Brian
Thank you very much for trying to reach these people. I happen to be friends with June Lockhart, and she suggested that I look Paul Frees up in biographies. I did so in google, and came up with pictures of Paul at both a young age and older. As a young man, I could not see that he resembled the Frees family at all. The picture of him being older amazed me….he looked a lot like my Father at about the same age. How sorry to hear that he was not close to his children, but that seems to be a family trait that has hung on over several generations. Somewhere it stated that his normal voice was different in person than either in the movies or recordings. I am wondering if it was “higher pitched” than that deep voice he used in “War of the Worlds”…much higher?
I visited with an Aunt of mine recently in Indiana, and her daughter was saying that her Father “Uncle Fred Frees” use to tell stories to his Grandchildren using other voices that were deep and scary. I had a chance to meet Uncle Frees 3 years ago, and his voice was very high pitched…enough over 2 hours to drive you up a wall…he would have been 101 on April 18, if he would have lived. Living long in my family seems to be a norm….two Aunts that were both Frees’s lived till 102, and 100. It seems that Paul didn’t have the same luck and died of a heart attack in what 1985?
My Grandfather on my Fathers side would have been the brother most likely of Paul’s Father. Unfortunately, I do not know the name of his Father “My Great Uncle” if this is all true. Can you tell me if his son has Paul’s last name? My Grandfather Frees, “John Frees” which might be Paul’s Fathers brother….married…had 7 children…was a sharp shooter for Buffalo Bill’s Old West Show…and moved in 1911 to this area of Michigan…bought a farm and raised certified seed potatoes for the State of Michigan.
Well…I am sure that I have bored you to death on this Paul Frees subject. If you come across any information that might verify that he was my cousin….please send it on to me. Please take care and thank you for spending time on my behalf for this search.
Thank you very much…Mr. Kim J. Frees
Not at all; I’m not bored. Well I have a recording of Paul’s natural voice. His letter to me was a taped letter. I can’t say that his normal voice was higher pitched than his narrative voice. It was a bit more gravelier, and not as crisp and clean. But other than that, you could pretty much tell that it was Paul Frees.
I’m pretty sure that Paul’s son has his surname. He has a niece, who has his surname, and she currently belongs to a Paul Frees yahoo group, that Ben Ohmart started. For the record, Paul’s birth name was Solomon Hersh Frees.
I believe you’re right about Paul’s cause of death. I think he died in 1986 however.
Brian