1 00:00:12,039 --> 00:00:15,997 (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) 2 00:00:17,997 --> 00:00:20,247 JOHNNY OLSON: A fortune in fabulous prizes 3 00:00:20,330 --> 00:00:21,956 may go to these people tonight 4 00:00:22,039 --> 00:00:24,914 if they know when The Price is Right. 5 00:00:27,039 --> 00:00:31,413 And now, here's the ultimate: a three-wheeled car! 6 00:00:31,497 --> 00:00:33,956 (CHEERING) 7 00:00:34,039 --> 00:00:35,039 It's the Dale, 8 00:00:35,122 --> 00:00:36,914 a whole new concept in automotive design, 9 00:00:36,997 --> 00:00:38,705 a three-wheeled chassis with a high-impact 10 00:00:38,789 --> 00:00:42,538 plastic resistant Rosen body, top speed of 85 miles per hour. 11 00:00:42,622 --> 00:00:44,705 For comfort and economy, it's the Dale 12 00:00:44,789 --> 00:00:47,164 by Twentieth Century Motor Car Corporation. 13 00:00:47,247 --> 00:00:48,830 NEWS ANCHOR #1: ...a rough-talking promoter 14 00:00:48,914 --> 00:00:50,164 named Elizabeth Carmichael. 15 00:00:50,247 --> 00:00:52,830 She's president and prime mover behind the Dale. 16 00:00:52,914 --> 00:00:54,705 NEWS ANCHOR #2: The miracle is in the mileage, 17 00:00:54,789 --> 00:00:56,997 a promise of 70 per precious gallon. 18 00:00:57,081 --> 00:00:59,372 ELIZABETH GERALDINE CARMICHAEL: We've taken a total concept, 19 00:00:59,455 --> 00:01:03,538 integrated it, and built a whole new means of transportation. 20 00:01:03,622 --> 00:01:05,538 MALE VOICE: Mrs. Carmichael is no pessimist. 21 00:01:05,622 --> 00:01:07,789 REPORTER #1: Think you're going to be able to take on GM? 22 00:01:07,872 --> 00:01:08,997 We're gonna whip GM. 23 00:01:09,081 --> 00:01:11,372 A couple of nights ago, on the television show 24 00:01:11,455 --> 00:01:12,580 The Price is Right, 25 00:01:12,664 --> 00:01:15,872 the grand prize was a three-wheeled Dale automobile. 26 00:01:15,956 --> 00:01:18,413 That embarrassing show was taped several months ago 27 00:01:18,497 --> 00:01:20,372 when the Dale was getting reams of publicity. 28 00:01:20,455 --> 00:01:23,372 But is the Dale all it's been cracked up to be? 29 00:01:23,455 --> 00:01:24,789 Now state officials tell us 30 00:01:24,872 --> 00:01:26,622 that Mrs. Carmichael's fingerprints 31 00:01:26,705 --> 00:01:28,956 match those of a notorious conman. 32 00:01:29,039 --> 00:01:30,247 Mrs. Elizabeth Carmichael 33 00:01:30,330 --> 00:01:32,413 is actually Mr. Jerry Dean Michael. 34 00:01:32,497 --> 00:01:34,206 And the secret life of Jerry Michael 35 00:01:34,288 --> 00:01:36,705 is the stuff of wildly imaginative adventure novels. 36 00:01:36,789 --> 00:01:39,580 ♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 37 00:01:42,455 --> 00:01:45,622 There's so much to say about my father. I... 38 00:01:46,455 --> 00:01:48,455 How long you got? 39 00:01:48,538 --> 00:01:51,081 SUSAN STRYKER: She lived as a man for a long time, 40 00:01:51,164 --> 00:01:53,330 but that doesn't mean that she wasn't trans. 41 00:01:53,413 --> 00:01:56,164 CANDI MICHAEL: My father was my hero. 42 00:01:56,247 --> 00:01:57,664 CHARLES RICHARD BARRETT: I'll tell you what. 43 00:01:57,747 --> 00:02:00,164 There was so much cloak and dagger going on. 44 00:02:01,747 --> 00:02:05,622 It was a difficult life. That's all. 45 00:02:06,206 --> 00:02:07,914 (TAPE RECORDER CLICKS) 46 00:02:07,997 --> 00:02:11,538 CARMICHAEL: The very first piece of literature I can ever remember moving me 47 00:02:11,622 --> 00:02:16,455 was about in the... third grade, maybe, 48 00:02:16,538 --> 00:02:19,872 a teacher reading a little thing. 49 00:02:19,956 --> 00:02:24,455 It was the story of a spider who leaped from a windowsill 50 00:02:24,538 --> 00:02:25,872 and failed to reach the side 51 00:02:25,956 --> 00:02:27,538 where it was trying to string its web, 52 00:02:27,622 --> 00:02:29,122 then climbed back up and leaped again, 53 00:02:29,206 --> 00:02:30,997 climbed back up and leaped again. 54 00:02:31,081 --> 00:02:33,830 And the moral of the story is if you first don't succeed, 55 00:02:33,914 --> 00:02:34,914 try and try again. 56 00:02:34,997 --> 00:02:36,413 That's the first thing that I can remember 57 00:02:36,497 --> 00:02:38,664 being impressed by in literature. 58 00:02:38,747 --> 00:02:40,997 -(TAPE RECORDER CLICKS) -(CRICKETS CHIRPING) 59 00:02:46,580 --> 00:02:48,455 It's so hard to explain to people 60 00:02:48,538 --> 00:02:52,206 because Liz is like two people to me. 61 00:02:54,206 --> 00:02:56,122 The first part of the transition 62 00:02:56,206 --> 00:03:00,789 was just calling Daddy "Jerry." 63 00:03:00,872 --> 00:03:04,622 And it took several years, but eventually Jerry 64 00:03:04,705 --> 00:03:10,247 became Aunt Jerry, then Aunt Liz, and then Mother. 65 00:03:10,330 --> 00:03:13,455 This is a course of over probably three years. 66 00:03:13,538 --> 00:03:15,580 So from that point on, 67 00:03:15,664 --> 00:03:17,455 my father, Jerry Dean Michael, 68 00:03:17,538 --> 00:03:21,413 became my mother, Elizabeth Geraldine Carmichael. 69 00:03:21,497 --> 00:03:22,997 ♪ (PIANO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 70 00:03:23,081 --> 00:03:26,830 CANDI: Jerry Dean Michael was born a farm boy, 71 00:03:26,914 --> 00:03:29,705 but was too smart for his own good. 72 00:03:30,580 --> 00:03:31,705 (TAPE RECORDER CLICKS) 73 00:03:31,789 --> 00:03:35,830 CARMICHAEL: I was born on a dirt farm, very poor. 74 00:03:35,914 --> 00:03:38,997 I did occasionally get to go to the movies. 75 00:03:39,081 --> 00:03:41,997 Here I saw people driving fancy cars 76 00:03:42,081 --> 00:03:43,997 and living in fancy buildings. 77 00:03:44,081 --> 00:03:45,747 (GUNSHOTS) 78 00:03:45,830 --> 00:03:48,330 And somewhere about 15 years of age, 79 00:03:48,413 --> 00:03:50,497 I realized that there was a better way to live 80 00:03:50,580 --> 00:03:52,455 than on a dirt farm. 81 00:03:53,747 --> 00:03:54,914 (TAPE RECORDER CLICKS OFF) 82 00:03:56,413 --> 00:03:58,538 (MUSIC CONCLUDES) 83 00:04:02,372 --> 00:04:03,914 It was a brick home. 84 00:04:03,997 --> 00:04:06,122 Probably one of the nicer ones around. 85 00:04:13,288 --> 00:04:14,330 (CHUCKLES) 86 00:04:17,081 --> 00:04:18,247 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 87 00:04:34,997 --> 00:04:37,413 ♪ ("BABY COUNT TEN" BY THE BELL SISTERS PLAYING) ♪ 88 00:04:37,497 --> 00:04:38,747 ♪ One ♪ 89 00:04:39,997 --> 00:04:41,622 ♪ Baby, count one ♪ 90 00:04:42,997 --> 00:04:45,914 ♪ While you're having fun With someone else ♪ 91 00:04:45,997 --> 00:04:47,288 ♪ Don't come around ♪ 92 00:04:47,372 --> 00:04:51,538 CARL ZUKUNFT: 93 00:04:51,622 --> 00:04:52,664 ♪ Two ♪ 94 00:04:53,830 --> 00:04:55,122 ♪ Baby, count two ♪ 95 00:04:56,747 --> 00:04:59,914 ♪ But when you're all through With your romance ♪ 96 00:04:59,997 --> 00:05:01,497 ♪ Leave me alone ♪ 97 00:05:04,330 --> 00:05:05,372 ♪ Ten... ♪ 98 00:05:05,455 --> 00:05:07,413 ZUKUNFT: Three or four cars may have passed us 99 00:05:07,497 --> 00:05:10,081 the whole time we was walking ten miles. 100 00:05:10,164 --> 00:05:12,872 ♪ But when you've the yen To count me in ♪ 101 00:05:12,956 --> 00:05:14,039 ♪ Count me out ♪ 102 00:05:14,122 --> 00:05:16,164 ZUKUNFT: He said, "Aw, we're just unlucky." 103 00:05:16,247 --> 00:05:18,372 ♪ Count me out ♪ 104 00:05:18,455 --> 00:05:20,455 ♪ One, two, three, four, five Six, seven, eight, nine ♪ 105 00:05:20,538 --> 00:05:21,664 ♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ 106 00:05:34,705 --> 00:05:36,081 (LAUGHTER) 107 00:05:37,206 --> 00:05:39,081 (SIREN WAILING) 108 00:05:42,956 --> 00:05:46,081 KENNETH YERYAR : 109 00:05:48,164 --> 00:05:50,288 (CROWD CLAMORING) 110 00:05:50,372 --> 00:05:54,039 YERYAR : 111 00:06:16,580 --> 00:06:18,039 When Jerry was young, 112 00:06:18,122 --> 00:06:22,164 he had a couple marriages before he met my mother, 113 00:06:22,247 --> 00:06:24,622 and was always going out for adventures, 114 00:06:24,705 --> 00:06:28,789 whether they'd be business or just mischief in general. 115 00:06:28,872 --> 00:06:31,538 FBI NARRATOR: FBI case file: Jerry Dean Michael. 116 00:06:31,622 --> 00:06:33,747 1946 to 1958. 117 00:06:35,206 --> 00:06:37,497 Kenneth Paul Wolf advised that he is a one-time friend 118 00:06:37,580 --> 00:06:39,247 of the subject, Jerry Dean Michael, 119 00:06:39,330 --> 00:06:42,413 as they both grew up together in Jasonville, Indiana. 120 00:06:42,497 --> 00:06:45,455 Wolf advised that in 1946, he enlisted in the army 121 00:06:45,538 --> 00:06:47,497 and came in contact with Jerry Dean Michael. 122 00:06:47,580 --> 00:06:49,122 Wolf advised that he and the subject 123 00:06:49,206 --> 00:06:50,747 were shipped overseas to Germany. 124 00:06:50,830 --> 00:06:53,580 WAR VIDEO NARRATOR: The problem now is future peace. 125 00:06:53,664 --> 00:06:57,081 That is your job in Germany. 126 00:06:57,164 --> 00:06:59,372 FBI NARRATOR: The next time he had occasion to see the subject 127 00:06:59,455 --> 00:07:00,497 was in 1948. 128 00:07:01,997 --> 00:07:03,538 At that time, the subject was married 129 00:07:03,622 --> 00:07:05,956 to a German girl by the name of Marga. 130 00:07:06,039 --> 00:07:08,206 Marga advised that she married Jerry Dean Michael 131 00:07:08,288 --> 00:07:09,914 during his military service in Germany 132 00:07:09,997 --> 00:07:11,789 and has two children by him. 133 00:07:13,081 --> 00:07:14,122 (DOOR OPENS) 134 00:07:15,122 --> 00:07:16,372 Jerry Dean Michael was charged 135 00:07:16,455 --> 00:07:18,538 with desertion of his wife, Marga, and their children 136 00:07:18,622 --> 00:07:20,580 with a penal sum of 1,000 dollars. 137 00:07:20,664 --> 00:07:22,288 The subject entered a plea of guilty, 138 00:07:22,372 --> 00:07:24,538 receiving one to three years at Indiana Reformatory 139 00:07:24,622 --> 00:07:26,247 plus court costs be paid by Marga 140 00:07:26,330 --> 00:07:27,747 and the subject's mother. 