One of the famed names readers often write me about is our local notable Evelyn LaHaie of Hobart.
This Gary musical claim to fame was the branding idea of coining the name “the Jackson Five” after she met Joe Jackson on Aug. 4, 1965, and his singing sons, including then-6-year-old Michael.
She also spent decades as a leader for the Miss U.S.A. pageant circuit.
For example, earlier this year I received the following note in response to a column that referenced LaHaie: “Hi Philip Potempa: I recently read your column featuring Evelyn LaHaie. What an incredible story and legacy. Thank you for highlighting her impact. My name is JScot Reid and I serve as the state director for the MISS INDIANA USA® and MISS INDIANA TEEN USA® pageants. As we approach the 75th anniversary of the MISS USA® organization, I’ve been reflecting on the history and individuals who helped shape it — including Evelyn. I have long admired her work and contributions, and I would sincerely value the opportunity to connect with her. My goal would be to meet with Evelyn (alongside our current Miss Indiana USA and potentially a former MISS USA titleholder) to learn from her experiences, preserve stories from that era, and explore whether she might have any photos or memorabilia we could help digitize as part of honoring this milestone year. Given your recent connection with her, I wanted to respectfully ask if you might be willing to facilitate an introduction or point me in the right direction. I appreciate your time and consideration—and again, thank you for sharing her story. Warm regards, JScot Reid, Executive State Director MISS INDIANA USA® • MISS INDIANA TEEN USA®”
As so many readers already know, for decades, LaHaie ran her Evelyn School of Charm and Modeling from the ballroom of the Hotel Gary in Gary and helped give many young talents their start in the spotlight. It was LaHaie who booked the Jacksons, just as they were launching their singing group career, to perform at her agency’s fashion show at The Big Top department store in Gary. (Originally, Joe Jackson wanted to brand the song and dance move siblings as “The Jackson Brothers.)
LaHaie keeps in contact with me regularly and calls me with her “scoops.” She said in the 1960s and 1970s, she made the same phone calls to Blaine Marz, the Gary Post-Tribune entertainment reporter who wrote the “On the Go” newspaper column.
However, a telephone call I received from LaHaie this week clearly had her very upset.
As is so well documented, even the late Michael Jackson’s 1988 autobiography titled “Moonwalk” acknowledged LaHaie’s naming contribution to his brotherly musical group. However, today, it seems some of the Jackson brothers have forgotten Evelyn LaHaie’s footnote to fame.
“I’ve been getting calls and letters, including from reporters, checking to see if I’m dead,” LaHaie lamented to me earlier this week.
“Apparently Marlon Jackson gave a recent interview and mentioned I had died, and it has been passed around on the internet. I’m hoping you can set the record straight. I’m alive and well.”
LaHaie, for the record, just celebrated her 94th birthday on April 9 with her family.
I attempted to calm her jangled nerves with a similar yarn that once snared the late great Bob Hope back in 1998, long before the internet grapevine, when Republican Rep. Bob Stump of Arizona addressed the House floor of his peers on June 6, 1998, delivering what he referred to as “the sad news that Bob Hope has died.”
This, of course, came as a great shock to Hope’s manager after the Associated Press had a breaking news alert and wanted to confirm the comedian’s demise. This was news that was an even greater shock to Bob and his wife Dolores, when told of the news announcement as they ate their breakfast at their home in Palm Springs. (Turns out the AP had prematurely released Hope’s pre-written obit, which, had Rep. Stump read more closely, included an XX in the sentence where Hope’s age should have been relayed.)
Bob Hope lived to be 100 before he died in 2003, and wife Dolores followed in 2011 at age 102.
After some research for LaHaie, I discovered the interview clip that is causing so much confusion.
An April 26 segment of the Warner Bros. syndicated entertainment show “Extra” includes a red-carpet interview at the Los Angeles premiere of “Michael,” in which brothers Marlon and Jackie Jackson are the duo to deliver the gaffe to reporter Derek Hough, also of “Dancing with the Stars” notoriety.
Marlon begins relaying to Hough the story of how the Jackson 5 got their name, explaining: “We were playing in Gary, Indiana, at a retirement home and this elderly Caucasian lady came to us and said, ‘What’s the name of your group?’ and we said, ‘We don’t have a name.’ And she said, ‘Well, you’re brothers, right? And your last name is Jackson? And there’s five of you, right? Call yourselves the Jackson 5.’ So we did.”
Jackie follows up with: “A lot of people don’t know that. But that’s how we got our name.”
This inspires Hough to ask: “Wait! Do we know where this woman is?”
In unison, both brothers respond into the microphone with: “No! No! We don’t.”
Hough retorts: “So it was just this random angel that bestowed on you the name of the Jackson 5?”
Marlon replies: “Yep, she’s up there with the Lord right now saying: ‘Yep, that’s me!”
The interview clip can be viewed on social media at www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1522295792857310.
As LaHaie has explained in the past, as a talent booker, she would book her fashion events and hire local music talent for a variety of events, such as department stores, retirement home charity events and local variety shows.
Of the 277 comments left by Facebook users weighing in on the topic discussed in the 35-second clip, most found Hough’s question about the mysterious woman’s whereabouts today “a ridiculous question,” reasoning that if she were “an elderly woman in a retirement home in the 1960s, she would have to be at least 140 years old today!”
Despite all the recent rumors circulating on social media, LaHaie is only repeating the famous quote by humorist Mark Twain: “Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated.”
Philip Potempa is a journalist, published author and radio show host on WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at PhilPotempa@gmail.com.
