3-15-1993.Ralph brother Raymond B Fults (1934-5 fults want poster) address 645 West 7th Street Dallas Texas. Ralph Fults (wife Ruth) 1952:6603 Ethel Dr ,1955:8517 Lapanto La ,1961:8517 Lapanto Aa.1960:7214 Tolan .last -5705 Meadowick Ln...Mother Sophie Fults 1953 widow 5515 belmont ave dallas tx. Ralph Fults sentenced 50 yrs Parchman prison Sept 1935 (vernon presley sentenced 5-23-1938 with Travis Smith /Lether Gable).Bonnie Parker mother : Emma Krause Parker 1.)1214 S Lamar st 2)1496 Cockrell -3)1601(606) Douglas -4)1920s live mother mary father Frank Krause Fish Trap Rd later 2908 Eagleford Rd (singleton )-5)232 W 8th St -6)2430 Douglas 6)1909 Crockett -7)513 Hickory .The famous Back Door -bonnie/clyde visit family singletonblvd(copper rd ) Irving texas-to Eagleford Rd -(secret meetings)Eagleford Bridge -Star Gas Station 1620 Eagleford Rd (1221 Singleton /Borger Street).So in 1930 Ralph-Raymond Fults moved Dallas texas lived at 645 west 7th street Dallas texas -So did Raymond Fults know the parkers /Barrow Groups?Did Cumie Barrow really cook beans ,cabbage,cornbread for the secret meetings?Hamer ambush bonnie/ Clyde did he feel sense of satisfaction or did he feel remorse or guilt?Could clyde/bonnie could been taken another way? If so would they become legend they are today? W.D. Jones (tookie) 2410 Henry ,w.d brother Clyde was good friend buck Barrow. and Floyd Hamilton 1308 Crossman.(vicinity countyave )Jfk died 11-22-1963 elm/Houston dealey plaza Dallas texas ?Who were in Dallas the week 11-22-1963?

    ReplyDelete
  25. It seems to me that blanch as well as her mother were both made to marry 40 year old pediphiles.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Son Rickey is well, married and living in Houston.

    ReplyDelete
  27. It would be awesome to hear some background on them adopting a 12 year old, what his life was like and where is he now?

    ReplyDelete

Got your panties in a bunch? Dig 'em out, get comfortable, and let's chat.