141 00:07:27,830 --> 00:07:30,081 The sentence was suspended and the subject was released 142 00:07:30,164 --> 00:07:31,413 on his own recognizance. 143 00:07:34,288 --> 00:07:37,081 Jerry Dean Michael married Juanita Haseman in 1954, 144 00:07:37,164 --> 00:07:38,705 and her father paid the down payment 145 00:07:38,789 --> 00:07:40,247 on their first apartment. 146 00:07:40,330 --> 00:07:42,413 -(KNOCKING ON DOOR) -The subject appeared to be a smooth talker 147 00:07:42,497 --> 00:07:44,413 and sold knitting machines which he built with the promise 148 00:07:44,497 --> 00:07:46,664 that he would by the products the customer produced. 149 00:07:46,747 --> 00:07:47,956 (PHONE RINGS, BEEPS) 150 00:07:48,039 --> 00:07:49,747 AUTOMATED VOICE: The number you are trying to reach 151 00:07:49,830 --> 00:07:51,164 has been disconnected. 152 00:07:51,247 --> 00:07:53,206 FBI NARRATOR: Juanita Haseman advised that she and the subject 153 00:07:53,288 --> 00:07:55,455 changed residences twenty-one times 154 00:07:55,538 --> 00:07:56,747 in the three years of their marriage, 155 00:07:56,830 --> 00:07:58,164 and they resided in the states of New York, 156 00:07:58,247 --> 00:08:01,455 California, Texas, Louisiana, Indiana, and Florida. 157 00:08:01,538 --> 00:08:02,789 (KNOCKING ON DOOR) 158 00:08:02,872 --> 00:08:05,497 Juanita's father described the subject as "no-good, 159 00:08:05,580 --> 00:08:07,247 always attempting some unethical means 160 00:08:07,330 --> 00:08:09,247 of shortcutting to success." 161 00:08:09,330 --> 00:08:10,497 (KNOCKING ON DOOR) 162 00:08:12,622 --> 00:08:13,914 In the spring of 1956, 163 00:08:13,997 --> 00:08:16,039 Juanita had finally had enough of this marriage 164 00:08:16,122 --> 00:08:17,747 and left the subject. 165 00:08:17,830 --> 00:08:20,039 Juanita had two children by Jerry Dean Michael, 166 00:08:20,122 --> 00:08:22,206 but he has never seen the youngest child. 167 00:08:25,164 --> 00:08:27,872 The subject Jerry Dean Michael operated a small newspaper 168 00:08:27,956 --> 00:08:30,164 over a local grocery store. 169 00:08:30,247 --> 00:08:32,622 The subject did not enjoy a very good reputation 170 00:08:32,705 --> 00:08:34,372 -in the community. -(GRUMBLING) 171 00:08:34,455 --> 00:08:36,081 FBI NARRATOR: The newspaper had been unsuccessful, 172 00:08:36,164 --> 00:08:38,122 and no paper was continued after the subject 173 00:08:38,206 --> 00:08:40,872 left the small town of Elnora. 174 00:08:40,956 --> 00:08:42,997 The subject changed residences frequently, 175 00:08:43,081 --> 00:08:45,330 commenting that it was cheaper than paying rent. 176 00:08:47,872 --> 00:08:51,705 Jerry Dean Michael worked for United Vacuum Cleaners in 1957. 177 00:08:51,789 --> 00:08:53,330 The subject was an excellent salesman 178 00:08:53,413 --> 00:08:54,789 and had a good mechanical knowledge 179 00:08:54,872 --> 00:08:57,122 of vacuum cleaners and sewing machines. 180 00:08:57,206 --> 00:08:58,372 The subject was fired, 181 00:08:58,455 --> 00:09:02,372 as he was pocketing down payments made by customers. 182 00:09:02,455 --> 00:09:05,413 Jerry Dean Michael considered himself a soldier of fortune, 183 00:09:05,497 --> 00:09:07,081 divulging that he was going to Cuba 184 00:09:07,164 --> 00:09:08,538 to join the revolutionaries, 185 00:09:08,622 --> 00:09:10,872 and expressed other ideas which were considered wild 186 00:09:10,956 --> 00:09:12,413 by anyone hearing them. 187 00:09:13,580 --> 00:09:15,413 Jerry Dean Michael once told an acquaintance 188 00:09:15,497 --> 00:09:16,956 that he hauled guns for distribution 189 00:09:17,039 --> 00:09:18,872 to Castro's troops, 190 00:09:18,956 --> 00:09:21,455 and that he was put in jail in Cuba by Batista 191 00:09:21,538 --> 00:09:24,288 and freed by Castro's revolutionary forces. 192 00:09:24,372 --> 00:09:25,747 (INDISTINCT SHOUTING) 193 00:09:25,830 --> 00:09:27,747 The subject said he returned to the United States 194 00:09:27,830 --> 00:09:28,830 by fishing vessel 195 00:09:28,914 --> 00:09:31,538 and swam ashore at Bakers Hollow, Florida. 196 00:09:32,997 --> 00:09:35,330 Mrs. Betty Sweet stated she met Jerry Dean Michael 197 00:09:35,413 --> 00:09:38,081 in Linton, Indiana, during the spring of 1958, 198 00:09:38,164 --> 00:09:40,372 and after acquaintance of approximately four weeks, 199 00:09:40,455 --> 00:09:41,747 married the subject, 200 00:09:41,830 --> 00:09:43,538 and thereafter lived with him for a period of two months, 201 00:09:43,622 --> 00:09:45,622 during which time she conceived a child. 202 00:09:45,705 --> 00:09:47,872 She related the subject was continually involved 203 00:09:47,956 --> 00:09:49,206 in trouble with law enforcement, 204 00:09:49,288 --> 00:09:50,538 and she therefore separated from him 205 00:09:50,622 --> 00:09:52,039 in August of 1958. 206 00:09:52,122 --> 00:09:54,872 She stated the child, a girl, was born, 207 00:09:54,956 --> 00:09:56,956 and the subject has never seen her. 208 00:10:01,081 --> 00:10:02,789 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 209 00:10:02,872 --> 00:10:07,538 BARRETT: Vivian met Jerry when she was 16 210 00:10:07,622 --> 00:10:09,664 at Pam's, where she worked. 211 00:10:11,664 --> 00:10:13,455 And she probably flirted with him, 212 00:10:13,538 --> 00:10:15,705 to be quite honest, you know. 213 00:10:15,789 --> 00:10:20,538 She, uh, had a wit about her, and she was very intelligent. 214 00:10:20,622 --> 00:10:23,081 She could talk you into things... 215 00:10:23,164 --> 00:10:25,288 (CHUCKLING) ...if she really wanted to. 216 00:10:25,372 --> 00:10:28,580 She was beautiful. She was a really pretty woman. 217 00:10:28,664 --> 00:10:32,497 Guys were always looking at her, you know, including Jerry. 218 00:10:33,372 --> 00:10:35,914 He was, to me, an old man 219 00:10:35,997 --> 00:10:37,997 because I'm 14 years old 220 00:10:38,081 --> 00:10:40,622 and he took an interest in my sister, 221 00:10:40,705 --> 00:10:41,914 which I didn't care for 222 00:10:41,997 --> 00:10:46,164 because that's my buddy he's messing with. (LAUGHS) 223 00:10:46,997 --> 00:10:48,622 And that changed later. 224 00:10:49,747 --> 00:10:53,247 Jerry was really kind of suave, I guess. 225 00:10:53,330 --> 00:10:56,914 Easygoing, always smiling. 226 00:10:56,997 --> 00:11:00,164 Uh, I mean, you talk to him for a few minutes, 227 00:11:00,247 --> 00:11:02,872 and all of a sudden, you've got a friend. 228 00:11:05,538 --> 00:11:07,956 Vivian's older than I am, but we were the same age. 229 00:11:08,039 --> 00:11:09,956 We were only a year apart, roughly. 230 00:11:10,039 --> 00:11:13,705 And we plotted and we schemed about things, 231 00:11:15,497 --> 00:11:17,206 and we were very tight. 232 00:11:22,039 --> 00:11:26,330 I remember the day that her and Jerry left. 233 00:11:26,413 --> 00:11:29,789 And that upset me, really upset me. 234 00:11:29,872 --> 00:11:31,372 She came to me and she said, 235 00:11:31,455 --> 00:11:33,372 "Richard, I'm gonna tell you something." 236 00:11:33,455 --> 00:11:36,372 She says, "I love Jerry... 237 00:11:40,789 --> 00:11:43,538 and I'm gonna leave with him." 238 00:11:43,622 --> 00:11:47,164 And I said, "Okay. What's going on?" 239 00:11:47,247 --> 00:11:50,372 She says, "Well, we're gonna get married. 240 00:11:50,455 --> 00:11:52,206 We're going to California. 241 00:11:52,914 --> 00:11:54,664 You gotta promise me, Richard, 242 00:11:54,747 --> 00:11:57,872 that you can't tell Mom and Dad." 243 00:11:57,956 --> 00:12:01,622 I said, "Oh. Are you sure?" 244 00:12:01,705 --> 00:12:03,288 She says, "I'll be fine." 245 00:12:03,372 --> 00:12:06,789 She says, "He loves me. We're leaving." 246 00:12:06,872 --> 00:12:08,580 ♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 247 00:12:08,664 --> 00:12:11,705 Well, I'm crying. 248 00:12:12,580 --> 00:12:14,830 (CRICKETS CHIRPING) 249 00:12:14,914 --> 00:12:18,206 Gets toward late at night, and my dad comes home. 250 00:12:18,288 --> 00:12:19,497 He's mad. 251 00:12:19,580 --> 00:12:23,206 He gets me out of bed, and he says, "Where is she?" 252 00:12:23,288 --> 00:12:25,538 He said, "Is she running around with that guy?" 253 00:12:25,622 --> 00:12:27,122 I said, "I don't know." 254 00:12:27,206 --> 00:12:29,164 I said, "I haven't seen her since school." 255 00:12:29,247 --> 00:12:31,830 And I'm trying to lie as best I can. 256 00:12:31,914 --> 00:12:37,538 Bottom line, she left, and I... I just could not believe it. 257 00:12:37,622 --> 00:12:39,455 It was-- I was torn up. 258 00:12:39,538 --> 00:12:43,122 And my dad was abusive, he was bad. 259 00:12:44,455 --> 00:12:47,580 Jerry offered Vivian a way out. 260 00:12:49,830 --> 00:12:51,497 I mean, uh... 261 00:12:51,580 --> 00:12:55,872 man, she gets to leave 262 00:12:55,956 --> 00:13:00,039 and start her own real life, you know, and she did. 263 00:13:00,122 --> 00:13:01,789 ♪ (MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 264 00:13:03,705 --> 00:13:06,288 They complemented each other. 265 00:13:06,372 --> 00:13:08,455 There was something in their psyche 266 00:13:08,538 --> 00:13:11,664 that both of them clicked, and they did. 267 00:13:12,872 --> 00:13:15,956 They knew what the others were thinking. 268 00:13:21,122 --> 00:13:24,789 A year later, my sister, Vivian, said she was pregnant. 269 00:13:26,664 --> 00:13:29,580 She said, "I don't know what to do." 270 00:13:29,664 --> 00:13:32,664 And Mom said, "Well, there's a house next door. 271 00:13:32,747 --> 00:13:35,413 Why don't you come over and see if I can get that house 272 00:13:35,497 --> 00:13:38,664 and you can be here for the baby being born." 273 00:13:39,372 --> 00:13:41,288 So they moved in there. 274 00:13:43,039 --> 00:13:48,413 Jerry had a very endearing, charismatic personality. 