Ernie Kovacs: Encyclopedia II - Ernie Kovacs - Death

Ernie Kovacs - Death

Kovacs died in a car accident in Los Angeles. He was driving a Corvair station wagon, a make of car later assailed as "unsafe at any speed" by Ralph Nader. During a rare Southern California rainstorm, he lost control of the car while making a turn, and crashed into a power pole. Kovacs was thrown halfway out the passenger door, killed almost instantly--his chest and head taking fatal injuries. Newsmen on the scene moments later put a full photograph of his dead body across front pages all over the United States. At the time of his death, he owed the IRS several hundred thousand dollars in back taxes. Kovacs had always felt the tax system was unfair, and had simply refused to pay, resulting in the eventual garnishment of up to 90% of his wages. Edie Adams eventually paid off the taxes herself, refusing help from their celebrity friends. Kovacs is buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. His epitaph reads "Nothing in moderation-We all loved him".

Kovacs' daughter with Edie Adams, Mia Susan, was killed in 1982, also in an automobile accident (off Mullholland Drive). His daughter Kippie died in 2001, after a lingering illness and an adult lifetime of poor health, largely due to addiction. She is buried next to her father and younger half sister. Ernie has one grandchild, Keigh, the daughter of Kippie and screenwriter Bill Lancaster (deceased), the son of actor Burt Lancaster. Kovacs' oldest daughter Elizabeth was alive doing well as of 2006.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Death", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki