Now *Here's* an Unusual Question

[Chris Snowden]

Well now, shouldn't we say "accused pedophile" when referring to Gus Meins, or was he ever found guilty of any charges? I sometimes wonder if he didn't commit suicide just because the accusations would have been enough to have ended his career as a Director of childrens comedies or anything else for that matter. I never heard any of the Our Gang members say anything weird about Gus Meins or his behavior around them.

No, Meins wasn't found guilty of any charges, but only because he killed himself almost immediately after posting bond. He'd been arrested on the complaints of the parents of six different boys (ages 10-15), who all said Meins had molested them in the basement workshop of his home.

We've heard that Meins was afraid his Germanic last name would get him railroaded into prison. That's nonsense. He left no note. His son remembered him only saying, as he rushed out of the house the night he returned from jail, "You probably won't see me again." There was no conferring with a lawyer; not even a word for his wife, who was hysterical after Meins promptly drove off in his coupe, never to be seen alive again.

None of this whispers "innocent man" to me, but... who knows.

[Richard M Roberts]

Well now, shouldn't we say "accused pedophile" when referring to Gus Meins, or was he ever found guilty of any charges? I sometimes wonder if he didn't commit suicide just because the accusations would have been enough to have ended his career as a Director of childrens comedies or anything else for that matter. I never heard any of the Our Gang members say anything weird about Gus Meins or his behavior around them.

No, Meins wasn't found guilty of any charges, but only because he killed himself almost immediately after posting bond. He'd been arrested on the complaints of the parents of six different boys (ages 10-15), who all said Meins had molested them in the basement workshop of his home.

We've heard that Meins was afraid his Germanic last name would get him railroaded into prison. That's nonsense. He left no note. His son remembered him only saying, as he rushed out of the house the night he returned from jail, "You probably won't see me again." There was no conferring with a lawyer; not even a word for his wife, who was hysterical after Meins promptly drove off in his coupe, never to be seen alive again.

None of this whispers "innocent man" to me, but... who knows.

Well, how did his Son feel about his Father's innocence or guilt?

RICHARD M ROBERTS

[Chris Snowden]

Well, how did his Son feel about his Father's innocence or guilt?

I wish I knew. The info I passed along in my previous post is just about all there is in Mein's entry from David K. Frasier's monumentally depressing encyclopedia Suicide in the Entertainment Industry (pages 217-218). Frazier doesn't name his sources for this entry, but he generally leans on Variety.

The Los Angeles Times didn't go into a whole lot of detail. There was just one article at the time of the body's discovery, and it mentioned nothing about a suicide note. There was one follow-up article a month later, and besides mentioning that Meins left an estate valued at just $2000, it did mention a suicide note, contradicting Frazier's source. I must correct what I wrote earlier, for this article says that Meins expressed the belief that he'd never get cleared of the molestation charges because of his Germanic name. This sounds like a dodge to me (we weren't even at war with Germany at this point, and none of the millions of German-Americans were being innocently railroaded into prison on phony child molestation charges), but others may feel differently. Clearly, Meins felt it was time to check out, and in a hurry.

Meins' son was 22 at the time.

[Joan Myers]

Well, how did his Son feel about his Father's innocence or guilt?

Meins' son was 22 at the time.

Without making any claims to knowing about Meins' guilt or innocence, I can say that it's unlikely Meins' family would have known about it. Sexual deviants are usually quite adept at concealing their behavior, especially from family members.

The accusation alone would have been sufficient to destroy his career, though, and I imagine his treatment by the authorities and the press (and his neighbors) was pretty darned rough. So even if he was innocent of the charges there was still good reason to be depressed.

Joan

[Chris Snowden]

The accusation alone would have been sufficient to destroy his career, though, and I imagine his treatment by the authorities and the press (and his neighbors) was pretty darned rough.

Well, who knows what did or didn't happen at the police station, but the charges don't seem to have brought any attention from the press at all, if the L.A. Times is any indication. The Times' very first report was of the discovery of Meins' body several days later; it hadn't reported the arrest. If the arrest didn't make the papers, the neighbors probably wouldn't have known anything.

Interestingly, Meins didn't claim any innocence to his wife. Apparently, he didn't even say good-bye to her. She was left in such hysterics over the charges, and his sudden, unexplained departure immediately afterward, that she had to be hospitalized. His body was discovered later.

[Bob Birchard]

I am certain that this "Paul Parrot, Paul Parrot" phrase has nothing to do with the silent comedian. As others have pointed out it most likely came from the Poll-Parrot show commercials of the 1950s in which a parrot on a perch would squawk "Poll-Parrot, Poll-Parrot!" Add that to the rhyning with the inquisitor's name and I think the mystery is solved--the mystery, that is, of the application of the phrase in the context asked about.

[Brent Walker]

On a similar note (and since Bob's joined on here he might know), I've also wondered about a phrase kids used to sing when they were on the teeter totter, "See saw, Marjorie Daw." It has the sound of something that's old and English of origin (without knowing), so did the actress Marjorie Daw (whose real last name is House) take her name from that, or did the phrase take its name from her?

[Bob Birchard]

The actress Marjorie Daw took her name from the old rhyme

[Ben Model]

glass advertising slide for Poll-Parrot (image was part of a set sold by Blackhawk):

[Joan Myers]

glass advertising slide for Poll-Parrot (image was part of a set sold by Blackhawk):

That is so '50s perfect! The little boy is indulging in "healthful play" and the little girl is standing on the sidelines watching.

Oh well, at least they weren't both wearing their Poll Parrot shoes to indulge in "healthful working in a factory six days a week, 16 hours per day."

Joan