Gypsy Boots
Gypsy Boots | |
---|---|
San Francisco, California, U.S. | |
Died | August 8, 2004 , U.S. | (aged 89)
Other names | Boots Bootzin |
Occupations |
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Gypsy Boots (August 19, 1915
Life and career
Bootzin was born in San Francisco, California, to
Bootzin's older brother, John, died of tuberculosis as a young man; this led to Bootzin's decision to grow his hair long and pursue healthful, natural living.[3]
By 1933, he had dropped out of high school and left home to wander California with a group of self-styled
The 1948 Nat King Cole hit "Nature Boy" was inspired by Bootzin and his fellow "tribesmen" and was composed by eden ahbez.[3]
In 1958, Bootzin married Lois Bloemker, a conservative, academic woman from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and settled in the Los Feliz – East Hollywood area (Cumberland Ave). They had three children: Daniel, Alex and Freddie (who died in 2001). The two divorced in the late 1990s.[3]
His
Bootzin personally advocated never eating meat, drinking alcohol, or smoking tobacco. He was an early believer in the health properties of
dates from his grove.His childhood vegetarian lifestyle was something Bootzin continued with his own family, as his son Daniel Bootzin corroborated:
When friends came over, Bootzin said his parents offered the guests fresh carrot juice, a novelty in the 1960s.[6]
Bootzin died in Camarillo, California, just 11 days short of his 90th birthday. He was survived by his former wife, Lois Bootzin, a Lutheran,[8] two of his sons (Daniel and Alexander), three grandchildren, and a sister. His son Freddie died in 2001.[3]
Appearances
Bootzin received national exposure in 1955 when he appeared as a contestant on
His wife appeared on the same programme a few years later with a man who worked as an organ grinder with 13 children who had a monkey that looked and walked like Groucho. She appeared very conservative and polite and nothing like her former husband's appearance, who was as described above. She recalled how she met him while she practiced her ballet on a beach. Bootzin was standing on his head. She found his antics interesting enough to approach him, and the relationship developed from there. Her connection with him was not mentioned on the show and, perhaps because of the organ grinder, may have been overlooked due to time and Groucho's interest in the monkey act.
Bootzin made personal appearances with the
He released a record album, Unpredictable, on Sidewalk Records in 1968.
Gypsy loved to participate in parades, including the annual, wildly creative and noncommercial Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Parade. Boots appeared at the Annual Calabasas Pumpkin Festival in 1973. Even in his late 80s he would energetically dance, make music, and holler all the way up the parade route for a couple of miles. He would show up for weekly farmers' markets in his wildly painted van promoting kyolic garlic, and would always be a showman with the gift of gab, giving out free garlic samples. Bootzin also participated in several Fourth of July parades in the town of Sonoma, California, in the late 1990s and/or early 2000s, throwing a football to a fellow participant.
Bootzin was an avid fan of the USC Trojans football team and was known for eccentric clothes and an ever-present cowbell.[2] He also regularly attended Los Angeles Dodgers, Lakers and Raiders games with spirited cheers, noisemakers and streamers. At age 86, he was still able to throw an American football at least 40 yards.[3]
In movies, Bootzin appears sitting in the diner scene in Michael Douglas's film
Bootzin's son, Dan, appeared on Dan Harmon's "Harmontown" podcast with his wife Beth, discussing the status of their beloved eucalyptus trees.
Bootzin was warmly remembered by comedian Billy Saluga (whose comic character was named Raymond J. Johnson, Jr.: "You can call me Ray! Or you can call me Jay!") on the December 11, 2017, episode of Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast.
Books
- Bare Feet and Good Things to Eat (1965)
- The Gypsy in Me (1993)
Further reading
- ISBN 978-0062437303.
See also
References
- ^ "Robert Bootzin, Born 08/19/1915 in California – CaliforniaBirthIndex.org". www.californiabirthindex.org. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Woo, Elaine; Times, Los Angeles (August 12, 2004). "Gypsy Boots -- quirky health fanatic who reached the masses". SFGate. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Elaine Woo, Gypsy Boots, 89; Colorful Promoter of Healthy Food and Lifestyles, Los Angeles Times, August 10, 2004, Accessed December 22, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e "The Namibian". The Namibian. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- ISBN 0-9668898-0-0
- ^ a b Pierson, David (August 29, 2004). "Celebrating Fruits of a Healthy Lifestyle". Retrieved February 22, 2019 – via LA Times.
- ^ David Ferrell. Gypsy at 75, `Nature Boy' Is a Free Spirit With a Healthy Sense of Humor. Los Angeles Times – April 20, 1986
- ^ Legacy: "Lois Bootzin (1924–2014) Obituary" February 18, 2014
- ^ The episode of You Bet Your Life in which Bootzin appeared. Accessed Aug 3, 2023.
- ^ "You Bet Your Life", Episode #5.30, 1955
External links
- Official website
- Gypsy Boots at IMDb