275 00:13:48,497 --> 00:13:52,705 When Jerry made a friend, they were friends for life. 276 00:13:52,789 --> 00:13:56,081 BARRETT: I just followed him like a puppy dog... 277 00:13:56,164 --> 00:13:58,538 (CHUCKLING) ...'cause he was so cool. 278 00:13:59,497 --> 00:14:00,914 We did a lot of... 279 00:14:00,997 --> 00:14:02,789 I guess you'd call them illegal things. 280 00:14:02,872 --> 00:14:05,538 At the time, it was just an adventure. 281 00:14:06,580 --> 00:14:08,330 I learned things from Jerry. 282 00:14:08,413 --> 00:14:13,122 I learned how to create any kind of identities. 283 00:14:13,206 --> 00:14:16,997 It used to not be difficult to change your identification. 284 00:14:17,081 --> 00:14:19,081 BARRETT: You take certain emblems 285 00:14:19,164 --> 00:14:20,789 off of different things. 286 00:14:20,872 --> 00:14:22,747 You can laminate it if you want. 287 00:14:22,830 --> 00:14:25,580 Back then, we didn't have fancy equipment. 288 00:14:25,664 --> 00:14:27,413 But you know what? It worked. 289 00:14:27,497 --> 00:14:31,497 You are now a graduate of Yale University. 290 00:14:31,580 --> 00:14:35,914 You have a pilot's license. You're a full-time pilot. 291 00:14:39,747 --> 00:14:42,664 He'd gotten that new check writer. 292 00:14:42,747 --> 00:14:45,330 You can put in any amount and just hit it, 293 00:14:45,413 --> 00:14:48,538 and it embosses it, makes it look real. 294 00:14:48,622 --> 00:14:51,164 And then just a signature, and then you've got the ID 295 00:14:51,247 --> 00:14:53,747 that you're an employee at that company. 296 00:14:55,247 --> 00:14:58,164 He'd always got money, and it was easy money, 297 00:14:58,247 --> 00:15:00,872 and, um, like... 298 00:15:04,247 --> 00:15:06,164 And I thought, "Man. 299 00:15:06,247 --> 00:15:07,830 Doesn't get any better than this. 300 00:15:07,914 --> 00:15:10,664 -Sixteen years old..." -(ENGINE REVS) 301 00:15:10,747 --> 00:15:13,580 ...got me a Lincoln, and living good. 302 00:15:14,081 --> 00:15:15,747 (LAUGHS) 303 00:15:16,789 --> 00:15:17,789 (BOTTLES CLINK) 304 00:15:17,872 --> 00:15:21,164 He would always tell me, "It's so much easier 305 00:15:21,247 --> 00:15:24,455 to get 75,000 out of somebody 306 00:15:24,538 --> 00:15:26,538 than it is to get a twenty-dollar bill. 307 00:15:26,622 --> 00:15:31,247 The people that think about twenty-dollar bills earned it. 308 00:15:31,330 --> 00:15:33,497 And some of these other people didn't." 309 00:15:34,956 --> 00:15:37,039 And he said, "They wanna give it away 310 00:15:37,122 --> 00:15:39,164 and I'm here to take it away." 311 00:15:41,164 --> 00:15:42,622 (KNOCKING ON DOOR) 312 00:15:43,747 --> 00:15:45,039 We got in trouble for it. 313 00:15:45,122 --> 00:15:46,538 (SMASHING) 314 00:15:46,622 --> 00:15:50,206 We had gotten arrested, and we were in the courtroom. 315 00:15:50,288 --> 00:15:52,247 And he leans over to me and he says, 316 00:15:52,330 --> 00:15:53,830 "Did this make the papers?" 317 00:15:53,914 --> 00:15:55,997 And I said, "Yeah. It did." 318 00:15:56,081 --> 00:15:57,580 He says, uh, "Front page?" 319 00:15:57,664 --> 00:15:58,914 And I said, "No, no. 320 00:15:58,997 --> 00:16:01,580 A little blurb down here on the back page or whatever." 321 00:16:01,664 --> 00:16:03,288 He says, "Get me a copy of that." 322 00:16:03,372 --> 00:16:04,538 I said, "Okay." 323 00:16:05,372 --> 00:16:07,288 It seemed to please him. 324 00:16:07,372 --> 00:16:10,247 I said, "Are you worried about going to jail for a long time?" 325 00:16:10,330 --> 00:16:12,413 And he says, "Don't worry about it. 326 00:16:12,497 --> 00:16:13,705 Everything's fine." 327 00:16:13,789 --> 00:16:17,413 And I was afraid that I was gonna go in jail with him. 328 00:16:17,497 --> 00:16:21,206 They tried to identify who all the other people were. 329 00:16:21,288 --> 00:16:23,872 ATTORNEY: Did anyone else help you commit these crimes? 330 00:16:23,956 --> 00:16:26,497 BARRETT: And he would not open his mouth. 331 00:16:29,081 --> 00:16:30,622 He always protected me. 332 00:16:32,039 --> 00:16:34,330 He will protect you to the bitter end. 333 00:16:34,413 --> 00:16:36,413 And he'll take the heat because he says, 334 00:16:36,497 --> 00:16:38,164 "I can handle the heat." 335 00:16:39,872 --> 00:16:42,664 It was that little cat smile, 336 00:16:43,497 --> 00:16:45,622 and I knew that he was in charge. 337 00:16:45,705 --> 00:16:48,081 That judge was not in charge. 338 00:16:48,164 --> 00:16:51,789 That prosecutor over there was not in charge. 339 00:16:51,872 --> 00:16:55,164 Jerry was. That was his courtroom. 340 00:16:55,247 --> 00:16:58,705 This was not a challenge to him because these people 341 00:16:58,789 --> 00:17:01,206 were not on his intellect level. 342 00:17:01,872 --> 00:17:03,122 He was having fun. 343 00:17:03,206 --> 00:17:04,872 And when he'd wink at me, I knew it. 344 00:17:04,956 --> 00:17:07,164 I said, "Son of a gun, he's got it. 345 00:17:07,247 --> 00:17:08,372 He's confident." 346 00:17:09,538 --> 00:17:12,122 Matter of fact, I think he got out of it. 347 00:17:12,206 --> 00:17:14,956 So he-- He's just Jerry, you know. 348 00:17:15,039 --> 00:17:16,580 What can I say? He was cool. 349 00:17:19,830 --> 00:17:21,914 (HAMMERING) 350 00:17:23,122 --> 00:17:24,830 Before I was born, 351 00:17:24,914 --> 00:17:27,330 Jerry actually owned a newspaper, 352 00:17:27,413 --> 00:17:29,081 a very small newspaper. 353 00:17:30,664 --> 00:17:34,830 My father told me that it was his partner's idea 354 00:17:34,914 --> 00:17:37,747 to start making fake money. 355 00:17:40,705 --> 00:17:44,455 Jerry said that the money never looked right, 356 00:17:44,538 --> 00:17:46,872 and it was Vivian's idea 357 00:17:46,956 --> 00:17:50,997 to stain the paper using coffee and tea, 358 00:17:51,081 --> 00:17:53,705 and it made it look very realistic. 359 00:17:53,789 --> 00:17:55,206 (TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING) 360 00:17:55,288 --> 00:17:58,830 FBI NARRATOR: From February 9th, 1961, to May 15th, 1961, 361 00:17:58,914 --> 00:18:00,872 Jerry Dean Michael photographed and printed 362 00:18:00,956 --> 00:18:02,789 a series of bogus Federal Reserve Notes 363 00:18:02,872 --> 00:18:06,081 in five, ten, and twenty-dollar denominations. 364 00:18:06,164 --> 00:18:07,956 The subject used the fictitious business 365 00:18:08,039 --> 00:18:09,622 of Los Angeles Distributing Company 366 00:18:09,705 --> 00:18:11,455 as a front for his counterfeiting activities 367 00:18:11,538 --> 00:18:14,914 located above David Eisner's Monarch Frozen Food Company. 368 00:18:14,997 --> 00:18:16,081 (BUZZER) 369 00:18:16,164 --> 00:18:17,664 Once Jerry Dean Michael printed the bogus notes, 370 00:18:17,747 --> 00:18:19,956 he turned them over to Eisner, who, in turn, 371 00:18:20,039 --> 00:18:21,830 passed them in the West Los Angeles area 372 00:18:21,914 --> 00:18:23,538 with the assistance of Ralph Wheeler, 373 00:18:23,622 --> 00:18:24,997 an employee of Eisner's. 374 00:18:25,081 --> 00:18:27,288 Wheeler's girlfriend, Elizabeth Harper Colton, 375 00:18:27,372 --> 00:18:30,330 also assisted Wheeler in passing some of the notes. 376 00:18:30,413 --> 00:18:32,039 (LAUGHTER) 377 00:18:32,122 --> 00:18:37,747 ♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 378 00:18:38,622 --> 00:18:40,122 The first break in the case came 379 00:18:40,206 --> 00:18:41,622 when certain Federal Reserve Notes 380 00:18:41,705 --> 00:18:43,622 were traced to defendant David Eisner. 381 00:18:44,622 --> 00:18:46,413 Jerry Dean Michael was taken into custody 382 00:18:46,497 --> 00:18:49,372 by Secret Service agents on August 4th, 1961, 383 00:18:49,455 --> 00:18:50,872 at his Granada Hills home. 384 00:18:52,164 --> 00:18:53,705 Jerry Dean Michael, described as 385 00:18:53,789 --> 00:18:55,497 a highly intelligent and cunning criminal, 386 00:18:55,580 --> 00:18:58,122 refused to cooperate with Secret Service agents. 387 00:18:59,330 --> 00:19:01,664 The federal grand jury on August 30th, 1961, 388 00:19:01,747 --> 00:19:03,914 returned an indictment charging Jerry Dean Michael 389 00:19:03,997 --> 00:19:07,288 with conspiracy and possession of counterfeit currency. 390 00:19:07,372 --> 00:19:10,497 On September 18th, 1961, the subject failed to appear 391 00:19:10,580 --> 00:19:12,164 in US District Court in Los Angeles 392 00:19:12,247 --> 00:19:14,372 for arraignment and plea to the indictment. 393 00:19:15,747 --> 00:19:17,747 A bench warrant for the subject's arrest 394 00:19:17,830 --> 00:19:19,622 was issued the same day. 395 00:19:20,705 --> 00:19:22,288 A search of Jerry Dean Michael's home 396 00:19:22,372 --> 00:19:24,081 disclosed a large number of library books 397 00:19:24,164 --> 00:19:26,039 dealing with various phases of criminal law. 398 00:19:26,122 --> 00:19:28,830 The subject was intent upon following a criminal career 399 00:19:28,914 --> 00:19:32,789 and would probably not be easy to locate. 400 00:19:32,872 --> 00:19:38,914 CANDI: My parents, they were released on bail, and ran. 401 00:19:38,997 --> 00:19:43,789 I believe Vivian was pregnant at the time with me. 402 00:19:43,872 --> 00:19:47,956 That's what started the run for his life or for his freedom. 403 00:19:48,039 --> 00:19:50,580 ♪ (MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 404 00:19:52,497 --> 00:19:58,538 The FBI was actively pursuing Jerry and Vivian 405 00:19:58,622 --> 00:20:00,372 for the counterfeiting. 406 00:20:02,622 --> 00:20:04,705 And it was just part of life. 407 00:20:05,288 --> 00:20:06,497 As a child, 408 00:20:06,580 --> 00:20:09,122 we rarely lived in one place for more than two months. 409 00:20:09,206 --> 00:20:12,247 There was always the fear that they were found. 410 00:20:16,455 --> 00:20:18,789 I grew up all over the United States, 411 00:20:18,872 --> 00:20:21,039 from California to Florida, 412 00:20:21,122 --> 00:20:25,997 as high up as Chicago, Illinois, and, well, 413 00:20:26,081 --> 00:20:30,413 down at the tip of Florida was the farthest we went south. 