December 14, 2022 • 29 mins
After struggling in Hollywood, Dean is a surprise hit in South America-even more popular there than Elvis. But he experiences a political awakening that brings him and his new wife Patti unwelcome attention.
Red Elvis is a co-production of iHeart Podcasts and School of Humans and is part of the Curiosity Audio Network. It's based on the Curiosity Stream documentary Red Elvis: The Cold War Cowboy. Check out the doc at https://curiositystream.com
Got tips, questions or comments? Email RedElvisPodcast@gmail.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
My mother and Papa got married in nineteen sixty four
and moved to Argentina that fall. Papa's music had cut
on down there and he was given a lot of
creative opportunities. He hosted a radio show on Thursday nights,
taped an hour long TV drama on Fridays, and on
Saturday's or maybe it was Sunday's, he hosted a music
show for teenagers. He was busy. This was a beautiful
(00:41):
time for them, living in a cozy, two story villa
on the outskirts of Buenos Ada's, going to fabulous parties,
trying to start a family. My mom loved it, and
Papa's career was thriving, but the political situation was tense.
Political turmoil continues in the Argentine and the wake of
(01:02):
the removal of President doctur Or front Dz by the military.
The country was an upheaval six presidents over the past
nine years, and the Americans and Russians were both trying
to gain influence. Meanwhile, there's a military rule in Argentina,
the tropes in full battle rest patrolling the streets. A
major hemispheric democracy is including the United States, have expressed
(01:22):
concern over the military coop. My mom would have preferred
to stay out of the political scene, but then Papa
did an interview on his TV show with a Russian
cosmonaut named Valentina Turashkova. Serviet womanhood got its biggest boost
ever one day in June n when Valentina Tereshkova became
(01:43):
the first woman astronaut. My father's interview was broadcasted across
the country. Soon after, Argentine Lye showed up at their
front door. The agents wanted Papa to confess to being
paid off by the Soviets, to say that the interview
was actually a propaganda stunt, but he wasn't paid off,
(02:05):
and Papa laughed them away, confident they were just scare tactics.
My mom, she wasn't so sure. Papa continued to be
really busy with his work and my mom was always
trying to keep the romance alive. One evening, my mom
(02:29):
made up a spare bedroom like a love den, flowers, candles, strawberries.
Papa came home from a long day at work when
all of a sudden, shots tore through their real bedroom.
(02:50):
The gunfire lasted a while. If they hadn't been in
that spare bedroom. They might have been dead. Mom and
Papa called the police, but no one came until the
next day. And even then a single policeman showed up
on a bicycle and did nothing. Someone had put out
a hit on them. Their lives were at risk. And
(03:14):
I think that's when my mom realized they were in
the middle of a heated battle, a battle between political
factions in Argentina, a battle between two superpowers, really a
cold war battle between the U S and the U
S SR. Love your brother, but hate your I'm Ramona
(03:41):
Reen and this is red Elvis. Are you so think
that peace and love would just say? Hey, did I
learn the life is not only a gay age? Each
man must fight and fight a game and never, never,
never let your life just flow away. Eight Let your
(04:03):
life have value every day? Episode two, our summer romance,
Let's go back in time. It's nine sixty before Argentina.
Papa's in Hollywood. He'd gotten a deal with Capitol Records
and had released a few singles, but he was not happy.
(04:27):
His own manager sold his contract to a syndicate that function,
in his words, like a mafia. He thought Hollywood was
a machine that only cared about one thing money, But
then the record company started actually seeing some money from
his record sales to Night the Cold in Dreams at
You All Hold and Papa's song Our Summer Romance had
(04:51):
climbed the charts in Chile. Hole showed he was more
popular in the country than Elvis Presley, I think that time,
so the record company sent him on a forty day
tour to Chile, Brazil, Peru, and Argentina. It was a
huge surprise that this song was such a big hit
(05:12):
in South America. I think they knew that it was
doing well when they sent him down there, but they
didn't know how well it was doing. This is my
papose friend Neil Jacobs. They didn't know he's going to
get this overwhelming response. I mean, he just was mobbed
all the time. This was his big moment, I think,
and he sees it. He did not back off, and
(05:34):
the people adopted him as their American idol, their American superstar.
It was like really like absolute pandemonium and chaos. It
was like Beatlemania, but two years before Beatlemania. This is
my cousin Jim Reid. This tour of South America was
I think it was pretty grueling for him because he
(05:55):
not only was performance concerts and doing his rehearsing and
doing all the things that are normal music star would do,
but then afterwards he would put countless hours into meeting
with people, writing letters, making personal connections with people, and
he had to learn the language. He immersed himself in
the culture, and I think that endeared him to the
people even more. Papa loved the adoration and attention, but
(06:18):
I think he also fell in love with the way
of life. Here's Papa talking about it in a radio interview.
Usually Americans and Europeans thing that you have to sing
only if you have a good vocal chords. And I
learned in South America everybody sings because they've learned that
you don't sing from your throat, you sing from your heart.
So I think at this point in Dean's career, he's
just been a few years gone from strumming his guitar
(06:41):
and maybe writing a love song for a high school sweetheart,
to performing his music in front of thousands of fans,
being an international star, and he's in his early twenties
the time. We're naturally developing quite a bit of confidence
as young man. I can imagine that nothing seemed impossible
to him at that point nineteen six and nineteen sixty two.
