Content deleted Content added
SelfieCity (talk | contribs) m →1945–1954: Solo career: 1953 |
SelfieCity (talk | contribs) →1954–1955: Illness and death: reorganize and remove information that could be conceived as advertising from a primary source - WP is not the place to advertise artist management |
||
Line 87:
=== 1954–1955: Illness and death ===
[[Image:Charlie Parker Lincoln Cemetery.jpg|thumb|Parker's grave at Lincoln Cemetery]]
Since 1950, Parker had been living in New York City with his [[Common-law marriage|common-law wife]], [[Chan Parker|Chan Berg]], the mother of his son, Baird (1952–2014),<ref>[http://www.philly.com/philly/obituaries/20140330_Charles_Baird_Parker__61__son_of_jazz_great.html Charles Baird Parker 61 Son of Jazz Great]. ''[[Philly.com]]''. Retrieved June 29, 2016.</ref> and his daughter, Pree (who died at age 3).<ref name="Pree" /> He considered Chan his wife, although he never married her
Parker died on March 12, 1955, in the suite of his friend and patron [[Pannonica de Koenigswarter|Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter]] at the [[Stanhope Hotel]] in New York City, while watching [[The Dorsey Brothers]]' ''[[Stage Show (TV series)|Stage Show]]'' on television. The official causes of death were [[lobar pneumonia]] and a [[perforated ulcer|bleeding ulcer]], but Parker also had advanced [[cirrhosis]] and had suffered a heart attack. The coroner who performed his autopsy mistakenly estimated Parker's 34-year-old body to be between 50 and 60 years of age.{{sfn|Reisner|1977|p=133}}▼
▲The death of Parker's daughter Pree from pneumonia in 1954 devastated him and, after being fired from Birdland in September of that year, he attempted to commit suicide. He was hospitalized and made a partial recovery by early 1955 before his health declined again in March.<ref name=":2" /> Parker died on March 12, 1955, in the suite of his friend and patron [[Pannonica de Koenigswarter|Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter]] at the [[Stanhope Hotel]] in New York City, while watching [[The Dorsey Brothers]]' ''[[Stage Show (TV series)|Stage Show]]'' on television. The official causes of death were [[lobar pneumonia]] and a [[perforated ulcer|bleeding ulcer]], but Parker also had advanced [[cirrhosis]] and had suffered a heart attack. The coroner who performed his autopsy mistakenly estimated Parker's 34-year-old body to be between 50 and 60 years of age.{{sfn|Reisner|1977|p=133}}
▲Since 1950, Parker had been living in New York City with his [[Common-law marriage|common-law wife]], [[Chan Parker|Chan Berg]], the mother of his son, Baird (1952–2014),<ref>[http://www.philly.com/philly/obituaries/20140330_Charles_Baird_Parker__61__son_of_jazz_great.html Charles Baird Parker 61 Son of Jazz Great]. ''[[Philly.com]]''. Retrieved June 29, 2016.</ref> and his daughter, Pree (who died at age 3).<ref name="Pree" /> He considered Chan his wife, although he never married her, nor did he divorce his previous wife, Doris, whom he had married in 1948. His marital status complicated the settling of Parker's estate and would ultimately serve to frustrate his wish to be quietly interred in New York City.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
Parker's marital status complicated the settling of Parker's estate and would ultimately serve to frustrate his wish to be quietly interred in New York City.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} [[Dizzy Gillespie]] paid for the funeral arrangements<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/jazz/about/pdfs/Parker.pdf |title=Ken Burns interviews Chan Parker|website=Pbs.org |access-date=March 10, 2011}}</ref> and organized a lying-in-state{{huh|date=March 2024}}, a Harlem procession officiated by Congressman and Reverend [[Adam Clayton Powell Jr.]], as well as a memorial concert. Parker's body was flown back to Missouri, in accordance with his mother's wishes. Berg criticized Doris and Parker's family for giving him a Christian funeral, even though they knew he was an [[Atheism|atheist]].{{sfn|Russell|1973|p=361}} Parker was buried at Lincoln Cemetery in Missouri, in a hamlet known as [[Blue Summit, Missouri|Blue Summit]], located close to I-435 and East Truman Road.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
Some amount of controversy continued after Parker's burial in the Kansas City area. His tomb was engraved with the image of a tenor saxophone, though Parker is primarily associated with the alto saxophone. Later, some people wanted to move Parker's remains to reinforce redevelopment of the historic 18th and Vine area.<ref>{{cite web |date=December 18, 1998 |title=Bird Brouhaha, or the Grave Situation of Charlie Parker |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-dec-18-ca-55128-story.html |
▲Some amount of controversy continued after Parker's burial in the Kansas City area. His tomb was engraved with the image of a tenor saxophone, though Parker is primarily associated with the alto saxophone. Later, some people wanted to move Parker's remains to reinforce redevelopment of the historic 18th and Vine area.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-dec-18-ca-55128-story.html |title=Bird Brouhaha, or the Grave Situation of Charlie Parker |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=December 18, 1998 |access-date=December 24, 2020}}</ref>
==Personal life==
| |||