414 00:20:30,497 --> 00:20:33,206 But usually, we stuck around the Sun Belt, 415 00:20:33,288 --> 00:20:35,247 is what my father called it. 416 00:20:38,206 --> 00:20:42,288 We all had last names which were made up. 417 00:20:44,206 --> 00:20:47,789 You look at old newspaper clippings about deaths, 418 00:20:47,872 --> 00:20:50,206 preferably deaths of children. 419 00:20:50,288 --> 00:20:54,622 Then you write to the Bureau of Vital Statistics. 420 00:20:56,164 --> 00:20:59,206 You get that dead child's birth certificate. 421 00:20:59,288 --> 00:21:01,914 That is now your identification. 422 00:21:03,622 --> 00:21:07,789 We didn't attend school so there'd be no paper trail. 423 00:21:07,872 --> 00:21:09,747 Vivian taught our letters, 424 00:21:09,830 --> 00:21:13,288 and our father, Jerry, taught us how to write. 425 00:21:16,330 --> 00:21:18,372 We might have had a strange family, 426 00:21:18,455 --> 00:21:21,247 but we were a tight-knit family. 427 00:21:21,330 --> 00:21:25,288 My brother Brian was very precocious. 428 00:21:25,372 --> 00:21:28,206 Is that the nice way to say "a horrible little brat"? 429 00:21:28,288 --> 00:21:29,372 (LAUGHS) 430 00:21:29,455 --> 00:21:34,622 Always, like my father, running off for adventures. 431 00:21:34,705 --> 00:21:38,580 My sister Wendy was the quiet one, 432 00:21:38,664 --> 00:21:40,538 never caused any trouble, 433 00:21:40,622 --> 00:21:43,164 just pretty much tried to stay invisible. 434 00:21:44,455 --> 00:21:49,497 And then my sister Shawn was the princess of the family. 435 00:21:49,580 --> 00:21:51,622 I think it's 'cause she came along 436 00:21:51,705 --> 00:21:53,455 at a better time in life. 437 00:21:54,664 --> 00:21:57,997 And then there's my youngest brother, Michael. 438 00:21:58,081 --> 00:22:00,872 Oh, he was a handful as a child. 439 00:22:00,956 --> 00:22:03,956 MICHAEL MICHAEL: I enjoyed being on the road. 440 00:22:04,039 --> 00:22:06,580 We-- I got to see things that I know, you know, 441 00:22:06,664 --> 00:22:09,330 a lot of people never get to see in their lifetime. 442 00:22:09,413 --> 00:22:11,330 We stopped at all kinds of places, 443 00:22:11,413 --> 00:22:14,455 like, uh, trading posts and truck stops, 444 00:22:14,538 --> 00:22:18,081 and I've got those memories, you know? 445 00:22:18,164 --> 00:22:21,455 CANDI: There was this newspaper called the Free Press. 446 00:22:21,538 --> 00:22:23,914 They would put in coded ads. 447 00:22:25,330 --> 00:22:27,122 And there'd be words. 448 00:22:27,206 --> 00:22:29,622 "The red horse is still available." 449 00:22:29,705 --> 00:22:35,039 Or, "If you're still interested in the Impala, call Ted." 450 00:22:35,122 --> 00:22:37,914 This was how they would find people. 451 00:22:37,997 --> 00:22:40,747 For the longest time, I never understood 452 00:22:40,830 --> 00:22:43,206 how extended family members would find us. 453 00:22:43,288 --> 00:22:45,372 We were moving every couple weeks, 454 00:22:45,455 --> 00:22:47,206 or we didn't have an address. 455 00:22:47,288 --> 00:22:48,789 Next thing you know, 456 00:22:48,872 --> 00:22:52,164 there's a relative meeting you in a state park. 457 00:22:52,247 --> 00:22:55,039 It's because somebody had placed an ad, 458 00:22:55,122 --> 00:22:57,206 and that was the response. 459 00:22:59,081 --> 00:23:00,789 BARRETT: They floated in and out. 460 00:23:00,872 --> 00:23:03,122 They'd be here, and then they wouldn't. 461 00:23:03,206 --> 00:23:06,247 The FBI or somebody was always coming back 462 00:23:06,330 --> 00:23:09,122 and wanting information on 'em. 463 00:23:09,206 --> 00:23:11,956 -CANDI: One of the signs... -(INDISTINCT CHATTER) 464 00:23:12,039 --> 00:23:15,455 ...if somebody had tapped your phone, 465 00:23:15,538 --> 00:23:19,872 which means listening in on private conversations, 466 00:23:19,956 --> 00:23:23,789 was you heard this unusual clicking on the other end. 467 00:23:23,872 --> 00:23:25,789 (STATIC AND CLICKING) 468 00:23:25,872 --> 00:23:28,747 In my house, when you heard that clicking, 469 00:23:28,830 --> 00:23:31,872 it means they found you. 470 00:23:31,956 --> 00:23:35,330 And come nightfall, we were sneaking into the car 471 00:23:35,413 --> 00:23:37,497 and gone off to another town. 472 00:23:39,039 --> 00:23:42,372 To you, waking up and having your mother make breakfast 473 00:23:42,455 --> 00:23:44,164 and your father going off to work 474 00:23:44,247 --> 00:23:46,830 might be a normal thing. 475 00:23:46,914 --> 00:23:51,580 To me, a normal thing was just getting used to a house 476 00:23:51,664 --> 00:23:53,206 and finally getting friends, 477 00:23:53,288 --> 00:23:56,538 and then sneaking off in the middle of the night, 478 00:23:56,622 --> 00:23:59,164 the kids piling in the car and winding up 479 00:23:59,247 --> 00:24:02,538 sleeping in the car on the side of the road, 480 00:24:02,622 --> 00:24:04,997 10 hours later, in another state. 481 00:24:05,081 --> 00:24:06,455 That was normal life. 482 00:24:08,789 --> 00:24:11,538 BARRETT: He had those kids trained so well 483 00:24:11,622 --> 00:24:14,830 that if there was a conflict, something happened, 484 00:24:14,914 --> 00:24:17,914 they were to immediately drop what they had. 485 00:24:17,997 --> 00:24:19,455 If they were riding their bicycle, 486 00:24:19,538 --> 00:24:20,830 just leave it in the street. 487 00:24:22,413 --> 00:24:23,538 Leave everything. 488 00:24:25,622 --> 00:24:29,247 The police could be knocking on the next-door house... 489 00:24:29,330 --> 00:24:33,413 -♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -(INDISTINCT CHATTER) 490 00:24:33,497 --> 00:24:36,664 ...and we would be gone before they ever got to ours. 491 00:24:37,288 --> 00:24:38,330 Just gone. 492 00:24:43,330 --> 00:24:46,039 One of the times we were being chased, 493 00:24:46,122 --> 00:24:47,372 we were in Indiana. 494 00:24:48,664 --> 00:24:49,997 This is the middle of the night. 495 00:24:50,081 --> 00:24:54,039 We're on a dirt track that's no longer used as a road. 496 00:24:54,122 --> 00:24:56,122 Jerry was driving. 497 00:24:56,206 --> 00:24:59,956 All of a sudden, he said, "Someone's following us." 498 00:25:00,039 --> 00:25:01,789 My sister and I are turning, 499 00:25:01,872 --> 00:25:03,413 we're looking out the back window. 500 00:25:03,497 --> 00:25:05,664 There was a car following us. 501 00:25:05,747 --> 00:25:08,247 Jerry started driving like a maniac... 502 00:25:11,372 --> 00:25:14,081 turning corners on two wheels, 503 00:25:14,164 --> 00:25:18,330 going probably 80 miles an hour on city streets. 504 00:25:20,164 --> 00:25:24,830 We did get away, but that was a terrifying experience. 505 00:25:27,872 --> 00:25:32,164 Growing up, we were either devastatingly trash poor 506 00:25:32,247 --> 00:25:35,789 or we lived quite comfortably in very nice houses. 507 00:25:35,872 --> 00:25:37,288 I don't know how to describe it. 508 00:25:37,372 --> 00:25:40,664 He would make a business out of basically nothing. 509 00:25:40,747 --> 00:25:41,789 He could. 510 00:25:42,538 --> 00:25:44,997 (MONKEYS CHITTERING) 511 00:25:45,081 --> 00:25:50,164 CANDI: When I was very young, my father had a pet store. 512 00:25:50,247 --> 00:25:54,122 My father specialized in exotic pets. 513 00:25:55,872 --> 00:25:59,413 My father would bring some of the pets home 514 00:25:59,497 --> 00:26:02,372 so they weren't left in the store overnight. 515 00:26:04,413 --> 00:26:08,413 Not only do you have a houseful of rambunctious children, 516 00:26:08,497 --> 00:26:11,122 you've got monkeys climbing up the drapes. 517 00:26:12,206 --> 00:26:14,956 It's no wonder my mother was so stressed. 518 00:26:16,705 --> 00:26:19,247 Jerry couldn't do anything on a small basis. 519 00:26:21,247 --> 00:26:25,206 Buying fish from South America was too expensive, 520 00:26:25,288 --> 00:26:28,164 so they decided to breed their own fish. 521 00:26:28,247 --> 00:26:32,247 He said if you had a little fish that didn't cost anything, 522 00:26:32,330 --> 00:26:34,039 and they reproduce so fast, 523 00:26:34,122 --> 00:26:37,039 then you just needed a thousand aquariums. 524 00:26:37,122 --> 00:26:40,081 CANDI: My father would go and pitch people 525 00:26:40,164 --> 00:26:42,122 to flood their basements 526 00:26:42,206 --> 00:26:46,455 and turn their basements into hatcheries for tropical fish. 527 00:26:48,122 --> 00:26:52,580 So he had a constant supply of healthy tropical fish, 528 00:26:52,664 --> 00:26:55,497 grown right here in the United States of America. 529 00:26:55,580 --> 00:26:57,872 And son of a gun, it made money. 530 00:26:57,956 --> 00:26:59,247 (CHUCKLES) 531 00:27:01,122 --> 00:27:05,330 CANDI: I remember this home Jacuzzi thing, 532 00:27:05,413 --> 00:27:07,580 where they designed this machine 533 00:27:07,664 --> 00:27:09,789 that kind of looked like a sewing machine. 534 00:27:09,872 --> 00:27:11,914 It sat on the edge of your bathtub 535 00:27:11,997 --> 00:27:16,664 and would make the water in your bathtub swirl around. 536 00:27:16,747 --> 00:27:19,705 And I remember being excited, thinking, 537 00:27:19,789 --> 00:27:21,747 "Oh, we're going to be normal. 538 00:27:21,830 --> 00:27:25,622 We're gonna stay in house, everything's gonna be fine, 539 00:27:25,705 --> 00:27:27,914 because they just came up with this great idea, 540 00:27:27,997 --> 00:27:30,206 and everything is gonna be wonderful." 541 00:27:30,288 --> 00:27:33,372 And two months later, we're sneaking out the back door 542 00:27:33,455 --> 00:27:35,039 and on the run again. 543 00:27:35,122 --> 00:27:37,288 And then I remember a year later, 544 00:27:37,372 --> 00:27:40,538 seeing these machines that my father designed 545 00:27:40,622 --> 00:27:42,413 being advertised on television. 546 00:27:42,497 --> 00:27:43,997 AD NARRATOR #1: A perfect way to relax 547 00:27:44,081 --> 00:27:45,622 -is with a Jacuzzi whirlpool bath. -(APPLAUSE) 548 00:27:45,705 --> 00:27:47,747 It really upset me at the time, and I was thinking, 549 00:27:47,830 --> 00:27:51,372 "That could've been us if my father wasn't a criminal." 