(07:03):
I was the most famous singer of South America at
that time, the rock and roll singer of South America,
and should I had a fifty eight man police guard
to walk through the streets, about the same as Elvis
personally had in North America. I was in South America.
But even though he had thousands of adoring fans at
his shows, the more he looked around, the more he
realized Americans weren't loved by everyone. In Santiago, Dean started
(07:28):
to notice that there was Yankee go home sentiment and
it was scrawled on walls and in the in the slums,
and he was surprised. My mom Patricia. Everyone called her Patty,
(07:55):
Papa called her Kitten. She was an actress, passionate, spontaneous.
She was tall, blonde haired, blue eyed, a beauty queen
who had in in the running from Miss Universe nineteen
fifty five. Not to brag, but she was a master
of charming people. She dated all the hot bachelor's at
(08:16):
the time, rock and roll star Ricky Nelson, big band
leader Les Brown, senior TV star Hugh O'Brien, she had
the look. In nineteen sixty three, my mother was in
l A to do a cigarette commercial. She was in
a meeting at the Milton Deutsche ad agency wearing a
cute little mini skirt and a tight top. When Dean
(08:37):
Read walked in, they locked eyes. Papa was instantly smitten
my mom. She paid him no mind. He was just
another pretty face in Hollywood, even though down in South
America where we met him, he was the number one
singing star. I'm sure that most of you folks in
this country haven't really heard of him as yet. He's
(08:59):
going to be equally as big here, I'm sure, Mr
Dean Read. How about? Papa was still working hard to
build his career in the US, doing TV interviews and appearances.
He dropped off some headshots at the agency and left
without saying more than hello to my mom. But Papa
was a persistent guy. He got her number from his agent.
(09:22):
Look this is at a time when agents gave out
numbers that would never happen today. And then he called
her that night. They talked for two to three hours.
A few days later, they went to a party at
Roger Smith and Victoria's Shaw's Hollywood home, and three days
after that she moved into his cottage. They called it
(09:45):
the Treehouse because a huge oak tree hung over the patio.
It was dreamy. They'd be married within six months. Down
in Mexico while they were filming a movie, Papa had
to fly back to California almost right away. I found
this letter he wrote to her not long after the wedding.
(10:06):
My dearest Patty, my wife. The moon is full here.
I haven't really had time to sleep since I've been back.
We practice every night between seven thirty and twelve thirty.
Then every day is running around meeting. I'm so excited
about many things. First, the most important publishing company is
publishing our song for Long, Pretty Little Good? Who do?
(10:39):
They have assured me that Harry Bellefonte and Joan Bayez
will have it within two weeks. Ah. Remember the letter
which was sent to me about the nationwide publicity campaign. Well,
I talked with the people yesterday and we will have
dinner with them Sunday. If we get the deal, we
will have no more financial worries for quite some time.
(11:02):
Keep your fingers crossed and think only good thoughts. Go
to the mall. I will arrive at five thirty Thursday mornings.
So I won't get you out of bed to meet me.
Just be sure that the bed is warm for me
when I arrive. God, I miss you, and I hope
you missed me even more, so I will try to
make you happy. Mrs Reed. I promise good night, my
(11:23):
wife and my love Dino. I've got gold in the mall.
So that nationwide publicity campaign, as far as I can tell,
(11:46):
never materialized. But what started as Papa chasing a dream
of stardom became something a little different. Papa had a
political awakening. Here's Victor Grossman, a friend of his, talking
about Papa's first tour in South America. Dean saw the
(12:09):
contradiction between signs saying Yankee go home and shouts of
Yankee go home and celebration of himself as an American.
He wrote some words about that which are very interesting.
Yankee go Home. It was a cry that affected me deeply.
Something seemed to be wrong in the friendly world as
(12:30):
I knew it. I was celebrated wherever I went, while
countrymen of mine were insulted and threatened. Why. What were
the reasons for this? I did not know yet. It
was then that I saw for the first time under
what degrading conditions some people live. I remember driving along
the edge of a slum on my way to a
(12:51):
beach on the Pacific. There was abject misery in those shacks.
They were barefoot children by the road and torn shirts
whose bloated stomachs for testimony to their malnutrition. It was
at that time I started think there was the healthy
world of a modern metropolis, and there were the slums.
There was the officially favored friendship with my home country,
(13:15):
and there were cries of Yankee, go home. Here's Justin Jample,
founder and executive director of the Vendam Museum of the
Cold War era. When Dean Reid sees the extraordinary poverty,
I think he realizes that his celebrity gives him a platform,
(13:35):
that he has a responsibility not only as an American,
but as somebody who grew up in these rural areas
like the people that he sees with his own eyes,
and he starts investigating why they're in this position, and
what he realizes is that a lot of it has
to do with American foreign policy and American business interests
that have exploited the land and considered South America America's backyard.
(13:59):
A lot of South Americans suffered as a result of
businesses American businesses extracting natural resources. South America was a
hotbed of descent and growing opposition to American influence in socialism,
(14:21):
in some cases appeared as an alternative. It was in
opposition to American foreign policy at that time. An American
foreign policy at that time was not about, you know,
the sort of ideals of equality that that they espoused.
