77-year-old actress Florence Henderson is releasing her memoir in September, but for those “itching” for a sneak peek she has revealed the astonishing fact that she contracted crabs after having an affair with then mayor of New York City John Lindsay!
According to an excerpt from her book the incident occurred at the Beverly Hills Hotel in the 1960s after both Florence and Lindsay were married. Lindsay, who is referred to as her unattractive married friend, began to pitch some woo her way – woo which she reluctantly caught (along with some other things). From Life is Not a Stage:
I was lonely. I knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. So, what did I do? I did it.
After returning home from her fling later that night, Florence woke up the next morning with “little black things” scurrying around on the bed and her body. After having a doctor take care of her problem she received flowers and a letter of apology from Lindsay. (Back then adulterous politicians knew how to take care of a lady!) Henderson summed it up this way in her book:
Guess I learned the hard way that crabs do not discriminate but cross over all socioeconomic strata. He must have had quite the active life. What a way to put the kibosh on a relationship.
More like the “crabosh!”
^ Publicity still of Florence Henderson from her 1970 film adaptation of Song of Norway and a Life cover of Mayor John Lindsay in 1968.
Here’s the story, of a lovely lady
Who was bringing up four very lovely kids.
She was married at the time, his name was Bernstein,
but that’s not who she did.
Here’s the story, of a man named Lindsay,
Who was busy with four offspring of his own,
He was the mayor, of New York City,
He had a hungry bone.
Till the one day when the lady met this fellow
And they knew it wasn’t much more than a shag,
But these two would somehow share some pubic lice.
That’s the way Florence Henderson got the crabs!
John Lindsay was the Republican mayor of New York from 1966 to 1973 and later swapped parties in a bid for 1972 Democratic presidential nomination that ended after substantial defeats in the Florida and Wisconsin primaries. (George McGovern would eventually get the nomination.) Lindsay died in 2000 due to complications from pneumonia and Parkinson’s disease. His wife of 51 years, Mary Lindsay, died four years later in 2004. They had four children together.
Florence Henderson divorced her first husband Ira Bernstein in 1985 and later married her hypnotherapist Dr. John Kappas, who passed away in 2002. Florence had four children with Ira Bernstein, all of whom can be seen in the family photo above taken in 1965 (from left to right: Joseph, Barbara, Florence Henderson, Robert, Ira Bernstein and Elizabeth).
