# Gram Parson's Mysterious Death **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 29, 2012, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gram-parsons-mysterious-death/645467 "2012-12-29T08:08:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![richelieu\_jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@richelieu\_jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/richelieu_jr)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gram-parsons-mysterious-death/645467/1 "2012-12-29T08:08:41Z")
Something has driven me crazy for years about this story, any tie I would see it in the press, etc… Is the ‘Phil Kauffman’ involved n the whole body-stealing, etc, the same as the guy who later directed The Right Stuff, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Henry and June, etc…? Can someone light my lantern, please? * * * LINK TO COLUMN: [What’s up with the strange end of country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1062/whats-up-with-the-strange-end-of-country-rock-pioneer-gram-parsons) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gram-parsons-mysterious-death/645467/2 "2012-12-29T13:20:19Z")
Unlikely. By the time of Parsons’ death in 1973, Kaufman (the director) had already directed three motion pictures, including _The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid._ He would not have been anyone’s road manager at the time of Parsons’ death. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gram-parsons-mysterious-death/645467/3 "2012-12-29T15:32:24Z")
Also Kaufman the road manager continued in that profession–he worked for Frank Zappa later in the '70s. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gram-parsons-mysterious-death/645467/4 "2012-12-29T20:57:09Z")
[What’s up with the strange end of country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1062/whats-up-with-the-strange-end-of-country-rock-pioneer-gram-parsons) ---
**Author:** ![richelieu\_jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@richelieu\_jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/richelieu_jr)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gram-parsons-mysterious-death/645467/5 "2012-12-30T01:27:21Z")
Thanks guys… Good, persuasive answers… ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gram-parsons-mysterious-death/645467/6 "2012-12-30T14:05:48Z")
Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards, **richelieu jr** , we’re glad you’re here. For future ref, when you start a thread, it’s helpful to other readers to provide a link to the column in question. Saves search time and ensures (or tries to ensure) that we’re all on the same page. No biggie, you’ll know for next time; **John W. Kennedy** has provided it, and I’ve edited it into your intial post. ---
**Author:** ![thineownself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/45deac/32.png) [@thineownself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thineownself)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gram-parsons-mysterious-death/645467/7 "2013-01-04T18:26:01Z")
Wasn’t there an even weirder element to the story: That his friends finding him unresponsive put ice cubes in his rectum (some druggie wives tale of reviving someone who took too much heroin), THEN went off to grab some dinner.