I think a lot of South Americans and Central Americans
(14:41):
experienced just the opposite. Papa's friend Neil Jacobs again, I
think he started to be angry about what he was seeing,
and with his newfound power and fame, he decided to
do what he could to help the people of South America.
(15:04):
Don't kill man Kind has banished both war and its
instruments of destruction. The United States must maintain an effective
quantity and quality of nuclear weapons. In two Dean Will
really flex his political muscle. For the first time, he
heard that Kennedy was resuming atmospheric nuclear testing, and he
(15:28):
was against it. I had today authorized the Atomic Energy
Commission and the Department of Defense to conduct a series
of nuclear tests to take place in the atmosphere over
the Pacific Ocean. He wrote a letter to the Chilean people,
and he took out an advertisement in the paper critical
(15:49):
of it, and this stirred up quite a furor. After
Dean Read publishes this advertisement rejecting JFK, rejecting US atmospheric
testing of nuclear arms, it attracts the attention of the FBI.
So they tried to look Dean Read to have a
chat with him. I mean, you can't just say these
inflammatory things as an American in the height of the
(16:11):
Cold War in South America, especially not such a public way.
So they tracked Dean Read down to his hotel room,
and they want to have a chat with him because
they want to bring to his attention that what he's
doing is ruffling a lot of feathers back home. I've
got the FBI file here that records the transcript between
(16:32):
Dean Read and Warren Swopes, this representative from the State Department,
And it's pretty extraordinary if you listen to this exchange. Now,
keep in mind, Dean Read at this time is twenty
three years old and already finding his political voice. Mr Swopes,
You've received quite a lot of publicity in the past
couple of days, Dean read. If you're trying to say
that I did this for publicity, you're all wrong. Swoopes. No,
(16:57):
we just think that you are in a dangerous position
talking against the policy of the United States. Be careful,
Mr Swoopes. I only talked of saving lives and of peace.
I hope to God that is not against the policy
of the United States. President Kennedy has explained that we
must do this to keep communism out. Do you want
to live under communism? No? But before I killed myself
(17:18):
and the rest of humanity. Yes. Papa could be so feisty.
He never backed down from a fight. I think his
whole life was being rebellious. And then I go back
to his child, I think it was rebellious against father.
He didn't do what his father wanted to do. He
didn't finish school, he went off to Hollywood. It was
in his nature. Probably the more he told him not
to do something, the more likely he would be to
(17:40):
do it. And besides that, coupled with his incredible fame
and confidence, I don't think anything was going to stop him.
The Cold War in the late nineteen fifties, early nineteen
sixties is when the uprisings start to foment around the world,
and especially in places where America is really active, both
(18:03):
in business interests and in politics. At the heart of
this is in Cuba. Not only do you get the
Cuban Revolution and the rise of Fidel Castro as a
rejection of American foreign policy, but you get the Cuban
Missile crisis. The Cuban Missile crisis is probably the closest
we came to the end of the world during the
(18:25):
Cold War. I call upon Chairman Crucian the haul and
eliminate this clandestine, reckless and provocative threat to world be
and the stable relations between our two nations. He has
an opportunity now to move the world back from the
abyss of destruction. So this is the moment in which
(18:45):
the Cold War is really heating up. And who's right
smack dab in the middle of it all Dean Read.
Deed Read meets che Guevera, Dean Read meets Fidel Castro,
and Dean Read becomes part of the Cold War story.
(19:06):
My mom recalled in a journal a night that she
would never forget. It's a story she'd love to tell.
I remember the rain streaming down on the tile roof
of our villa and Argentina. It was a dark night
and late, but Dean and I were expecting a writer friend.
As Dean opened the door, we saw our friends standing
(19:29):
next to a very dark and ill dressed hobo. This
surprise guest certainly did not look very important to us.
I took his arm and Dean removed his heavy, well
used overcoat. He was having a hard time breathing, and
he apologized while I gave him some medicine to help
him breathe better. And then I went into the kitchen
(19:52):
to finish up the cooking. Our strange guest peeked his
head in and asked if I needed some help. He
exclaimed he loved cooking and that he had not been
in the kitchen for a long time. I told him
to try the pasta sauce and see if it was
salted enough. He had it a little bit more, and
(20:13):
he turned to help me dish out the pasta, and
then I saw his face in the full light. Oh
my god, it was Chay Givara. The whole world was
looking for him. He had been with much courage, hiding
out in Argentina, where he was born trying to stir
(20:34):
up a revolution among the poor people. It was clear
to me that we were in danger by having this
man in our home. But being young and always living
on the edge with Dean, I became captivated by the
fascination of the event. So I served dinner in candle light.
