"Beer is not a good cocktail party drink especially in a home where you don't know where the bathroom is?"
William was born March 29, 1937. He attended Emory University in Atlanta Georgia but never graduated. He seemed more comfortable working on his family's farm or at his filling station...and succeeded in leading an anonymous, red-neck lifestyle until 1976. He saw an opportunity to cash-in on his family name and ran for mayor of his hometown, Plains Georgia, (if you were living in the 70's or CAN read, you should have enough clues now, to solve this riddle).
Politics were not in William's future. Despite having one of the most famous brothers on the planet, he managed to lose the mayoral bid in his tiny town. What could possibly have gotten in his way? Mostly, William's own townspeople recognized that he wasn't experienced as a municipal leader. But even those who overlooked that shortcoming and chose to ignore the obvious nepotism...still couldn't help but see him for the beer guzzling, uncouth do-nothing lout that he was.
So where does somebody with those qualifications turn to capitalize on being our thirty-ninth president's kid-brother? William turned to the right "party"...the Pearl Brewing Company of San Antonio Texas. The brewery's publicity department played-off President Jimmy Carter's good name and made William into a household name...bordering on superstar.
William Alton Carter III, affectionately called "Billy," became the inspiration for and lead endorser of the product that bears his name...BILLY BEER !
BILLY CARTER'S COLORFUL GOOD 'OLE BOY IMAGE MADE HIM A NATURAL BEER SPOKESPERSON.
Billy Beer may have vanished from store shelves but Billy Carter was still in the national spotlight AND was not done embarrassing himself or his brother. During 1978, he was involved in what later became known as "BILLYGATE." At a time when the United States had strained relations with Libya, Billy visited there three times. He registered himself as a U. S. foreign agent of Libya and received a $220,000.00 loan. In 1979, these dealings led to a senate hearing and allegations of influence pedaling.
Billy's life was spiraling out of control in the eighties. He became a punchline for political jokes and his name was frequently used in gag answers for the TV game show, "MATCH GAME." Soon he was pressured by the IRS to pay back taxes and was forced to sell his house.
William Alton "Billy" Carter III was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1988. He accepted treatment but died September 25th of that year. He was fifty-one.
Other recent presidents have had family liabilities like; Barack Obama's half-brother was arrested January 31, 2009 in Nairobi Kenya for possession of cannabis. And Bill Clinton's half-brother was arrested for selling cocaine and was later involved in brokering presidential pardons.
Those guys could never compete with Billy Carter's outlandish behavior. But over time, Billy couldn't continue to outdo his own hi-jinx and became a characterization of himself. His oddness was so expected that it became mundane and soon he was so irrelevant...even the paparazzi stopped following him. Perhaps he was just ahead of his time. If he was around today, he'd probably find fame and fortune with Larry the Cable-Guy on the "BLUE COLLAR COMEDY TOUR."
BILLY CARTER IN HIS PRIME; IF YOU SQUINT, YOU CAN MAKE OUT THE SIGNS THAT LEAD TO THEIR BATHROOM !I hope you haven't been hording Billy Beer for the last thirty years. Because those of you who expected to cash-in on the novelty and nostalgia of Billy Carter's name...should go check-out the Billy Beer prices on EBAY.
Funny how Billy Carter can take he starch out of President's Day.
No comments:
Post a Comment