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Re: Skip Stephenson - accurate facts
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High Hopes
Jun 3, 2023, 5:21:53 AM6/3/23
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Skip Stephenson was my friend and client. He died of a heart attack on May 18, 1996. I had been on the phone with him earlier in the day. He was survived by two children with his wife, Janice, whom he had met while she was an officer at his bank in LA. (Despite some rumors, Skip Stephenson was not gay, he did not have AIDS, and he did not have cancer.)
Skip performed as a stand-up comic after 'Real People' was cancelled, but struggled with drug abuse and floundered in his career. He was a 'Nebraska boy' and had always dreamed of being a country singer and songwriter. He didn't have a great singing voice, but my Nashville production company put out a two-album set for him - a comedy album called 'My Dog Thinks I'm Funny' and a country album called 'Drifter on the Night' that mostly featured songs that Skip had written. The comedy album was excellent and very popular, but the country album was not well received - for obvious reasons. The double album set is now a collector's item and the rare ones found sell for hundreds of dollars.
Skip was a part of the Hollywood drug culture in the '80's before the risks and dangers were as well known as they are now, but he had been completely clean for several years before his death. In spite of 'getting clean', it's probably safe to assume that his years of drug use contributed to his developing a weak heart.
He had a heart of gold and would give someone in need the shirt off his back. On one occasion I recall, he sent a low-income TN family with 12 children to Disney World so the kids could have that experience. He could be difficult sometimes, but those were brief moments among many very pleasant ones.
On the day he died, he and I had talked by phone for over an hour. During that conversation he said, "I've probably lived about half my life at this point. I'm going to do a better job with the second half of it." About four hours later, he was found dead by police after neither his wife (from whom he was separated) nor I were able to reach him, and had police do a welfare check at his home.
Skip was late for everything. Always. In all the years I knew him, I don't believe we was ever on time once. He knew that about himself. Fittingly, his self-deprecating humor will live on forever because engraved on his headstone in Omaha, Nebraska - at his request, is:
"Skip"
Charles F. Stephenson
Apr. 18, 1940 - May 18, 1992
Procrastination ends here.
.........
Fans will also remember Skip's dog 'Hobo', from the Real People show. The cast found 'Hobo' while out on the road shooting episodes and he became a popular 'member' of the cast.
Skip performed as a stand-up comic after 'Real People' was cancelled, but struggled with drug abuse and floundered in his career. He was a 'Nebraska boy' and had always dreamed of being a country singer and songwriter. He didn't have a great singing voice, but my Nashville production company put out a two-album set for him - a comedy album called 'My Dog Thinks I'm Funny' and a country album called 'Drifter on the Night' that mostly featured songs that Skip had written. The comedy album was excellent and very popular, but the country album was not well received - for obvious reasons. The double album set is now a collector's item and the rare ones found sell for hundreds of dollars.
Skip was a part of the Hollywood drug culture in the '80's before the risks and dangers were as well known as they are now, but he had been completely clean for several years before his death. In spite of 'getting clean', it's probably safe to assume that his years of drug use contributed to his developing a weak heart.
He had a heart of gold and would give someone in need the shirt off his back. On one occasion I recall, he sent a low-income TN family with 12 children to Disney World so the kids could have that experience. He could be difficult sometimes, but those were brief moments among many very pleasant ones.
On the day he died, he and I had talked by phone for over an hour. During that conversation he said, "I've probably lived about half my life at this point. I'm going to do a better job with the second half of it." About four hours later, he was found dead by police after neither his wife (from whom he was separated) nor I were able to reach him, and had police do a welfare check at his home.
Skip was late for everything. Always. In all the years I knew him, I don't believe we was ever on time once. He knew that about himself. Fittingly, his self-deprecating humor will live on forever because engraved on his headstone in Omaha, Nebraska - at his request, is:
"Skip"
Charles F. Stephenson
Apr. 18, 1940 - May 18, 1992
Procrastination ends here.
.........
Fans will also remember Skip's dog 'Hobo', from the Real People show. The cast found 'Hobo' while out on the road shooting episodes and he became a popular 'member' of the cast.
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