(20:55):
The evening went into the early hours. Conversation by the
huge fireplace and over stuffed chairs and what he and
Dean it round and round about world politics. It was
all in Spanish, and I can only catch some of
the conversation, and I would ask Dean to translate, but
that didn't last long. So I just served the brandy
(21:18):
and curled up on the couch next to Dean and
fell asleep. Dean woke me up to say goodbye. The
name my papa mother gave me is Ramona Shamaine Gavada
Price read they each have a special meaning. When I
(21:38):
was six years old, Papa wrote me a letter from
Cuba about some of the solidarity concerts he gave attended
by thousands of people, my dearest daughter Ramona. During all
of these concerts, Papado told all of the people about
his daughter Ramona Guavara, and they all clapped their hands
when they found out that you have the name of Guevara,
(22:01):
in honor of their great hero. Che Guevara was an
Argentinian man who came to fight for the freedom of
the poor people of Cuba with Fidel Castro. After two
years in the Jungles, they won the battle. But before
they won, all the children had no schools. The people
were hungry because they had no food, and they had
(22:21):
pain in their bodies because they had no hospitals, doctors
or dentists. And today, fifteen years after che Guevara and
Fidel won the revolution, all the children in Cuba go
to school. They can all go to the dentist to
get their teeth fixed, and their mamas and papas did
not have to worry that they won't have enough money
to buy food for their families. In Bolivia, the bad
(22:45):
people and the rich people sent soldiers to kill him.
He died a great hero for all of us in
the world who believe in socialism and peace and freedom.
That is why thousands of people each night here in
Cuba cheered and applauded you, Ramona. Soon you will be
seven years old. Howp birthday. Love, of course, I love
(23:11):
getting that letter. I didn't really know what socialism was
at age six, but I like the part about people
getting food and schooling and healthcare, even if Papa was
simplifying things a bit. I also didn't know Papa was
considered a threat. So here Dean reads FBI files N. Six.
(23:33):
He's in Argentina at this point, and he's becoming more
and more involved in the international socialist movement, and that
means that not only is he speaking out on behalf
and in support of international Marxism, but he's also speaking
of against American foreign policy. And what the FBI found
out was he was making these shortwave radio calls back
(23:56):
home and he was expressing a lot of pro communist,
pro socialist sympathies. FBI wanted to know what he was saying,
so they found somebody see Gurrently on the inside to
record his conversations and then report back to the FBI.
It says in the FBI report his goal politically is
(24:16):
to find a system which offers oneness. He stated that
he is not ready to call himself a communist or socialist,
but his present feelings are that socialism is the best
form of government. As to whether or not he approved
use by the Communist Party of violent tactics such as
killings and bombings. Redeclared that the ends justified the means.
(24:39):
He added that the United States intelligence services use the
same kind of tactics. So I mean he's defending anything
that needs to be done in order to achieve international socialism.
I follow my own conscious, no matter what the consequences,
and it just happens to be that I agree more
than I agree with the system in the West. The
(25:01):
more he spoke out on behalf of these groups, the
more blowback that he got from right wing organizations and
groups that rejected the lab Communism was a bad guy,
and Dean Reid was on their side. There's a picture
I found in my mom's files that I think about
(25:22):
a lot. Papa is sitting on a floaty in his
pool behind his villa with his German shepherd in his lap.
He looks happy and relaxed, but the pool is it's
almost empty. It never made sense to me, why isn't
it full? I never got to ask my mom about it,
But then I came across a letter where Papa talks
(25:43):
about the pool, how they kept it half full because
they could be hidden from view, away from the fans
who would try to catch a glimpse through the hedges.
But the prying eyes of fans weren't the only thing
Papa had to worry about. There was a right wing
authoritarian regime gaining power in Argentina. One night, someone set
(26:07):
fire to the fields behind their villa, and then someone
poisoned their German shepherd. Someone painted a hammer and sickle
on the wall of their villa as well. It was
all too much. On April four six, they said goodbye
to Argentina with over twenty fans who had gathered at
(26:30):
the airport to see them off. It was a very
sad day. I hope I did I alone. People love
instead of paint. That I can call it mine. On
(26:58):
the next episode of red Ellis Dean was evidmly quite
successful making these Italian westerns called Spaghetti Westerns, including one
with you Brenner. In the election of nineteen seventy, his
friend Salvador Allenda was running for president of Chile. He
had to do whatever he could to support him. He
had what I like to refer to is this Jane
(27:20):
Fonda moment. He was taken out America. There and that
was very controversial. Today is Friday. I'm going into my
seventeenth day of prison, so get all of my friends
in Italy off their asses, for by the time you
get this, I shall already have passed five days of
no food. Red Elvis is a co production of I
(27:43):
Heeart Podcasts and School of Humans, based on the Curiosity
Stream documentary Red Elvis the Cold War Cowboy. Directed by
Thomas Ladder and produced by Tallos Films. The show is hosted,
co written, and executive produced by Ramona Reid, Jason English,
Virginia Prescott, Brandon Barr and L. C. Crowley are executive producers.
Ryan Murdoch is the co writer and senior producer. Jeff
(28:05):
Suka met Sker is the senior producer. Jeremy thal That's
Me is our editor. Fact checking by Savannah Hugely and
Adam Bisno. This episode was mixed and mastered by Zubin Hendler.
Thomas Ladder is consulting producer. Dean Read is voiced by
Mark Valley. Patty Read is voiced by Nicole Britton. Casting
support services provided by Breakdown Services, music licensing by John
(28:28):
Luongo for Tructor Entertainment, sound design, and additional music by
Jeremy Thal and Zuben Hendler. Narration recorded at JTV Studios,
Los Angeles. Special thanks to John Higgins with Curiosity Stream.
