Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Who was Kat Perkoff, Ellen DeGeneres' first love? Kathe Ruth Perkoff, Family, parents, life - by Mary Cummins

Ellen DeGeneres, lost love Kat Perkoff, Kathe Ruth Perkoff, lover, gay, mary cummins, los angeles, new orleans, louisiana, car crash, death, loss

"Kat was a poet and a waitress working at a bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans. On June 26, 1980 Kat Perkoff died in a white Mercedes after it veered off a highway, hit a concrete bridge support and split cleanly in half. Kat's high-drama, high-impact death was in some way an inexorable conclusion to a life lived with voracious and feverish intensity. In her brief 23 years, Kat Perkoff inhabited many personae: runaway, drug smuggler, gay bar manager, writer, local icon, and key player in the murky underworld of the New Orleans lesbian mafia-a demimonde populated by pimps, prostitutes and corrupt cops. Even for the fast lane of the French Quarter in the early 1970's, Kat's life hurtled along at several times the average speed. The official report of the New Orleans Police Department states that Kat's death was caused by accidental collision. But rumors at the time pointed to a hit, mafia score, and a police cover-up."

BIRTH 10 Nov 1956
Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, USA
DEATH 26 Jun 1980 (aged 23)
New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, USA

Her sister Rachel made a feature-length documentary about Kat called "Another Lost Angel" in 2008. Below is the trailer of that feature. Survived by her mother Katheen Jeanne Pynes Perkoff Hebert b. 1937, father Whitney Charles Walker (1933-2001 married Dec 21 1955 in Louisiana), younger half sister Rachel Delia Perkoff and ex-husband Andrew Colangelo (married 1975 in Florida). Kat was the first love of Ellen DeGeneres.



Kat Perkoff's death was the inspiration for DeGeneres' comedy monologue about mortality called "Phone Call To God" which she did on "The Tonight Show" starring Johnny Carson in 1986. In it she pretends to be 
on the phone to God, chatting about the surreal qualities of death. It would go on to propel her to stardom. Just two years later Ellen was named the funniest person in America.

Below Ellen talks about the loss.



Below is the pedigree of Kathe's family tree. Her half sister Rachel obviously has a different paternal line which I also made but isn't included here. Kathe "Kat" was the daughter of Whitney Walker based on marriage and birth date.

Ellen DeGeneres, lost love Kat Perkoff, Kathe Ruth Perkoff, lover, gay, mary cummins, los angeles, new orleans, louisiana, car crash, death, loss


Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.

Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, single family, condo, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls,
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