550 00:27:52,914 --> 00:27:56,956 ♪ (SLOW PIANO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 551 00:27:57,039 --> 00:28:01,497 Jerry had a connection through some of the old Detroit friends. 552 00:28:02,956 --> 00:28:07,497 Jerry came to the house. He brought a friend with him. 553 00:28:10,705 --> 00:28:13,330 And he was a concert pianist. 554 00:28:13,413 --> 00:28:15,580 And we had a piano there, 555 00:28:15,664 --> 00:28:18,122 and he played that piano like, my gosh, 556 00:28:18,206 --> 00:28:21,288 I didn't know that old piano could sound that good. 557 00:28:21,372 --> 00:28:24,288 But he had a problem with his hands. 558 00:28:24,372 --> 00:28:28,206 After he played for 30 minutes or so, his hands would freeze. 559 00:28:28,288 --> 00:28:31,664 They would seize up and, and, and all that. 560 00:28:31,747 --> 00:28:35,622 And he made a comment, something about that, uh... 561 00:28:38,497 --> 00:28:40,705 "They're not good for pianos, 562 00:28:40,789 --> 00:28:42,872 but I could break somebody in half. 563 00:28:43,622 --> 00:28:44,956 They still work." 564 00:28:47,081 --> 00:28:49,247 (KNUCKLES CRACK) 565 00:28:49,956 --> 00:28:51,081 INTERVIEWER: 566 00:28:51,164 --> 00:28:52,164 -Yeah. -INTERVIEWER: Yeah? 567 00:28:52,247 --> 00:28:53,247 Yeah. 568 00:28:53,330 --> 00:28:55,164 I'm gonna tell you something. 569 00:28:55,247 --> 00:28:56,830 To this day, I'm still cautious 570 00:28:56,914 --> 00:28:59,247 about what I say about these people. 571 00:28:59,956 --> 00:29:02,497 They don't play games, okay? 572 00:29:02,580 --> 00:29:04,580 I don't know how to say this. 573 00:29:05,956 --> 00:29:08,039 (SIGHS) 574 00:29:08,122 --> 00:29:13,247 Don't go there, 'cause these guys will hurt you. 575 00:29:13,789 --> 00:29:15,372 (PHONE RINGING) 576 00:29:15,455 --> 00:29:17,872 BARRETT: Jerry called me. 577 00:29:17,956 --> 00:29:21,206 He said, "You're gonna hear some things. 578 00:29:21,288 --> 00:29:24,372 Don't worry about it. We're okay." 579 00:29:24,455 --> 00:29:26,664 And that was the end of conversation. 580 00:29:26,747 --> 00:29:28,622 I didn't know what it was. 581 00:29:28,705 --> 00:29:31,122 ♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 582 00:29:38,622 --> 00:29:40,372 -(CRASH) -(TIRES SQUEAL) 583 00:29:40,455 --> 00:29:41,914 (ELECTRICITY CRACKLES) 584 00:29:45,830 --> 00:29:48,497 ♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 585 00:29:48,580 --> 00:29:50,956 (GUNSHOTS) 586 00:29:52,664 --> 00:29:55,039 ♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 587 00:30:06,830 --> 00:30:08,081 But he's still alive. 588 00:30:08,164 --> 00:30:09,330 (CHUCKLES) 589 00:30:10,664 --> 00:30:12,164 (TAPE REWINDING) 590 00:30:16,664 --> 00:30:17,789 (CRASH) 591 00:30:17,872 --> 00:30:19,997 And the only way he could do it to get rid of them, 592 00:30:20,081 --> 00:30:21,747 and hopefully get rid of the FBI 593 00:30:21,830 --> 00:30:24,372 and everybody else that was starting to come in... 594 00:30:25,622 --> 00:30:28,914 well, he shot up his car, I guess. 595 00:30:28,997 --> 00:30:30,914 (GUNSHOTS) 596 00:30:30,997 --> 00:30:32,372 And away he went. 597 00:30:35,789 --> 00:30:38,872 After that, he went underground for a little while. 598 00:30:41,538 --> 00:30:42,914 (PHONE RINGING) 599 00:30:42,997 --> 00:30:45,039 He would call me later. 600 00:30:47,997 --> 00:30:52,081 "I don't have any money. I need some cash." 601 00:30:52,164 --> 00:30:55,789 I said, "Jerry, someday you gotta give me some money 602 00:30:55,872 --> 00:30:57,122 to put in the bank for you 603 00:30:57,206 --> 00:30:58,997 so that I don't have to take it out of my savings account 604 00:30:59,081 --> 00:31:01,622 'cause I take it away from my family." 605 00:31:01,705 --> 00:31:03,372 "I'd really appreciate it, Richard, 606 00:31:03,455 --> 00:31:06,247 if you would just forget that and give me some money. 607 00:31:06,330 --> 00:31:07,914 Vivian will be by." 608 00:31:10,330 --> 00:31:12,455 What do you do? I owe him. 609 00:31:12,538 --> 00:31:15,372 He kept me from going to jail. He did me a-- 610 00:31:15,455 --> 00:31:18,580 He protected me. I owe him. 611 00:31:19,914 --> 00:31:22,622 My wife did not like that. (LAUGHS) 612 00:31:24,122 --> 00:31:25,872 When Vivian... (SIGHS) 613 00:31:25,956 --> 00:31:28,455 Each time that she came and left, 614 00:31:29,705 --> 00:31:31,247 it didn't change anything. 615 00:31:31,330 --> 00:31:35,413 She was my sister, and I would do anything for her. 616 00:31:37,914 --> 00:31:40,039 In all that time, you would think 617 00:31:40,122 --> 00:31:42,413 that they would get tired of all this. 618 00:31:43,580 --> 00:31:45,580 'Cause I would sit there, and I'd be driving her 619 00:31:45,664 --> 00:31:47,956 to Cincinnati that one time in the middle of the night, 620 00:31:48,039 --> 00:31:50,914 three o'clock in the morning, and I gotta be at work in, 621 00:31:50,997 --> 00:31:52,997 you know, like at five or six in the morning, 622 00:31:53,081 --> 00:31:54,580 so I gotta get back home. 623 00:31:54,664 --> 00:31:57,288 And I go down there, and I says, "You know," 624 00:31:57,372 --> 00:31:58,956 I said, "This is really bad." 625 00:31:59,039 --> 00:32:02,497 I said, "What are you guys gonna do one of these days? 626 00:32:02,580 --> 00:32:05,164 Are you ever coming back to a normal life and all that?" 627 00:32:05,247 --> 00:32:07,622 And she said, "No." She said, "This is normal. 628 00:32:08,372 --> 00:32:10,122 This is a normal life." 629 00:32:14,914 --> 00:32:18,455 (CRICKETS CHIRPING) 630 00:32:19,288 --> 00:32:24,497 (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) 631 00:32:24,580 --> 00:32:27,039 CANDI: On this one particular day, 632 00:32:27,122 --> 00:32:30,247 my father, Jerry, took me for a car ride 633 00:32:30,330 --> 00:32:32,122 and we got stuck in traffic. 634 00:32:32,206 --> 00:32:33,330 The traffic was backed up 635 00:32:33,413 --> 00:32:36,288 because there was a Christmas parade going on. 636 00:32:36,372 --> 00:32:40,372 And I wanted to go meet Santa Claus. 637 00:32:40,455 --> 00:32:44,039 My father told me that there was no such thing as Santa, 638 00:32:44,122 --> 00:32:45,830 and I was devastated. 639 00:32:47,330 --> 00:32:49,956 And I think to cheer me up, he said, 640 00:32:50,039 --> 00:32:52,039 "Would you like me to be your mommy?" 641 00:32:52,122 --> 00:32:54,705 And I was thrilled about it. 642 00:32:57,789 --> 00:33:01,039 Vivian was not a happy mother. 643 00:33:01,122 --> 00:33:03,538 I think there was just too many bad things 644 00:33:03,622 --> 00:33:07,747 that happened in her life right at the time I was born 645 00:33:07,830 --> 00:33:11,081 that somewhere in her mind she might've blamed me for it. 646 00:33:11,164 --> 00:33:16,664 So having my daddy as my mommy was a wonderful thing to me. 647 00:33:17,664 --> 00:33:20,497 I thought my daddy was doing it for me. 648 00:33:20,580 --> 00:33:24,997 I didn't realize that my daddy was unhappy being a man. 649 00:33:27,372 --> 00:33:31,956 When my father, Jerry, told my mother, Vivian, 650 00:33:32,039 --> 00:33:34,830 that he wanted to be a woman, 651 00:33:34,914 --> 00:33:37,206 that led to the first separation. 652 00:33:41,164 --> 00:33:44,872 ♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 653 00:33:55,914 --> 00:33:58,164 CARMICHAEL: Dear Vivian, 654 00:33:58,247 --> 00:34:01,538 I don't know when or how my problem started. 655 00:34:02,413 --> 00:34:03,789 Some authorities believe 656 00:34:03,872 --> 00:34:06,288 there's a chromosomal imbalance in people, 657 00:34:06,372 --> 00:34:08,830 and others say environmental conditioning, 658 00:34:08,914 --> 00:34:14,039 while others... (SIGHS) ...feel it's a glandular misinformation. 659 00:34:15,206 --> 00:34:16,164 Whatever the cause, 660 00:34:16,247 --> 00:34:18,580 there have been signposts along the way 661 00:34:18,664 --> 00:34:19,830 ever since I can remember 662 00:34:19,914 --> 00:34:22,705 that indicated I was not what I could have been 663 00:34:22,789 --> 00:34:24,664 in the sex department. 664 00:34:24,747 --> 00:34:27,789 And that wasn't because I didn't try. 665 00:34:27,872 --> 00:34:31,330 I guess I'm not sure that I had some sort of... 666 00:34:31,413 --> 00:34:33,413 (CHUCKLING) ...youth screw loose. 667 00:34:35,081 --> 00:34:37,497 I'm not a man anymore, 668 00:34:37,580 --> 00:34:39,413 at least not in the sexual sense, 669 00:34:39,497 --> 00:34:40,956 if I ever was. 670 00:34:42,747 --> 00:34:44,580 As I got to know you, 671 00:34:44,664 --> 00:34:48,122 I found you to be truly worthy of deep love 672 00:34:48,206 --> 00:34:50,705 and a lasting respect and admiration. 673 00:34:50,789 --> 00:34:52,997 Even with the irritants, the arguments, 674 00:34:53,081 --> 00:34:54,997 the recriminations, and the hard words, 675 00:34:55,081 --> 00:34:59,455 the love has continued on stronger than ever. 676 00:35:00,455 --> 00:35:03,455 As I grow older, and hopefully wiser, 677 00:35:03,538 --> 00:35:08,288 I have come to realize that love is pretty important. 678 00:35:09,413 --> 00:35:10,830 The passion is gone. 679 00:35:10,914 --> 00:35:14,747 Like the ocean, the wind and waves have died down 680 00:35:14,830 --> 00:35:17,039 and left a placid surface, 681 00:35:17,122 --> 00:35:18,372 but the underlying current 682 00:35:18,455 --> 00:35:21,122 goes on strong and stable and everlasting. 683 00:35:22,956 --> 00:35:24,247 As funny as it sounds, 684 00:35:24,330 --> 00:35:28,789 I'd walk through the fire for you and the kids. 685 00:35:28,872 --> 00:35:32,247 I'd give up my food and clothing and my bed, 686 00:35:32,330 --> 00:35:34,872 and yes, even my life. 687 00:35:36,705 --> 00:35:37,997 (KNOCKING ON DOOR) 688 00:35:57,538 --> 00:36:01,914 BARRETT: My sister, Vivian, called me and said that, 689 00:36:01,997 --> 00:36:03,081 "We're coming by. 690 00:36:03,164 --> 00:36:06,622 And I don't want you to be surprised or shocked, 691 00:36:06,705 --> 00:36:09,872 but there's a lot changing. A lot." 692 00:36:10,747 --> 00:36:12,164 She said, um... 693 00:36:14,830 --> 00:36:16,497 "Jerry's changing." 