If you're enjoying the show, leave a review in your
favorite podcast app. Check out the Curiosity Audio Network for
(28:48):
podcast covering history, pop culture, true crime, and more. Superstar Right,
School of Humans,
My mother and Papa got married in nineteen sixty four
and moved to Argentina that fall. Papa's music had cut
on down there and he was given a lot of
creative opportunities. He hosted a radio show on Thursday nights,
taped an hour long TV drama on Fridays, and on
Saturday's or maybe it was Sunday's, he hosted a music
show for teenagers. He was busy. This was a beautiful
(00:41):
time for them, living in a cozy, two story villa
on the outskirts of Buenos Ada's, going to fabulous parties,
trying to start a family. My mom loved it, and
Papa's career was thriving, but the political situation was tense.
Political turmoil continues in the Argentine and the wake of
(01:02):
the removal of President doctur Or front Dz by the military.
The country was an upheaval six presidents over the past
nine years, and the Americans and Russians were both trying
to gain influence. Meanwhile, there's a military rule in Argentina,
the tropes in full battle rest patrolling the streets. A
major hemispheric democracy is including the United States, have expressed
(01:22):
concern over the military coop. My mom would have preferred
to stay out of the political scene, but then Papa
did an interview on his TV show with a Russian
cosmonaut named Valentina Turashkova. Serviet womanhood got its biggest boost
ever one day in June n when Valentina Tereshkova became
(01:43):
the first woman astronaut. My father's interview was broadcasted across
the country. Soon after, Argentine Lye showed up at their
front door. The agents wanted Papa to confess to being
paid off by the Soviets, to say that the interview
was actually a propaganda stunt, but he wasn't paid off,
(02:05):
and Papa laughed them away, confident they were just scare tactics.
My mom, she wasn't so sure. Papa continued to be
really busy with his work and my mom was always
trying to keep the romance alive. One evening, my mom
(02:29):
made up a spare bedroom like a love den, flowers, candles, strawberries.
Papa came home from a long day at work when
all of a sudden, shots tore through their real bedroom.
(02:50):
The gunfire lasted a while. If they hadn't been in
that spare bedroom. They might have been dead. Mom and
Papa called the police, but no one came until the
next day. And even then a single policeman showed up
on a bicycle and did nothing. Someone had put out
a hit on them. Their lives were at risk. And
(03:14):
I think that's when my mom realized they were in
the middle of a heated battle, a battle between political
factions in Argentina, a battle between two superpowers, really a
cold war battle between the U S and the U
S SR. Love your brother, but hate your I'm Ramona
(03:41):
Reen and this is red Elvis. Are you so think
that peace and love would just say? Hey, did I
learn the life is not only a gay age? Each
man must fight and fight a game and never, never,
never let your life just flow away. Eight Let your
(04:03):
life have value every day? Episode two, our summer romance,
Let's go back in time. It's nine sixty before Argentina.
Papa's in Hollywood. He'd gotten a deal with Capitol Records
and had released a few singles, but he was not happy.
(04:27):
His own manager sold his contract to a syndicate that function,
in his words, like a mafia. He thought Hollywood was
a machine that only cared about one thing money, But
then the record company started actually seeing some money from
his record sales to Night the Cold in Dreams at
You All Hold and Papa's song Our Summer Romance had
(04:51):
climbed the charts in Chile. Hole showed he was more
popular in the country than Elvis Presley, I think that time,
so the record company sent him on a forty day
tour to Chile, Brazil, Peru, and Argentina. It was a
huge surprise that this song was such a big hit
(05:12):
in South America. I think they knew that it was
doing well when they sent him down there, but they
didn't know how well it was doing. This is my
papose friend Neil Jacobs. They didn't know he's going to
get this overwhelming response. I mean, he just was mobbed
all the time. This was his big moment, I think,
and he sees it. He did not back off, and
(05:34):
the people adopted him as their American idol, their American superstar.
It was like really like absolute pandemonium and chaos. It
was like Beatlemania, but two years before Beatlemania. This is
my cousin Jim Reid. This tour of South America was
I think it was pretty grueling for him because he
(05:55):
not only was performance concerts and doing his rehearsing and
doing all the things that are normal music star would do,
but then afterwards he would put countless hours into meeting
with people, writing letters, making personal connections with people, and
he had to learn the language. He immersed himself in
the culture, and I think that endeared him to the
people even more. Papa loved the adoration and attention, but
(06:18):
I think he also fell in love with the way
of life. Here's Papa talking about it in a radio interview.
Usually Americans and Europeans thing that you have to sing
only if you have a good vocal chords. And I
learned in South America everybody sings because they've learned that
you don't sing from your throat, you sing from your heart.
So I think at this point in Dean's career, he's
just been a few years gone from strumming his guitar
(06:41):
and maybe writing a love song for a high school sweetheart,
to performing his music in front of thousands of fans,
being an international star, and he's in his early twenties
the time. We're naturally developing quite a bit of confidence
as young man. I can imagine that nothing seemed impossible
to him at that point nineteen six and nineteen sixty two.
(07:03):
I was the most famous singer of South America at
that time, the rock and roll singer of South America,
and should I had a fifty eight man police guard
to walk through the streets, about the same as Elvis
personally had in North America. I was in South America.
