Gypsy Boots, known to several generations of Southern Californians as a fig-chomping, garlic-gobbling health food enthusiast who carried his playful message about wholesome eating to football half-time shows and farmers’ markets, died of natural causes Sunday in Camarillo.
He was believed to be 89, his son, Daniel Bootzin, said Monday. But Mr. Boots, who was born Robert Bootzin, probably would have added a few more years. When he celebrated his birthday three years ago, he claimed to be 91.
His family viewed the discrepancy as a mild exaggeration that Mr. Boots, the self-described Ageless Athlete, believed “helped his case” that a healthful diet promoted longevity, Daniel Bootzin said.
In his 60s, Mr. Boots could throw a football farther than many men half his age. In his 70s, he had groupies–a band of young fitness-conscious women called the Nature Girls.
In his 80s, he was still a joyful non-conformist, ringing his signature cowbell from the sidelines at University of Southern California football games in an outlandish outfit topped with a cardboard crown and chanting his mantra: “Don’t panic, go organic; get in cahoots with Gypsy Boots.”
A longtime Hollywood resident who moved to Camarillo about 15 years ago, Mr. Boots lectured and entertained at health shows. He was a regular at Lakers, Raiders and Dodgers games, where he waved signs, devoured bananas and pranced with his Nature Girls.
Mr. Boots married Lois Bloemker, a conservative, academic woman from Ft. Wayne, Ind., in 1958 and started a family in Los Angeles. They were divorced about five years ago.
In 1962, Mr. Boots became a regular guest on “The Steve Allen Show,” rubbing elbows with stars such as Gene Kelly, Dean Martin and Marlon Brando. He made his entrance in a loincloth, swinging on a vine. Then he would dispense his philosophy, talk Allen into milking a goat on stage or whip up an organic brew.
Mr. Boots also wrote a book called “Bare Feet and Good Things to Eat,” had a band called Gypsy Boots and the Hairy Hoots, and played bit parts in movies.