694 00:36:20,039 --> 00:36:23,413 ♪ ( SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 695 00:36:23,497 --> 00:36:27,081 When they pulled up and Jerry got out, 696 00:36:27,164 --> 00:36:28,705 he looked like a man in drag, 697 00:36:28,789 --> 00:36:32,288 and I thought, "Okay, well, wow." 698 00:36:32,372 --> 00:36:36,372 (LAUGHING) "Quite a change. She was right." 699 00:36:36,455 --> 00:36:38,206 So I went out in the garage out there, 700 00:36:38,288 --> 00:36:39,872 and I said, "Jerry, I think I know 701 00:36:39,956 --> 00:36:42,330 why you want to become Elizabeth. 702 00:36:42,413 --> 00:36:44,538 Because you can hide." (CHUCKLES) 703 00:36:44,622 --> 00:36:46,956 And he said, "No." He said, "That's not it." 704 00:36:47,039 --> 00:36:52,455 He said, "I've always had this feeling that, um, 705 00:36:52,538 --> 00:36:55,206 I didn't belong in this body, and... 706 00:36:55,288 --> 00:36:59,872 I just thought that, uh, I should be a woman." 707 00:36:59,956 --> 00:37:01,122 (TAPE RECORDER CLICKS) 708 00:37:01,206 --> 00:37:04,247 CARMICHAEL: (ON TAPE) I know it's right for me. 709 00:37:04,330 --> 00:37:07,997 I used to go behind the bushes with my two female cousins 710 00:37:08,081 --> 00:37:09,872 and put their dresses on with them. 711 00:37:10,830 --> 00:37:12,956 (LAUGHTER) 712 00:37:13,039 --> 00:37:16,830 When I was 18 in Germany, I used to go to out-of-town taverns 713 00:37:16,914 --> 00:37:20,039 and walk back with my trousers off. 714 00:37:20,122 --> 00:37:25,081 It felt good. The wind made me feel like I was wearing a dress. 715 00:37:26,789 --> 00:37:27,830 (TAPE RECORDER CLICKS) 716 00:37:27,914 --> 00:37:30,413 BARRETT: And he says, "Liz is a good name." 717 00:37:30,497 --> 00:37:33,497 'Cause he-- he liked Elizabeth Taylor. 718 00:37:33,580 --> 00:37:38,538 He thought Elizabeth Taylor was the epitome of woman. 719 00:37:38,622 --> 00:37:40,705 She had jewelry, she had friends, 720 00:37:40,789 --> 00:37:42,538 and she had power. 721 00:37:42,622 --> 00:37:44,622 And he liked all those things. 722 00:37:46,288 --> 00:37:49,413 And that's where that came from, as far as I know. 723 00:37:50,497 --> 00:37:52,538 STRYKER: In previous decades, uh, 724 00:37:52,622 --> 00:37:56,705 it was often harder to transition as a young person. 725 00:37:56,789 --> 00:37:59,372 So it was not uncommon at all 726 00:37:59,455 --> 00:38:01,206 for people who had transgender feelings 727 00:38:01,288 --> 00:38:05,497 to not be able to figure out how to do what they wanted to do 728 00:38:05,580 --> 00:38:07,372 until they were older. 729 00:38:07,455 --> 00:38:09,081 How did you actually find somebody 730 00:38:09,164 --> 00:38:10,872 who would, like, give you hormones 731 00:38:10,956 --> 00:38:12,830 or perform surgery? 732 00:38:13,914 --> 00:38:16,330 That wasn't a well-known process. 733 00:38:16,413 --> 00:38:18,288 Like, how do you, like, actually do this? 734 00:38:18,372 --> 00:38:20,747 So it doesn't surprise me at all that Liz Carmichael 735 00:38:20,830 --> 00:38:22,372 didn't figure out how to transition 736 00:38:22,455 --> 00:38:24,164 until she was in her 40s. 737 00:38:25,747 --> 00:38:28,622 There was no... "Daddy disappeared, 738 00:38:28,705 --> 00:38:31,622 and all of a sudden, Liz was there." It wasn't that. 739 00:38:31,705 --> 00:38:35,872 It was a true transition that all of us were familiar with, 740 00:38:35,956 --> 00:38:38,538 and we were all part of. 741 00:38:38,622 --> 00:38:43,164 My father would lock himself in the bedroom, 742 00:38:43,247 --> 00:38:46,372 -and you could hear him talking. -I play tennis with my right... 743 00:38:46,455 --> 00:38:48,372 CANDI: He was talking into his tape recorder, 744 00:38:48,455 --> 00:38:49,747 practicing being a woman. 745 00:38:49,830 --> 00:38:52,705 Possibly, had I, uh, tried when I was younger... 746 00:38:52,789 --> 00:38:54,872 Because there wasn't all this money 747 00:38:54,956 --> 00:38:57,789 to go to specialty surgeons and so forth 748 00:38:57,872 --> 00:38:59,288 to start the transition, 749 00:38:59,372 --> 00:39:01,413 my father was self-transitioning, 750 00:39:01,497 --> 00:39:04,789 giving himself his own hormone injections. 751 00:39:04,872 --> 00:39:08,122 (WATER BUBBLING) 752 00:39:08,206 --> 00:39:10,830 In breeding fish, you learn 753 00:39:10,914 --> 00:39:13,288 that if you put certain hormones in the water, 754 00:39:13,372 --> 00:39:16,122 it would cause the fish to spawn. 755 00:39:16,206 --> 00:39:22,789 So Jerry would get hormones through veterinarians. 756 00:39:22,872 --> 00:39:26,122 STRYKER: There were a lot of barriers to accessing, uh, 757 00:39:26,206 --> 00:39:30,789 transition-related medical services before the 1990s. 758 00:39:30,872 --> 00:39:33,288 If you had children, you know, they might say, 759 00:39:33,372 --> 00:39:35,330 "Oh, you know, you're already a parent, 760 00:39:35,413 --> 00:39:37,039 and we can't do that to the children." 761 00:39:37,122 --> 00:39:39,372 If you were married, they might require you 762 00:39:39,455 --> 00:39:42,538 to be divorced before you could transition. 763 00:39:42,622 --> 00:39:46,747 Vivian was a pretty strong supporter. 764 00:39:46,830 --> 00:39:51,164 Vivian taught Jerry how to wear makeup, 765 00:39:51,247 --> 00:39:53,747 taught Jerry how to wear clothing. 766 00:39:54,956 --> 00:39:57,872 When Jerry was first trying to dress as a woman 767 00:39:57,956 --> 00:40:02,497 and going out into public, they'd go to a nightclub 768 00:40:02,580 --> 00:40:06,789 as just friends or sister-in-laws. 769 00:40:06,872 --> 00:40:09,956 And you've got to admire Vivian for doing that. 770 00:40:11,081 --> 00:40:14,039 STRYKER: It can be difficult for a trans person 771 00:40:14,122 --> 00:40:16,372 to visually reproduce 772 00:40:16,455 --> 00:40:20,914 what cisgender versions of manhood and womanhood look like 773 00:40:20,997 --> 00:40:22,830 after you're well into adulthood. 774 00:40:22,914 --> 00:40:27,956 You might be more visually perceivable as trans, 775 00:40:28,039 --> 00:40:29,914 which could then have consequences 776 00:40:29,997 --> 00:40:31,872 for how you're able to support yourself 777 00:40:31,956 --> 00:40:33,580 and how safe you are in public. 778 00:40:33,664 --> 00:40:35,455 ♪ (MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 779 00:40:35,538 --> 00:40:40,997 I remember going shopping and being a little nervous, 780 00:40:41,081 --> 00:40:43,206 and this was-- these were test runs-- 781 00:40:43,288 --> 00:40:46,538 and deliberately walking up and saying "Mommy, Mommy," 782 00:40:46,622 --> 00:40:49,206 so that people around wouldn't think it was-- 783 00:40:49,288 --> 00:40:50,789 something was fishy. 784 00:40:52,081 --> 00:40:53,497 "Mommy, Brian's hitting me! 785 00:40:53,580 --> 00:40:55,413 Make Brian stop! Mommy, Mommy!" 786 00:40:55,497 --> 00:40:57,664 You know, and doing it on purpose 787 00:40:57,747 --> 00:41:01,081 and it-- it helped, and it helped us, too, 788 00:41:01,164 --> 00:41:02,664 calling her "Mommy." 789 00:41:08,997 --> 00:41:11,997 BARRETT: I said, "Well, um, how do the kids feel about it?" 790 00:41:12,081 --> 00:41:14,455 And they said, "We've got two moms now. 791 00:41:14,538 --> 00:41:16,288 We have two mothers." 792 00:41:16,372 --> 00:41:18,914 He says, "And moms are the best." 793 00:41:18,997 --> 00:41:22,830 And that's what he said. Isn't that nice? 794 00:41:25,081 --> 00:41:27,413 CANDI: And we were all fine with it 795 00:41:27,497 --> 00:41:29,789 because she was a great mom. 796 00:41:31,622 --> 00:41:34,580 BARRETT: She was ahead of her time 797 00:41:34,664 --> 00:41:38,622 because she knew the pain if somebody was at a restaurant 798 00:41:38,705 --> 00:41:43,789 and they said something to her, making a snide remark or a joke, 799 00:41:43,872 --> 00:41:46,122 she would get up and go over, and she'd say, 800 00:41:46,206 --> 00:41:47,872 "You're very rude." 801 00:41:47,956 --> 00:41:50,956 Wasn't mean. "You're a very rude person." 802 00:41:51,039 --> 00:41:54,872 And she was big enough, probably, to intimidate 'em. 803 00:41:54,956 --> 00:41:56,247 (LAUGHS) 804 00:41:56,330 --> 00:41:58,372 But that's the way Liz was. 805 00:41:59,872 --> 00:42:06,164 Liz came to my house to stay with Vivian and the children. 806 00:42:06,247 --> 00:42:09,081 There was a gentleman there in the house 807 00:42:09,164 --> 00:42:11,705 that was watching Liz. 808 00:42:13,372 --> 00:42:17,497 And they carried on a little flirty conversation, 809 00:42:18,622 --> 00:42:22,122 and she immediately responded to that 810 00:42:22,206 --> 00:42:24,206 because it warmed her up. 811 00:42:25,580 --> 00:42:28,956 I said, "Do you know what? You're amazing." 812 00:42:29,039 --> 00:42:32,997 And that's what I told her. Truly amazing. 813 00:42:33,081 --> 00:42:34,914 ♪ (MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 814 00:42:34,997 --> 00:42:39,914 Once I accepted the fact that she was a woman... 815 00:42:43,622 --> 00:42:46,081 it started to make sense. 816 00:42:46,164 --> 00:42:50,914 Having a transgender person in our family, 817 00:42:50,997 --> 00:42:55,247 uh, it definitely did change my viewpoint and so forth 818 00:42:55,330 --> 00:42:58,789 because it became acceptable to me, 819 00:42:59,580 --> 00:43:01,538 because I understood them now. 820 00:43:01,622 --> 00:43:03,705 I understood from personal experience now 821 00:43:03,789 --> 00:43:04,872 what happened here. 822 00:43:04,956 --> 00:43:08,789 And here was my six-foot macho man, 823 00:43:08,872 --> 00:43:15,206 and now my six-foot... (LAUGHS) ...feminine woman. 