Singer’s Husband Hits Photographer

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30443, 18 May 1964, Page 1

Singer’s Husband Hits Photographer

(Heu> Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, May 17. Mr Walter Legge, husband of the soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, was involved in incidents with a photographer on Saturday night shortly before Miss Schwarzkopf’s final festival recital in the Auckland town hall.

The photographer, Mr Alan Williams, represented an Auckland week-end publication.

After his arrival in Wellington today, Mr Legge said the trouble arose when Mr Williams ignored appeals not to photograph Miss Schwarzkopf.

“My wife was suffering from a bad head cold,” Mr Legge explained. “We had slipped out of the hotel by taxi to a pharmacy to get a more powerful throat decongestant spray.

“She was chalk-white, looking ghastly, and bad a scarf over her head. “Word must have leaked out The photographer caught up with us and followed us into the pharmacy. This was after the rehearsal and not long before the concert “My wife was frightened. 1 pleaded with him not to photograph Miss Schwarzkopf, but he blazed away. “I caught up with him and hit him. 1 may have damaged his camera.

“Later on, he appeared again as we were going into the town hall. This time I blocked his attempts to take further pictures by shoving

my wife’s big wardrobe bag in front of him. “This is the first time we have ever been involved in such an incident.

“The funny thing is that just that afternoon I had taken a couple of tranquillisers. “I don’t usually take tranquillisers either. But we were both terribly worried over the cold. I then slept for four hours. 1 have never before hit anyone in my life—at least not since I was a schoolboy.”

Miss Schwarzkopf said tonight that such scenes with photographers should not occur with musicians. She had resented the taking of photo-

graphs at that particular time. “I was in a complete panic state at the time, too,” she said. • The photographer, Mr Williams, said tonight: “1 asked Miss Schwarzkopf through her husband if she would pose for me. She refused, so I stepped back and took an unposed shot, using an electronic flashlight.”

Mr Williams said he turned and walked out of the shop. “I had walked a few yards when he jumped on me, He hit me three or four times across the face and tried to force the back off my camera. In the struggle," the flashlight was broken and the camera damaged." Mr Williams said he returned to his office and then went to the Grey’s avenue entrance to the Town Hall. He said he was attacked again by Mr Legge, who hit him three of four times with a wardrobe case.