Hide Article Text (OCR)
A/penContinued from page 3he says slowly, softly, “He was too young to die. He was just too young/' And later he’ll say, “I relate to people emotionally. You cannot function solely intellectually here ... I don’t know my relatives, but I do know these people here.”*After 14 years of marriage to Andy Williams, Claudine Longet concluded it with an amicable divorce and received a settlement of morethan $1 million. They had fallen in love in 1961, when she was appearing in Las Vegas in the Folies-Bergere revue, and in the course of their marriage they produced three children: Noelle 12, Christian 10 and Bobby 6 — the last named after the late Robert Kennedy, with whom they were both friendly.A few years back, Williamssaid of their severed relationship, ‘i’m not sure why we can’t live together ... I love her and I know she loves me. The trouble is she can’t stand to be with me for more than 2i/2 days. The problem is Claudine is intense in everything she does ...” Until recently, Claudine Longet was known primarily as the sexy lady who cooed Christmas carols with Andy and the family each year on TV.Four years after their separation she moved in with Sabich, by then a professional skier, into the house his brother had built for $150,000 — the house with the waterbed in the living room and the brass bed in the bedroom and the blue, white, pink and red bedside telephone that is unlisted.One thing is for sure: Longet wasn't the only star in town. Robert Redford comesthe prettiest lady in town. “This is a man’s town,” says the DA, and a pretty friend of Spider’s concurs.And so there was Claudine Longet with her three kids.And there was Spider Sabi ch, Vladimir but called Spider because as a baby he’d come down with jaundice and was skinny and ugly. But by the time Claudine Longet met him he was not ugly at all. Not one bit. He’d come a long way from Kyburz (pop. 100), Calif., where he was born to a highway patrolman and a postmistress. From the start his skiing was exceptional. “He was always something of a phenomenon,” says his older sister, Mary.... He wasn’t going to confine himself to just her,” says a friend.and sometime lover, “I’m too young. She has three children. I’m not a family man.” And yet he loved her and the kids, say Spider’s friends. You don’t stay with one woman for two years and not love her,Claudine Longet kept a diary and in it she talked about many things, including sex, and also about what hurt her feelings. And it is said, Igo, that she wrote about death inAs for Spider Sabich, he had his own problems these last few years. The man who, one friend says, was at least partly the inspiration for Robert Redford in “Downhill Racer” was doing badly in his chosen profession. Until 1974 he’d been one of the best pro rac-of the 1968 Olympics at Grenoble. But during his career he racked up a large numberseven broken legs,” says one of Spider’s best friends, a former coach.Before he died, Spider Sa-■ bich knew very well that he had no future as a skier. But he was doing well enough pushing K-2 skies, Dodge Aspen cars, ski bindings and the Aspen Ski Corp. Altogether they netted him about $150,-000 a year. He was thinking about the future — a horseWhat two friends of Spider’s say is that he told Claudine Longet to leave the house by April i.“He told me he was torn,” says one man, a real estate agent. “I think he felt bad about it for the (LOnget’s) kids. He said, ‘It doesn’t work, but I don’t want to hurt her, either. I want to do it gracefully.’ Two weeks before the shooting she (Longet) came to me, looking for a place to rent...”After the shooting, the mansays, Claudine Longet called him up — this time asking for a place to buy. The next day he wrote her a letter. “I said, ‘Given the circumstances, I don’t have the interest to help you ..” .They held services for Spider Sabich at the foot of Ajax Mountain and Claudine came in black.“Her behavior,” says thewife of the. real estate agent,“has been disgusting since he died. She walked from the back of the crowd (at the sendee) to front and center. I was dismayed to see Claudine pick a daisy- from the flowers under his picture.”She’s acting, says this woman, “as though nothing (unusual) has happened.”*But she isn’t really. Claudine Longet is in Aspen, but in seclusion. She is due to appear for a preliminary hearing June 8.“And you know what?” the woman leans forward, her dark face tense. “You know what? This is Spider’s town — not hers. She doesn't belong here. Spider did.”It’s that simple.*On the last day of his life, Spider Sabich skied down Tiehack, a trail on gentle Buttermilk Mountain. Claudine Longet skied down tough Ajax Mountain. Then she drank some white wine at the Center, a bar at the foot of Ajax. Then she went shopping, after which (according to one onlooker) she had her bindings fixed.As for Spider — he went to a little get-together at a friend’s house. Wine, ham, cheese. Spider Sabich drank a beer.“I remember,” says a friend. “I remember sitting around with Spider, and he was saying, ‘We’re gonna be good ol1 boys. And you know' what makes us good ol* boys, don’t you?‘Cause we’ll be sittin’ around when we’jre 80 or something, and somebody’ll ask us a question. And well have more stories to tell than anybody.’“Spider,” the friend continues, “was very laid back and mellow the day I saw him. He left about 4 or 4:30.”And he went home.The next day Spider Sabich was to have gazz tc a ski show in Las Vegas, a town known for its beautiful women, the town where a singer named Andy Williams wooed the lovely young show girl, Claudine Longet, morejhan 15 years ago.He never made it.A friend says, “Spider left nothing behind. Spider said everything that should or should not have been said at the time. He never tried to fool you.”Frank Tucker, the DA, says, “People here of ail ages just simply don’t understand the concept of death ... No, not even Spider’s.”Spider Sabich once said, “Peace to the world. I’m treading lightly and carryinga small stick.”*Problem-Solver “Action, Please!. . . in the CITIZENhere and so does Cher, and Jack Nicholson and Jill St. John both have houses here. And Claudine Longet was not ■wBut he did for some time.Then he told one. girl friend of Injuries. “I think he hadk(50%PRIMERAS LOMASTOWN HOM ESTwo and three-bedroom town-homes, ideally located, with full recreational facilities, including: people-paths, swimming pool, Jacuzzi, ramada and cabana uniquely situated among a'decorative setting of cascading pools and illuminated landscaping. Modern construction techniques afford real Spanish textured stucco exteriors, carefully blended with rough-sawn timbers, tile and wrought iron.Bronze anodized window and sliding glass door frames and solid designer front doors add touches of elegance to foothill living.J1 -L_LHFZi»,__HURRY)from$30grand opening prices►for information call 888-3161Prices subject to change without notice.PRIMERAS LOMAS, First Avenue North of River Road, At the top of the first hillThe Solot Company 881-3800An equal housing opportunityPAGE 4TUCSON DAILY CITIZENSATURDAY, MAY 1, 1976Spider Sabich was a star when Longet met him, had made it to the Olympics. And he “loved ladies, loved ladiesers around — a two-time champion who also had finished fifth in the slalom racethe abstract. What she did not ranch, possibly in Idaho, real write about were Spider’s estate deals, other ladies.
Newspaper Details
Tucson Daily Citizen
Tucson, Arizona, US
Sat, May 01, 1976
Page 17
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
NY, USA 01 Sep 2019
Other Publications Near Tucson, Arizona
Tucson El Tucsonense
Tucson El Mosquito
Tucson Citizen
Tucson Daily News
Star Citizen