824 00:43:15,288 --> 00:43:18,247 Yeah. I understand it. I get it. 825 00:43:18,330 --> 00:43:19,580 She's family. 826 00:43:23,747 --> 00:43:25,372 STRYKER: If you're not being the person 827 00:43:25,455 --> 00:43:27,288 that you understand yourself to be, 828 00:43:27,372 --> 00:43:31,622 you don't often follow that sort of normative life path. 829 00:43:33,164 --> 00:43:37,206 If you feel resentful that society is organized 830 00:43:37,288 --> 00:43:42,455 in a way that is, like, really not good for you as a person, 831 00:43:42,538 --> 00:43:46,914 if you feel that interacting with people and institutions 832 00:43:46,997 --> 00:43:49,413 and the public and the government, 833 00:43:49,497 --> 00:43:51,622 um, is something that, 834 00:43:51,705 --> 00:43:55,622 at every step, it invalidates who you are as a person, 835 00:43:55,705 --> 00:43:57,288 maybe you're resentful about that, 836 00:43:57,372 --> 00:43:59,747 and maybe you, you know, engage in more so-called, 837 00:43:59,830 --> 00:44:01,705 you know, "antisocial" behavior 838 00:44:01,789 --> 00:44:03,538 out of those unresolved feelings 839 00:44:03,622 --> 00:44:06,247 that are based on your, your transness. 840 00:44:06,330 --> 00:44:08,538 I have approached many numerous firms, 841 00:44:08,622 --> 00:44:12,039 asking them for any kind of work that they had to offer 842 00:44:12,122 --> 00:44:14,247 over a period of eight months. 843 00:44:14,330 --> 00:44:15,747 The same response, 844 00:44:15,830 --> 00:44:18,164 "We can't hire anybody of your caliber. 845 00:44:18,247 --> 00:44:20,747 We don't want any of your people working for us." 846 00:44:20,830 --> 00:44:24,164 So what else was I supposed to do when you get damn hungry? 847 00:44:24,247 --> 00:44:29,538 If you're living in any kind of non-normative gender role, 848 00:44:29,622 --> 00:44:30,956 you know, publicly, 849 00:44:31,039 --> 00:44:33,622 the employment discrimination, the housing discrimination, 850 00:44:33,705 --> 00:44:36,455 the kinds of police violence that gets directed at you, 851 00:44:36,538 --> 00:44:38,538 the criminalization of your life, 852 00:44:38,622 --> 00:44:40,705 the psychiatrization of your life, 853 00:44:40,789 --> 00:44:43,455 uh, it puts you in a very vulnerable 854 00:44:43,538 --> 00:44:44,664 and marginal position, 855 00:44:44,747 --> 00:44:47,747 where sometimes, like, your only options then, uh, 856 00:44:47,830 --> 00:44:50,206 are criminal ones because, you know, you wanna eat, 857 00:44:50,288 --> 00:44:51,622 you know, need a place to sleep, 858 00:44:51,705 --> 00:44:53,455 and how are you gonna get that money? 859 00:44:53,538 --> 00:44:54,914 If that's what's in front of you, 860 00:44:54,997 --> 00:44:56,664 like, that's what you do. 861 00:44:56,747 --> 00:44:59,413 ♪ (MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 862 00:45:00,538 --> 00:45:02,747 CANDI: Liz could not get a job 863 00:45:02,830 --> 00:45:05,081 for anyone, and this was-- she was freshly a woman, 864 00:45:05,164 --> 00:45:06,914 and not an attractive woman, 865 00:45:06,997 --> 00:45:09,247 and she just could not get a job. 866 00:45:10,872 --> 00:45:14,413 Sam Schlisman, my favorite person of all time. 867 00:45:14,497 --> 00:45:17,580 Old man Sam. Liz loved Sam. 868 00:45:19,580 --> 00:45:23,122 Sam gave her a job in real estate. 869 00:45:24,538 --> 00:45:27,664 Sam fixed her car so she could take customers 870 00:45:27,747 --> 00:45:30,288 out to see land and put a phone and-- 871 00:45:30,372 --> 00:45:32,705 a phone in her car! 872 00:45:32,789 --> 00:45:36,830 These things were outrageously expensive back then. 873 00:45:36,914 --> 00:45:38,122 That was Sam. 874 00:45:38,206 --> 00:45:41,872 And then she got a job at a marketing company. 875 00:45:41,956 --> 00:45:44,413 LOU LINDSTROM: Sam Schlisman and Liz Carmichael 876 00:45:44,497 --> 00:45:46,497 worked at USMI. 877 00:45:46,580 --> 00:45:48,247 (PHONES RINGING) 878 00:45:48,330 --> 00:45:52,997 It was a cutting-edge company involved in sales and marketing, 879 00:45:53,081 --> 00:45:54,372 uh, goods and services. 880 00:45:54,455 --> 00:45:56,705 Home inventors would come in with ideas, 881 00:45:56,789 --> 00:45:59,206 and this company was supposed to tell them all the things 882 00:45:59,288 --> 00:46:01,705 they needed to do, how to get your patents 883 00:46:01,789 --> 00:46:05,789 and how to go about marketing and getting investors. 884 00:46:05,872 --> 00:46:08,872 LINDSTROM: There were rumors about Liz at that time 885 00:46:08,956 --> 00:46:12,705 because her appearance, she was six feet two, 886 00:46:12,789 --> 00:46:17,872 two hundred and twenty pounds or whatever, a muscular person, 887 00:46:17,956 --> 00:46:19,455 well-groomed. 888 00:46:19,538 --> 00:46:23,122 She wore a lot of pancake makeup. 889 00:46:23,206 --> 00:46:25,455 That was the number one thing that I noticed. 890 00:46:25,538 --> 00:46:28,122 This thick pancake makeup all the time. 891 00:46:28,956 --> 00:46:31,081 CARMICHAEL: (ON TAPE) 892 00:46:37,413 --> 00:46:39,081 LINDSTROM: People were pretty professional, 893 00:46:39,164 --> 00:46:41,872 she was pretty professional, and she was, like, 894 00:46:41,956 --> 00:46:44,247 treated like one of the guys. 895 00:46:44,330 --> 00:46:47,830 She was, uh, a powerful salesperson. 896 00:46:47,914 --> 00:46:50,039 A company like this might hire a hundred people, 897 00:46:50,122 --> 00:46:51,872 and maybe one person would sell something 898 00:46:51,956 --> 00:46:53,830 and the other ninety-nine wouldn't. 899 00:46:53,914 --> 00:46:56,622 She was always one of those one out of a hundred people 900 00:46:56,705 --> 00:46:59,247 that could sell anything. 901 00:46:59,330 --> 00:47:02,997 Elizabeth Carmichael would never have gotten to see the Dale 902 00:47:03,081 --> 00:47:08,372 if she hadn't been working at her position at USMI. 903 00:47:08,455 --> 00:47:11,705 CANDI: One day, she came home, talking about this car, 904 00:47:11,789 --> 00:47:13,664 this three-wheeled car. 905 00:47:13,747 --> 00:47:15,580 And she showed us pictures of it. 906 00:47:17,330 --> 00:47:19,580 I'm looking at it, just thinking, 907 00:47:19,664 --> 00:47:20,830 "It's a dune buggy. 908 00:47:20,914 --> 00:47:22,789 No one's gonna drive this thing." 909 00:47:22,872 --> 00:47:24,705 But this was just going to be the answer 910 00:47:24,789 --> 00:47:26,538 to America's gas problem. 911 00:47:26,622 --> 00:47:29,122 -(MACHINE GUN FIRE) -(EXPLOSION) 912 00:47:29,206 --> 00:47:30,288 NEWS ANCHOR #3: Good evening. 913 00:47:30,372 --> 00:47:32,413 The Middle East War produced developments 914 00:47:32,497 --> 00:47:33,956 all over the world today. 915 00:47:34,039 --> 00:47:36,747 The oil-producing countries of the Arab world 916 00:47:36,830 --> 00:47:39,622 decided to use their oil as a political weapon. 917 00:47:39,705 --> 00:47:43,164 They will reduce oil production by five percent a month 918 00:47:43,247 --> 00:47:46,580 until the Israelis withdraw from occupied territories. 919 00:47:46,664 --> 00:47:48,789 REPORTER #2: Prices for Arab oils are going up, 920 00:47:48,872 --> 00:47:51,497 a huge increase voted in an overnight meeting 921 00:47:51,580 --> 00:47:53,789 without even consulting Western buyers. 922 00:47:53,872 --> 00:47:55,330 NEWS ANCHOR #4: By next summer, 923 00:47:55,413 --> 00:47:57,330 the shortage will be far more serious 924 00:47:57,413 --> 00:47:59,330 than it was this past summer. 925 00:47:59,413 --> 00:48:01,580 Why didn't they come out and tell us there was no gas? 926 00:48:01,664 --> 00:48:04,330 Gasoline shortages are spreading across the country. 927 00:48:04,413 --> 00:48:06,497 DRIVER: I've been here since 4:30 this morning. 928 00:48:06,580 --> 00:48:09,372 It's ridiculous, waiting on line here. 929 00:48:09,455 --> 00:48:11,247 REPORTER #3: What sort of things do people say to you 930 00:48:11,330 --> 00:48:13,413 when they come in to buy a car nowadays? 931 00:48:13,497 --> 00:48:15,664 Gas mileage, that's the number one topic. 932 00:48:15,747 --> 00:48:18,206 How many miles to a gallon would this get? 933 00:48:18,288 --> 00:48:20,664 CANDI: Well, in an era where cars were getting 934 00:48:20,747 --> 00:48:23,288 eight to twelve miles to the gallon, 935 00:48:23,372 --> 00:48:27,705 this car supposedly got 70 miles to the gallon. 936 00:48:30,206 --> 00:48:31,830 Hello again. Here we are 937 00:48:31,914 --> 00:48:34,789 with the most unique show in the United States. 938 00:48:34,872 --> 00:48:36,413 The name of it's What's the Big Idea? 939 00:48:36,497 --> 00:48:39,538 But our big ideas are really inventions. 940 00:48:39,622 --> 00:48:42,206 We have a very unusual inventor with us, 941 00:48:42,288 --> 00:48:43,580 a successful inventor. 942 00:48:43,664 --> 00:48:46,538 Dale Clifft, I welcome you to the Big Idea show. 943 00:48:46,622 --> 00:48:49,206 RICHARD SMITH: Dale liked to work on just about anything 944 00:48:49,288 --> 00:48:51,872 that would stir his imagination. 945 00:48:51,956 --> 00:48:55,206 His first love, I believe, was the two-stroke motor, 946 00:48:55,288 --> 00:48:58,413 and of course, that brought him to the motorcycles. 947 00:48:58,497 --> 00:49:02,580 He had a way of almost doubling their horsepower. 948 00:49:02,664 --> 00:49:05,872 He would ride his back and forth to work 949 00:49:05,956 --> 00:49:08,206 on quite a number of occasions, 950 00:49:08,288 --> 00:49:10,747 and it dawned on him that he couldn't ride it 951 00:49:10,830 --> 00:49:13,122 during the wintertime when it was raining. 952 00:49:13,206 --> 00:49:15,997 He started thinking about a way around that, 953 00:49:16,081 --> 00:49:18,081 and that wound up being the start 954 00:49:18,164 --> 00:49:20,372 of the Dale automobile. 955 00:49:20,455 --> 00:49:23,081 It was a vehicle that was welded together 956 00:49:23,164 --> 00:49:26,413 out of half-inch electrical conduit. 