"Christmas Story" Director Killed In L.A.

(AP)  Film director Robert Clark, best known for the beloved holiday classic "A Christmas Story," was killed Wednesday along with his son in a head-on crash with an alleged drunken driver, the filmmaker's assistant and police said.

Clark, 67, and son Ariel Hanrath-Clark, 22, were killed in Pacific Palisades, said Lyne Leavy, Clark's personal assistant.

The two men were in an Infiniti that collided on Pacific Coast Highway with a GMC Yukon around 2:30 a.m., said Lt. Paul Vernon, a police spokesman.

The driver of the other vehicle, Hector Velazquez-Nava, 24, of Los Angeles and his passenger, described as a 29-year-old woman, were taken to UCLA Medical Center with minor injuries.

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Photos: "A Christmas Story"

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The driver remained hospitalized and will be booked for investigation of "gross vehicular manslaughter" after being treated, Vernon said.

"The initial investigation has concluded that Nava was driving without a license northbound in the southbound lanes while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage," Vernon said.

Nava's passenger was released from the hospital after receiving treatment.

In Clark's most famous film, all 9-year-old Ralphie Parker wants for Christmas is an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle.

His mother, teacher and Santa Claus all warn: "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."

A school bully named Scut Farkus, a leg lamp, a freezing flagpole mishap and some four-letter defiance helped the movie become a seasonal TV fixture with "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street."

Clark specialized in horror movies and thrillers early in his career, directing such 1970s flicks as "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things," "Murder by Decree," "Breaking Point" and "Black Christmas," which was remade last year.

His breakout success came with the 1981 sex farce "Porky's," a coming-of-age romp that he followed two years later with "Porky's II: The Next Day."

In 1983, "A Christmas Story" marked a career high for Clark. Darrin McGavin, Melinda Dillon and Peter Billingsley starred in the adaptation of Jean Shepard's childhood memoir of a boy in the 1940s.

The film was a modest theatrical success, but critics loved it.

In 1994, Clark directed a forgettable sequel, "It Runs in the Family," featuring Charles Grodin, Mary Steenburgen and Kieran Culkin in a continuation of Shepard's memoirs.

In recent years, Clark made family comedies that were savaged by critics, including "Karate Dog," "Baby Geniuses" and its sequel, "Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2."

Among Clark's other movies were Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton's "Rhinestone," Timothy Hutton's "Turk 182!", and Gene Hackman and Dan Aykroyd's "Loose Cannons."

[iceman_1960]

"VOTE TO CLOSE THE BORDERS AND TO RELEASE THE THREE BORDER GUARDS. It's only going to get worse until you people wake up!" Posted by gunnerv1

The problem wasn't that the other driver was Mexican or Mexican-American. The problem was that he was drunk.

Lets address the actual problem, not go off on a tangent.

The problem is drunk drivers, and what to do about them.

[ajaxrose1]

P.S.
djermano1: Are YOU drunk right this minute or simply on CRACK?

[ajaxrose1]

If drunks only killed themselves I'd say turn them loose and let them! They only hurt other people, very rarely do they get more than "minor injuries." I'm sick to death of jerk offs like this, no matter whether their victim is famous or not. Until things get tougher on ALL accounts with the borders, the drunks, and illegal drivers there isn't going to be a change. I hope the a--hole ROTS.

[djermano1]

Sad about the accident, and I think drinking is much more of another problem, in which people can not cope because of larger problems they have no control over. Think of the bad conditions in Mexico, and so what can they do except try to escape to America, to find out that it is just as troubled. Frankly getting drunk kills the pain, just like ***. When we have people like the President who is responsible for doing 911 killing Americans in order to rob 30 billion from the WTC and wage a war with Iraq for oil is certainly a terrible problem many people face. We are forced to accept their lies. I am not saying drinking is right, what I am saying is that when sober people get away with the crimes they committ, how does it matter when intoxicated? I bet the death of Robert Clark was clearly an accident. And so how do we stop the madness in the US?
I think cops should be assigned to every bar and pub in LA.

[gunnerv1]

VOTE TO CLOSE THE BORDERS AND TO RELEASE THE THREE BORDER GUARDS. It's only going to get worse until you people wake up!

[j_flood]

My condolences to the family. His film work in "A Christmas Story" will be a staple for that season for several generations.

High-profile accidents like this remind us of the cost of drunk drivers to our society.

[kaliveotin]

Another innocent american killed by the policies making Los Angeles more like Mexico City than the great American City it was 40 years ago. I recently moved out of Los Angeles which has become CRIME RIDDEN with stabbings and murders under-reported, Hate crimes and kidnappings by Mexican Imigrants common place, and a crumbling culture in chaos. The schools are failing because they have to spend great amounts of resources on disciplinary problems and language efforts. L.A is a great city, here and there, but not overall, as a whole. That's why the media industry is fleeing north, and the parts that are staying are becomming less and less representative of our nation and more irrelevant.

[iceman_1960]

Judge Robert Bork was once asked about highway checkpoints for drunk driving prevention.

He said, "I don't think they're very effective, because records show they don't catch very many drunk drivers."

Bork's mighty intellect failed him that time. These checkpoints are publicized, and they have a deterrent effect. If you know the police will be using them on a Saturday night in your part of the country, you're much more likely to appoint a designated driver or seek public transportation, or just moderate your alcohol consumption.

The civil liberties argument against these checkpoints as "unreasonable search and seizure" is all wrong. If that were valid, then toll booths on the highways would be unconstitutional too. All the patrolman does is ask you "How are you doing tonight ?" -- a friendly question, neither a search nor a seizure.

It's only if you slur your words in response, that he will do anything further -- and then he has probable cause.

And driving an automobile is a privilege, not a right.

[iceman_1960]

Certain nations in Europe have a rather simple policy about drunk drivers.

Get caught ONCE driving while intoxicated, and you lose the right to drive FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

ONCE, and you NEVER drive legally in that country again, until the day you die.

Needless to say, these nations (which also use aggressive checkpoints on the highways) have a very low incidence of this problem.

[acauble1]

Doesn't anybody tell people what happens if they get drunk and drive? Do these people listen to the news and think it won't happen to them, so they go booze it up anyway?

Sad.
Posted by HypnoToad72 at 09:30 PM : Apr 04, 2007

Even more sad, the rate of drunk driving has gone up in this country along with the drunk driving deaths. Now, in a perfect world, the drunk driver would be the one who always dies, but unfortunately, it's usually the opposite.

Real punishment is needed for drunk driving, from the very first offense. REAL JAIL TIME is needed for first time offenders!

Sure, they may lose their job, their house, their family.......

.... but there are only 3 ways a stupid person can learn:

1. Take away their money
2. Take away that (or whom) which they care for

and finally, but most important...

3. TAKE AWAY THEIR FREEDOM!