But even though he had thousands of adoring fans at
his shows, the more he looked around, the more he
realized Americans weren't loved by everyone. In Santiago, Dean started
(07:28):
to notice that there was Yankee go home sentiment and
it was scrawled on walls and in the in the slums,
and he was surprised. My mom Patricia. Everyone called her Patty,
(07:55):
Papa called her Kitten. She was an actress, passionate, spontaneous.
She was tall, blonde haired, blue eyed, a beauty queen
who had in in the running from Miss Universe nineteen
fifty five. Not to brag, but she was a master
of charming people. She dated all the hot bachelor's at
(08:16):
the time, rock and roll star Ricky Nelson, big band
leader Les Brown, senior TV star Hugh O'Brien, she had
the look. In nineteen sixty three, my mother was in
l A to do a cigarette commercial. She was in
a meeting at the Milton Deutsche ad agency wearing a
cute little mini skirt and a tight top. When Dean
(08:37):
Read walked in, they locked eyes. Papa was instantly smitten
my mom. She paid him no mind. He was just
another pretty face in Hollywood, even though down in South
America where we met him, he was the number one
singing star. I'm sure that most of you folks in
this country haven't really heard of him as yet. He's
(08:59):
going to be equally as big here, I'm sure, Mr
Dean Read. How about? Papa was still working hard to
build his career in the US, doing TV interviews and appearances.
He dropped off some headshots at the agency and left
without saying more than hello to my mom. But Papa
was a persistent guy. He got her number from his agent.
(09:22):
Look this is at a time when agents gave out
numbers that would never happen today. And then he called
her that night. They talked for two to three hours.
A few days later, they went to a party at
Roger Smith and Victoria's Shaw's Hollywood home, and three days
after that she moved into his cottage. They called it
(09:45):
the Treehouse because a huge oak tree hung over the patio.
It was dreamy. They'd be married within six months. Down
in Mexico while they were filming a movie, Papa had
to fly back to California almost right away. I found
this letter he wrote to her not long after the wedding.
(10:06):
My dearest Patty, my wife. The moon is full here.
I haven't really had time to sleep since I've been back.
We practice every night between seven thirty and twelve thirty.
Then every day is running around meeting. I'm so excited
about many things. First, the most important publishing company is
publishing our song for Long, Pretty Little Good? Who do?
(10:39):
They have assured me that Harry Bellefonte and Joan Bayez
will have it within two weeks. Ah. Remember the letter
which was sent to me about the nationwide publicity campaign. Well,
I talked with the people yesterday and we will have
dinner with them Sunday. If we get the deal, we
will have no more financial worries for quite some time.
(11:02):
Keep your fingers crossed and think only good thoughts. Go
to the mall. I will arrive at five thirty Thursday mornings.
So I won't get you out of bed to meet me.
Just be sure that the bed is warm for me
when I arrive. God, I miss you, and I hope
you missed me even more, so I will try to
make you happy. Mrs Reed. I promise good night, my
(11:23):
wife and my love Dino. I've got gold in the mall.
So that nationwide publicity campaign, as far as I can tell,
(11:46):
never materialized. But what started as Papa chasing a dream
of stardom became something a little different. Papa had a
political awakening. Here's Victor Grossman, a friend of his, talking
about Papa's first tour in South America. Dean saw the
(12:09):
contradiction between signs saying Yankee go home and shouts of
Yankee go home and celebration of himself as an American.
He wrote some words about that which are very interesting.
Yankee go Home. It was a cry that affected me deeply.
Something seemed to be wrong in the friendly world as
(12:30):
I knew it. I was celebrated wherever I went, while
countrymen of mine were insulted and threatened. Why. What were
the reasons for this? I did not know yet. It
was then that I saw for the first time under
what degrading conditions some people live. I remember driving along
the edge of a slum on my way to a
(12:51):
beach on the Pacific. There was abject misery in those shacks.
They were barefoot children by the road and torn shirts
whose bloated stomachs for testimony to their malnutrition. It was
at that time I started think there was the healthy
world of a modern metropolis, and there were the slums.
There was the officially favored friendship with my home country,
(13:15):
and there were cries of Yankee, go home. Here's Justin Jample,
founder and executive director of the Vendam Museum of the
Cold War era. When Dean Reid sees the extraordinary poverty,
I think he realizes that his celebrity gives him a platform,
(13:35):
that he has a responsibility not only as an American,
but as somebody who grew up in these rural areas
like the people that he sees with his own eyes,
and he starts investigating why they're in this position, and
what he realizes is that a lot of it has
to do with American foreign policy and American business interests
that have exploited the land and considered South America America's backyard.
(13:59):
A lot of South Americans suffered as a result of
businesses American businesses extracting natural resources. South America was a
hotbed of descent and growing opposition to American influence in socialism,
(14:21):
in some cases appeared as an alternative. It was in
opposition to American foreign policy at that time. An American
foreign policy at that time was not about, you know,
the sort of ideals of equality that that they espoused.
I think a lot of South Americans and Central Americans
(14:41):
experienced just the opposite. Papa's friend Neil Jacobs again, I
think he started to be angry about what he was seeing,
and with his newfound power and fame, he decided to
do what he could to help the people of South America.
