Claudine Longet, the French-American chanteuse whose first fame in music, on TV and as the wife of singing star Andy Williams was dwarfed by infamy after her fatal shooting of the Olympic skier Spider Sabich in 1976, has died. She was 84.
Her death was announced today by nephew Bryan Longet in a message shared on social media. He wrote: “Even though she is no longer physically with us, her light, elegance, talent and kindness will continue to live on through the memories, music, photos and love she leaves behind…As many of you know, Claudine was not only an icon to me — she was also my aunt, and someone incredibly special in my life. Since I was a little boy, I always told her that I would remain her number one fan, and that will never change.”
No other details were shared.
Born on January 29, 1942, in Paris, Longet was the lead dancer of the Folies Bergère revue at the Tropicana Resort and Casino in Las Vegas when, in 1960, she met Williams who also was performing in town. The couple often recounted their meet-cute when Williams saw Longet parked along a roadside with auto trouble. The two married the following year and eventually would have three children before divorcing in 1975.
During her marriage to Williams, Longet launched a TV acting career that included guest spots on such ’60s series as McHale’s Navy, Combat!, The Rat Patrol, Hogan’s Heroes and Love, American Style. She appeared frequently on Williams’ 1963-67 variety series as well as his popular Christmas specials from the same era.
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Longet co-starred with Peter Sellers in Blake Edwards’ 1968 comedy The Party, also singing the film’s Henry Mancini-Don Black song “Nothing to Lose.”
Known for her breathy, sultry yet girlish vocal style, Longet achieved significant success on the record charts, beginning with her 1967 debut album, Claudine, and, to a lesser extent, the subsequent The Look of Love (1967) and Love Is Blue (1968). Several other albums followed, and singles from the period included cover versions of the Beatles’ “Here, There and Everywhere” and “Good Day Sunshine.” Other covers included “The Look of Love,” “Love Is Blue” and Randy Newman’s “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today.”
After she and Williams divorced in ’75, Longet lived with their children in Starwood, Colorado, sharing a chalet with skiing sensation Sabich, who was the inspiration for Robert Redford’s character in Downhill Racer. The couple had met in ’72 during a celebrity ski event, and on March 21, 1976, Longet fatally shot Sabich in the bathroom of the chalet they shared. She would later say the gun went off accidentally when the 31-year-old skier was demonstrating how it worked; he was struck once in abdomen and died, with Longet by his side, en route to the hospital.
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Claudine Longet and Spider Sabich in 1974
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Reports soon surfaced that Sabich had intended to ask Longet to move out of the chalet, with friends saying publicly that the couple’s relationship had been under considerable strain.
Charged with reckless manslaughter, Longet was the center of a headline-making trial, with a jury eventually convicting her of criminally negligent homicide in January 1977. She received two years’ probation and a $250 fine and sentenced to 30 days in jail. The verdict, which effectively ended her show business career, outraged many of Sabich’s fans as well as his family, who settled with Longet after suing for $1.3 million. She never spoke about the settlement.
During her trial, ex-husband Williams, who had remained a friend, testified on her behalf, repeatedly supporting her claim of an accidental shooting.
Certainly not everyone was convinced. On April 24, 1976, in one of Saturday Night Live‘s most notorious “Weekend Update” segments ever, the incident was parodied with supposedly live coverage of the “Claudine Longet Invitational Ski Championship.” As faux-broadcasters played by Chevy Chase and Jane Curtain did play-by-play coverage over stock footage of actual skiing wipeouts, the sound of a gunshot was overdubbed just as the athletes fell. “Uh-oh, he seems to have been accidentally shot by Claudine Longet,” Chase would say.
The show made its first on-air apology the following week after being contacted by Longet’s lawyers. Then-announcer Don Pardo read a statement saying: “It is desirable to correct any misunderstanding that a suggestion was made that, in fact, a crime had been committed. The satire was fictitious and its intent only humorous. This is a statement of apology if the material was misinterpreted.”
The Rolling Stones also weighed in, recording a brutal ’50s-style rock ‘n’ roll song called “Claudine” for the band’s chart-topping 1978 album Some Girls. The song was not included on the album and has gone unreleased, though the recording is widely available on YouTube and other platforms, and features such lyrics as “Now only Spider knows for sure/But he ain’t talkin’ about it any more/Is he, Claudine?”
Following her trial, Longet married her defense attorney Ronald Austin, and the two reportedly settled in Aspen, Colorodo, and Hawaii, where she would guard her privacy throughout the remainder of her life. Although complete information on survivors was not immediately available, she was predeceased by Christian Williams, her eldest child with Andy Williams.