957 00:49:26,497 --> 00:49:28,747 He'd take the front wheel off his motorcycle 958 00:49:28,830 --> 00:49:31,789 and attach it to the back end of this vehicle, 959 00:49:31,872 --> 00:49:33,747 with two wheels on front, 960 00:49:33,830 --> 00:49:37,247 and that way, very quickly, he could use his motorcycle 961 00:49:37,330 --> 00:49:40,122 to power this vehicle. 962 00:49:40,206 --> 00:49:42,206 That really worked out quite well. 963 00:49:42,288 --> 00:49:45,497 My field is-- is energy and energy-related inventions. 964 00:49:45,580 --> 00:49:47,081 HOST: That's your background? 965 00:49:47,164 --> 00:49:49,372 That's the reason I gotta have one of your future Dale automobiles, 966 00:49:49,455 --> 00:49:50,538 is that 100 miles per gallon. 967 00:49:50,622 --> 00:49:52,372 I don't think we can quite do that on the Dale. 968 00:49:52,455 --> 00:49:54,914 -(CHUCKLING) -Seventy-five, maybe. 969 00:49:54,997 --> 00:49:57,455 SMITH: The Dale automobile became quite a hit 970 00:49:57,538 --> 00:49:59,247 locally around town, 971 00:49:59,330 --> 00:50:02,288 you know, because Dale drove it every chance that he got. 972 00:50:02,372 --> 00:50:07,247 So one evening, he and his wife went to a restaurant, 973 00:50:07,330 --> 00:50:09,538 and they were enjoying themselves dinner 974 00:50:09,622 --> 00:50:11,956 when a man approached them. 975 00:50:12,039 --> 00:50:16,622 He knew somebody who could actually produce the automobile. 976 00:50:16,705 --> 00:50:20,039 This particular person set up the meeting with Liz. 977 00:50:22,455 --> 00:50:24,164 LINDSTROM: If she had an appointment, 978 00:50:24,247 --> 00:50:26,081 you could depend on her being there. 979 00:50:27,206 --> 00:50:29,664 If Liz is there, the client walks in, 980 00:50:29,747 --> 00:50:32,247 the client might not walk out for five hours 981 00:50:32,330 --> 00:50:35,455 because Liz had a way of getting engaged with the clients 982 00:50:35,538 --> 00:50:38,081 and getting excited about their product. 983 00:50:38,164 --> 00:50:41,705 SMITH: After that meeting, Dale signed some contracts 984 00:50:41,789 --> 00:50:43,664 and that's where it all got started. 985 00:50:43,747 --> 00:50:45,956 CARMICHAEL: (ON TAPE) So I bought that car from Dale Clifft 986 00:50:46,039 --> 00:50:49,164 and kind of in honor of him, uh, I named it after him. 987 00:50:49,247 --> 00:50:52,206 But there's no connection. He doesn't work for the company. 988 00:50:52,288 --> 00:50:53,914 He walked in the door one day. 989 00:50:53,997 --> 00:50:56,330 And I said, "Hey, Dale, what do we name this damn car?" 990 00:50:56,413 --> 00:50:58,789 And then I said, "Hell, we'll name it the Dale." 991 00:51:01,413 --> 00:51:04,580 LINDSTROM: I think that's where Liz's genius was. 992 00:51:04,664 --> 00:51:06,997 She saw the importance of the moment, 993 00:51:07,081 --> 00:51:11,789 she jumped on it, and, uh, started running with this idea. 994 00:51:11,872 --> 00:51:13,664 That was the big deal, you know. 995 00:51:13,747 --> 00:51:15,664 Seventy miles to the gallon, really? 996 00:51:15,747 --> 00:51:17,580 This could end the gas crisis. 997 00:51:17,664 --> 00:51:21,081 CARMICHAEL: General Motors? I'll kick the shit out of them. 998 00:51:26,455 --> 00:51:27,580 (TAPE RECORDER CLICKS) 999 00:51:28,372 --> 00:51:30,538 CANDI: She started a company. 1000 00:51:30,622 --> 00:51:33,081 LINDSTROM: Twentieth Century Motor Car Company. 1001 00:51:33,164 --> 00:51:36,330 They rented offices on the first floor of our building. 1002 00:51:37,538 --> 00:51:39,330 CANDI: She brought Sam along, 1003 00:51:39,413 --> 00:51:42,206 and she would always bounce ideas off of Sam. 1004 00:51:42,288 --> 00:51:43,455 (TAPE RECORDER CLICKS) 1005 00:51:44,914 --> 00:51:47,122 CARMICHAEL: (ON TAPE) And the tests we wanted to make then 1006 00:51:47,206 --> 00:51:49,705 that we had never documented were stability tests, 1007 00:51:49,789 --> 00:51:50,830 what the car would do 1008 00:51:50,914 --> 00:51:54,247 when making all the turns at high speeds. 1009 00:51:54,330 --> 00:51:58,538 AD NARRATOR #2: The Dale is taking these turns at 55 miles per hour, 1010 00:51:58,622 --> 00:52:00,372 no sway, no tipping, 1011 00:52:00,455 --> 00:52:02,789 and no feeling of loss of control. 1012 00:52:07,497 --> 00:52:09,622 CANDI: To this day, I don't know how she did it. 1013 00:52:09,705 --> 00:52:13,039 I don't know how she came from this vinyl-coated, 1014 00:52:13,122 --> 00:52:18,580 tubed metal dune buggy into the gorgeous Dale. 1015 00:52:18,664 --> 00:52:21,622 It just seemed like last week, this was just a thought, 1016 00:52:21,705 --> 00:52:24,914 and now all of a sudden, it is a full-blown company 1017 00:52:24,997 --> 00:52:27,206 with an office on Ventura Boulevard. 1018 00:52:27,288 --> 00:52:30,081 For those not familiar with Ventura Boulevard, 1019 00:52:30,164 --> 00:52:32,497 this is the high-rent district. 1020 00:52:33,914 --> 00:52:37,747 I thought that this would change our lives. 1021 00:52:37,830 --> 00:52:41,914 There'd be no more sleeping in cars on the side of the road. 1022 00:52:41,997 --> 00:52:44,914 No more getting up in the middle of the night 1023 00:52:44,997 --> 00:52:46,122 to move to another town, 1024 00:52:46,206 --> 00:52:50,956 no more high-speed car chases on public roads. 1025 00:52:51,039 --> 00:52:53,288 I thought this was the beginning of a real life 1026 00:52:53,372 --> 00:52:55,830 where we could be a normal family, 1027 00:52:55,914 --> 00:52:57,538 because this was real. 1028 00:52:59,580 --> 00:53:02,664 But my secret self was wondering 1029 00:53:02,747 --> 00:53:04,580 when it was going to end, 1030 00:53:04,664 --> 00:53:06,830 when they were going to find out 1031 00:53:06,914 --> 00:53:09,622 that my mother was really my father 1032 00:53:09,705 --> 00:53:12,164 who was in trouble with the law. 1033 00:53:12,247 --> 00:53:16,455 ♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1034 00:53:16,538 --> 00:53:18,039 COLIN DANGAARD: This was an underdog. 1035 00:53:18,122 --> 00:53:19,956 LESLIE KENDALL: The Americans were ready for her. 1036 00:53:20,039 --> 00:53:22,455 GERRY MCGUINNESS: People were all putting in 50, 60 hours. 1037 00:53:22,538 --> 00:53:24,206 CARMICHAEL: My full intention and expectation 1038 00:53:24,288 --> 00:53:26,538 is to become the biggest automobile manufacturer 1039 00:53:26,622 --> 00:53:27,830 in the world. 1040 00:53:27,914 --> 00:53:29,747 DANGAARD: This was a woman who had everything against her. 1041 00:53:29,830 --> 00:53:31,372 GREG LEAS: I don't know if it's real or not. 1042 00:53:31,455 --> 00:53:33,664 One person ever looked under the hood? We did. 1043 00:53:33,747 --> 00:53:35,288 DENNIS SMITH: There were some bribes involved. 1044 00:53:35,372 --> 00:53:36,914 DICK CARLSON: State of California issued an order. 1045 00:53:36,997 --> 00:53:39,538 DENNIS: There was something off from the moment he met her. 1046 00:53:39,622 --> 00:53:42,497 NEWS ANCHOR #5: This woman was going to revolutionize the auto industry. 1047 00:53:42,580 --> 00:53:44,622 CARMICHAEL: We are at war with the big three. 1048 00:53:44,705 --> 00:53:46,789 CARLSON: Nobody had ever known this person. 1049 00:53:46,872 --> 00:53:47,914 So who the hell was she? 1050 00:53:47,997 --> 00:53:49,538 CARMICHAEL: Protecting our industrial secret. 1051 00:53:49,622 --> 00:53:52,413 LEAS: They were afraid of spies from the big three. It was scary. 1052 00:53:52,497 --> 00:53:53,914 MCGUINNESS: These were mobsters. 1053 00:53:53,997 --> 00:53:56,914 CARMICHAEL: It's a situation of David fighting Goliath. 1054 00:53:57,330 --> 00:53:58,580 (GUN SHOT) 1055 00:54:00,580 --> 00:54:02,664 ♪ ("TIP TOE TO THE GAS PUMPS" BY TINY TIM PLAYING) ♪ 1056 00:54:02,747 --> 00:54:06,664 ♪ Mr. Gasoline Man Please give me some gas ♪ 1057 00:54:06,747 --> 00:54:11,288 ♪ My tank is almost empty So fill it fast ♪ 1058 00:54:12,580 --> 00:54:17,206 ♪ If you will just fill her up I promise you this ♪ 1059 00:54:17,288 --> 00:54:22,664 ♪ I'll put a tulip in your hair And blow you a kiss ♪ 1060 00:54:22,747 --> 00:54:28,330 ♪ Let's tiptoe to the gas pump Fill her up ♪ 1061 00:54:28,413 --> 00:54:33,455 ♪ Give me all you've got 'Till I scream I've had enough ♪ 1062 00:54:33,538 --> 00:54:38,538 ♪ Everybody clap your hands And sing in harmony ♪ 1063 00:54:38,622 --> 00:54:42,622 ♪ Come tiptoe to the gas pump With me ♪ 1064 00:54:44,081 --> 00:54:48,997 ♪ Put a tiger in my tank Please don't delay ♪ 1065 00:54:49,081 --> 00:54:54,122 ♪ I've been waiting in this line Since early yesterday ♪ 1066 00:54:54,206 --> 00:54:59,872 ♪ So Mr. Gasoline Man Fill her to the brim ♪ 1067 00:54:59,956 --> 00:55:04,580 ♪ So I'll have enough gas To go through this line again ♪ 1068 00:55:04,664 --> 00:55:09,789 ♪ Let's tiptoe to the gas pumps With me ♪ 1069 00:55:16,997 --> 00:55:17,997 ELIZABETH CARMICHAEL: I'm going to fill one hell 1070 00:55:18,081 --> 00:55:20,122 of an important gap in the car market. 1071 00:55:21,622 --> 00:55:23,039 SPEAKER: It looked like a spaceship. 1072 00:55:23,705 --> 00:55:24,538 It sounded good. 1073 00:55:24,872 --> 00:55:26,330 SPEAKER: I couldn't believe that it was real. 1074 00:55:26,830 --> 00:55:28,122 CARMICHAEL: There are thousands of people 1075 00:55:28,206 --> 00:55:29,372 writing to cheer me on. 1076 00:55:29,455 --> 00:55:31,580 SPEAKER 2: People were flocking to make deposits. 1077 00:55:31,956 --> 00:55:34,372 SPEAKER 3: She had stacks of cash, 1078 00:55:34,455 --> 00:55:36,830 and next to it, a revolver. 1079 00:55:36,914 --> 00:55:37,580 (DINGS) 1080 00:55:38,122 --> 00:55:40,830 When you're in a pool of sharks, you're gonna get bit. 1081 00:55:41,372 --> 00:55:43,247 SPEAKER 4: Three guys walk in... 1082 00:55:43,830 --> 00:55:45,164 They're afraid of spies. 1083 00:55:45,830 --> 00:55:47,206 SPEAKER 4: Something is wrong. 1084 00:55:47,413 --> 00:55:48,747 SPEAKER 5: Who the hell was she?