(15:04):
Don't kill man Kind has banished both war and its
instruments of destruction. The United States must maintain an effective
quantity and quality of nuclear weapons. In two Dean Will
really flex his political muscle. For the first time, he
heard that Kennedy was resuming atmospheric nuclear testing, and he
(15:28):
was against it. I had today authorized the Atomic Energy
Commission and the Department of Defense to conduct a series
of nuclear tests to take place in the atmosphere over
the Pacific Ocean. He wrote a letter to the Chilean people,
and he took out an advertisement in the paper critical
(15:49):
of it, and this stirred up quite a furor. After
Dean Read publishes this advertisement rejecting JFK, rejecting US atmospheric
testing of nuclear arms, it attracts the attention of the FBI.
So they tried to look Dean Read to have a
chat with him. I mean, you can't just say these
inflammatory things as an American in the height of the
(16:11):
Cold War in South America, especially not such a public way.
So they tracked Dean Read down to his hotel room,
and they want to have a chat with him because
they want to bring to his attention that what he's
doing is ruffling a lot of feathers back home. I've
got the FBI file here that records the transcript between
(16:32):
Dean Read and Warren Swopes, this representative from the State Department,
And it's pretty extraordinary if you listen to this exchange. Now,
keep in mind, Dean Read at this time is twenty
three years old and already finding his political voice. Mr Swopes,
You've received quite a lot of publicity in the past
couple of days, Dean read. If you're trying to say
that I did this for publicity, you're all wrong. Swoopes. No,
(16:57):
we just think that you are in a dangerous position
talking against the policy of the United States. Be careful,
Mr Swoopes. I only talked of saving lives and of peace.
I hope to God that is not against the policy
of the United States. President Kennedy has explained that we
must do this to keep communism out. Do you want
to live under communism? No? But before I killed myself
(17:18):
and the rest of humanity. Yes. Papa could be so feisty.
He never backed down from a fight. I think his
whole life was being rebellious. And then I go back
to his child, I think it was rebellious against father.
He didn't do what his father wanted to do. He
didn't finish school, he went off to Hollywood. It was
in his nature. Probably the more he told him not
to do something, the more likely he would be to
(17:40):
do it. And besides that, coupled with his incredible fame
and confidence, I don't think anything was going to stop him.
The Cold War in the late nineteen fifties, early nineteen
sixties is when the uprisings start to foment around the world,
and especially in places where America is really active, both
(18:03):
in business interests and in politics. At the heart of
this is in Cuba. Not only do you get the
Cuban Revolution and the rise of Fidel Castro as a
rejection of American foreign policy, but you get the Cuban
Missile crisis. The Cuban Missile crisis is probably the closest
we came to the end of the world during the
(18:25):
Cold War. I call upon Chairman Crucian the haul and
eliminate this clandestine, reckless and provocative threat to world be
and the stable relations between our two nations. He has
an opportunity now to move the world back from the
abyss of destruction. So this is the moment in which
(18:45):
the Cold War is really heating up. And who's right
smack dab in the middle of it all Dean Read.
Deed Read meets che Guevera, Dean Read meets Fidel Castro,
and Dean Read becomes part of the Cold War story.
(19:06):
My mom recalled in a journal a night that she
would never forget. It's a story she'd love to tell.
I remember the rain streaming down on the tile roof
of our villa and Argentina. It was a dark night
and late, but Dean and I were expecting a writer friend.
As Dean opened the door, we saw our friends standing
(19:29):
next to a very dark and ill dressed hobo. This
surprise guest certainly did not look very important to us.
I took his arm and Dean removed his heavy, well
used overcoat. He was having a hard time breathing, and
he apologized while I gave him some medicine to help
him breathe better. And then I went into the kitchen
(19:52):
to finish up the cooking. Our strange guest peeked his
head in and asked if I needed some help. He
exclaimed he loved cooking and that he had not been
in the kitchen for a long time. I told him
to try the pasta sauce and see if it was
salted enough. He had it a little bit more, and
(20:13):
he turned to help me dish out the pasta, and
then I saw his face in the full light. Oh
my god, it was Chay Givara. The whole world was
looking for him. He had been with much courage, hiding
out in Argentina, where he was born trying to stir
(20:34):
up a revolution among the poor people. It was clear
to me that we were in danger by having this
man in our home. But being young and always living
on the edge with Dean, I became captivated by the
fascination of the event. So I served dinner in candle light.
(20:55):
The evening went into the early hours. Conversation by the
huge fireplace and over stuffed chairs and what he and
Dean it round and round about world politics. It was
all in Spanish, and I can only catch some of
the conversation, and I would ask Dean to translate, but
that didn't last long. So I just served the brandy
(21:18):
and curled up on the couch next to Dean and
fell asleep. Dean woke me up to say goodbye. The
name my papa mother gave me is Ramona Shamaine Gavada
Price read they each have a special meaning. When I
(21:38):
was six years old, Papa wrote me a letter from
Cuba about some of the solidarity concerts he gave attended
by thousands of people, my dearest daughter Ramona. During all
of these concerts, Papado told all of the people about
his daughter Ramona Guavara, and they all clapped their hands
when they found out that you have the name of Guevara,
(22:01):
in honor of their great hero. Che Guevara was an
Argentinian man who came to fight for the freedom of
the poor people of Cuba with Fidel Castro. After two
years in the Jungles, they won the battle. But before
they won, all the children had no schools. The people
were hungry because they had no food, and they had
(22:21):
pain in their bodies because they had no hospitals, doctors
or dentists. And today, fifteen years after che Guevara and
Fidel won the revolution, all the children in Cuba go
to school. They can all go to the dentist to
get their teeth fixed, and their mamas and papas did
not have to worry that they won't have enough money
to buy food for their families. In Bolivia, the bad
(22:45):
people and the rich people sent soldiers to kill him.
