Claudine Longet, the French-born star and ex-wife of singer Andy Williams who became notorious for the fatal shooting in 1976 of her boyfriend, Olympic skier Vladimir “Spider” Sabich, has died. She was 84. Her death was announced on Thursday (May 14) and was confirmed by her nephew, Bryan Longet.
The shooting, and especially the light sentence Longet received for it – just 30 days, to be served “at a time of her choosing” – made headlines around the world and inspired both a Saturday Night Live sketch and a Rolling Stones song. Many saw it as evidence that the American justice system favors the wealthy and well-connected.
Before the scandal, Longet had achieved fame, mostly in connection with Williams on his long-running variety TV series, but also, for a couple of years in the late 1960s, on her own. She recorded seven albums (the first five of them for A&M Records), which were mostly filled with light pop and bossa nova songs — music that has been rebranded in recent decades as “lounge music.”
Claudine Georgette Longet was born in Paris on Jan. 29, 1942. In 1960, when she turned 18, American impresario Lou Walters (father of future broadcasting legend Barbara Walters) hired her to join his Folies Bergère revue at the Tropicana Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
