In May, just before Mother’s Day, we presented a list of bad moms (Anna Karenina, Peggy Bundy, Joan Crawford, etc). To be fair, the Tempo Subcommittee on Problematic Parenting compiled this list of lousy dads, just in time for Sunday’s holiday.
Cronus
One of the Titans in Greek mythology, he swallowed his newborns to make sure they wouldn’t steal his thunder. But eventually son Zeus defeated him, forcing pops to disgorge the other siblings.
Bing Crosby
Seemingly the ideal father of seven. But then son Gary wrote a tell-all biography, “Going My Own Way,” describing his father as methodically cruel and abusive.
Marvin Gaye Sr.
Shot his son, soul singer Marvin Gaye Jr., on the day before the vocalist’s 45th birthday.
The grizzly bear
The National Wildlife Federation nominates the grizzly as “Worst Dad.” Male grizzlies will eat their (or anyone else’s) young, assuming they can get past the extremely protective mothers.
Prince Vassily Kuragin
Other literary parents (see Shakespeare’s “Titus Andronicus”) make terrible mistakes in times of extreme hardship, but the pinnacle of bad parenting in Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” makes his in times of comfort and plenty, producing children who are depraved, deluded and, in the case of the lovely but heartless Ellen, quite possibly both.
Bull Meechum
“The Great Santini,” a manically abusive Marine colonel father of four, inspired by author Pat Conroy’s own dad.
Archie Bunker
Lazy, bigoted, misogynistic and never had a kind word for his son-in-law.
Darth Vader
Master of the Dark Side, scourge of the Jedi, and a really lousy role model for young Luke.
