Thread: CA: Dir. of "A Christmas Story" & son killed i

Don't know if driver Hector Valezquez-Nava was an illegal but this was a terrible crime.
===============================

Director of 'A Christmas Story,' son killed in PCH crash
By Andrew Blankstein, Times Staff Writer
2:04 PM PDT, April 4, 2007


(photo) Director Bob Clark
click to enlarge

Photo Gallery
The films of Bob Clark

Film director Bob Clark and his son Ariel were killed in an early morning collision along a stretch of Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, authorities said.

Clark directed the classic holiday film "A Christmas Story" in 1983 and was the producer of the "Porky's" films, along with about two dozen other features.

The crash was reported about 2:20 a.m. on PCH just south of Bay Club Drive. Police said Clark, 67, of Pacific Palisades, and his son, who was 22 and lived in Santa Monica, were pronounced dead at the scene.

LAPD investigators said Clark was driving a 1997 Infiniti Q-30 sedan southbound on PCH when the driver of a GMC Yukon, Hector Velazquez-Nava, 24, of Los Angeles swerved and hit the Clark vehicle head-on.

The road was closed until about 10:40 a.m. while authorities investigated.

Nava and his passenger, Lydia Mora, 29, of Asuza, were transported to a local hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries, said LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon. Mora was later released.

Nava was found to be driving under the influence of alcohol and operating a motor vehicle without a driver's license. After treatment, he will be booked on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and gross vehicular manslaughter, Vernon said.

Clark produced, directed and co-wrote "A Christmas Story."

Set in the 1940s and adapted from humorist Jean Shepherd's novel "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash," "A Christmas Story" stars Peter Billingsly as Ralphie, a young boy determined to get a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.

The film was not an immediate box office bonanza, but it has grown in popularity over the years.

In a 1997 interview with The Times, Clark said the movie has struck a chord with audiences because it deals with a "special time and special feeling. Shepherd's material had the truth and heart in it."

Clark had a prolific movie and TV directing career that spanned four decades. In addition to producing and directing the cult classic "Porky's" and it first sequel, he also directed "Turk 182"; "Rhinestone" with Dolly Parton and Sylvester Stallone; "Loose Cannons," a Gene Hackman-Dan Aykroyd cop buddy comedy; "From the Hip," and "Baby Geniuses."

The "Porky's" franchise was a surprise hit and took years to get off the ground. At first, Hollywood studios rejected the pitches for the film. The franchise went on to earn more than $150 million domestically, according to boxofficemojo.com

The films were based on Clark's experiences during the '50s a with his high school buddies in Florida.

In a 1985 interview with The Times, co-writer Roger Swaybill talked about how Clark dictated the outline for the movie into a cassette recorder while sick.

"I was weeping with laughter," Swaybill said then. "I became convinced that I was sharing in the birth of a major moment in movie history. It was the funniest film story I had ever heard."

andrew.blankstein@latimes.com

Times staff writers Daryl Strickland and Susan King contributed to this report.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... -headlines

This is so sad, wonder what Nava's legal status is?

I would have to guess...illegal. No drivers license is a dead givaway.
What a cryin' shame. I loved Christmas Story. Porky's of coarse is a teen classic.

sorry...duplicate