He died a great hero for all of us in
the world who believe in socialism and peace and freedom.
That is why thousands of people each night here in
Cuba cheered and applauded you, Ramona. Soon you will be
seven years old. Howp birthday. Love, of course, I love
(23:11):
getting that letter. I didn't really know what socialism was
at age six, but I like the part about people
getting food and schooling and healthcare, even if Papa was
simplifying things a bit. I also didn't know Papa was
considered a threat. So here Dean reads FBI files N. Six.
(23:33):
He's in Argentina at this point, and he's becoming more
and more involved in the international socialist movement, and that
means that not only is he speaking out on behalf
and in support of international Marxism, but he's also speaking
of against American foreign policy. And what the FBI found
out was he was making these shortwave radio calls back
(23:56):
home and he was expressing a lot of pro communist,
pro socialist sympathies. FBI wanted to know what he was saying,
so they found somebody see Gurrently on the inside to
record his conversations and then report back to the FBI.
It says in the FBI report his goal politically is
(24:16):
to find a system which offers oneness. He stated that
he is not ready to call himself a communist or socialist,
but his present feelings are that socialism is the best
form of government. As to whether or not he approved
use by the Communist Party of violent tactics such as
killings and bombings. Redeclared that the ends justified the means.
(24:39):
He added that the United States intelligence services use the
same kind of tactics. So I mean he's defending anything
that needs to be done in order to achieve international socialism.
I follow my own conscious, no matter what the consequences,
and it just happens to be that I agree more
than I agree with the system in the West. The
(25:01):
more he spoke out on behalf of these groups, the
more blowback that he got from right wing organizations and
groups that rejected the lab Communism was a bad guy,
and Dean Reid was on their side. There's a picture
I found in my mom's files that I think about
(25:22):
a lot. Papa is sitting on a floaty in his
pool behind his villa with his German shepherd in his lap.
He looks happy and relaxed, but the pool is it's
almost empty. It never made sense to me, why isn't
it full? I never got to ask my mom about it,
But then I came across a letter where Papa talks
(25:43):
about the pool, how they kept it half full because
they could be hidden from view, away from the fans
who would try to catch a glimpse through the hedges.
But the prying eyes of fans weren't the only thing
Papa had to worry about. There was a right wing
authoritarian regime gaining power in Argentina. One night, someone set
(26:07):
fire to the fields behind their villa, and then someone
poisoned their German shepherd. Someone painted a hammer and sickle
on the wall of their villa as well. It was
all too much. On April four six, they said goodbye
to Argentina with over twenty fans who had gathered at
(26:30):
the airport to see them off. It was a very
sad day. I hope I did I alone. People love
instead of paint. That I can call it mine. On
(26:58):
the next episode of red Ellis Dean was evidmly quite
successful making these Italian westerns called Spaghetti Westerns, including one
with you Brenner. In the election of nineteen seventy, his
friend Salvador Allenda was running for president of Chile. He
had to do whatever he could to support him. He
had what I like to refer to is this Jane
(27:20):
Fonda moment. He was taken out America. There and that
was very controversial. Today is Friday. I'm going into my
seventeenth day of prison, so get all of my friends
in Italy off their asses, for by the time you
get this, I shall already have passed five days of
no food. Red Elvis is a co production of I
(27:43):
Heeart Podcasts and School of Humans, based on the Curiosity
Stream documentary Red Elvis the Cold War Cowboy. Directed by
Thomas Ladder and produced by Tallos Films. The show is hosted,
co written, and executive produced by Ramona Reid, Jason English,
Virginia Prescott, Brandon Barr and L. C. Crowley are executive producers.
Ryan Murdoch is the co writer and senior producer. Jeff
(28:05):
Suka met Sker is the senior producer. Jeremy thal That's
Me is our editor. Fact checking by Savannah Hugely and
Adam Bisno. This episode was mixed and mastered by Zubin Hendler.
Thomas Ladder is consulting producer. Dean Read is voiced by
Mark Valley. Patty Read is voiced by Nicole Britton. Casting
support services provided by Breakdown Services, music licensing by John
(28:28):
Luongo for Tructor Entertainment, sound design, and additional music by
Jeremy Thal and Zuben Hendler. Narration recorded at JTV Studios,
Los Angeles. Special thanks to John Higgins with Curiosity Stream.
If you're enjoying the show, leave a review in your
favorite podcast app. Check out the Curiosity Audio Network for
(28:48):
podcast covering history, pop culture, true crime, and more. Superstar Right,
School of Humans,
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