Today’s movie is a biography with a scene that happens on
February 4. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
THE KAREN CARPENTER STORY
On February 4, 1983 [00:01 to
3:01] paramedics arrive at the home of Karen Carpenter. She’s unconscious and
she is rushed to the hospital. Karen hallucinates and flashes back to when her
family moved to California in 1963. Her brother Richard plays the piano and is
very musically talented. He proposes that Karen and he can form a musical
group. Karen takes up the drums and plays them in her high school band. Karen
and Richard start playing together in ‘The Richard Carpenter Trio’. The group
moves from jazz into pop. A small record label signs Karen to a contract. Richard starts writing songs for Karen to
record. After two years of submitting tapes, they get a break when Herb Alpert
at A & M records signs them to a recording contract. The have hits with
“Close to You” and “We’ve Only Just Begun”. Then their Mom introduces Richard
to quaaludes. They go on tour, but the media already starts commenting about
Karen’s weight. At the same time pressure is put on her to come out from behind
her drum kit to sing. Their success continues with “Superstar”, but Karen
starts to obsess about her weight. Richard and Karen move into a house together
and start dating people. However, tensions arise and Karen moves out. They
continue to tour, but then Karen collapses on stage. She recovers, but then
Richard has to go through six weeks of rehab to get off of quaaludes. After a
whirlwind courtship Karen marries Tom Burris, but the marriage soon falls
apart. Karen starts to undergo psychotherapy to help with her anorexia. She
underwent a therapy where she gained thirty pounds in a few months. This put
more strain on her heart, leading to the heart attack that killed her.
A tragic story. Karen Carpenter had a great talent.
However, the media and society contributed to killing her by promoting a body
image that is not sustainable by everyone.
Little Girl Blue: The Life of
Karen Carpenter by Randy L. Schmidt (Chicago Review Press, Chicago, 2010)
at page 275 and the film at 1:31:05 give her date of death.
Producers - Robert A. Papazian
and Hal Galli
Director - Joseph Sargent
Screenplay - Barry Morrow
Runtime - 1 hour 32 minutes
Released - January 1, 1989
Starring – Cynthia
Gibb as Karen Carpenter
Mitchell Anderson as Richard Carpenter
Peter Michael Goetz as Harold Carpenter
Louise Fletcher as Agnes Carpenter
Michael McGuire as Sherwin Bash
Lise Hilboldt as Lucy
Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015
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