Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme, Featured In Sondheim's ASSASSINS, Released From Prison After 34 Years

Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme, who on September 5, 1975 famously pointed a gun at then-President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California, has just been released from federal custody according to CNN.

Fromme, now 60, was a follower of Charles Manson. On the day of the attack, Secret Service agents were able to prevent her from firing; however, the gun was later found to have a clip of ammunition but no bullet in the chamber.

Fromme faced a lengthy trial in which she refused to cooperate with her own defense. She was convicted of the attempted assassination of the president and received a life sentence. A 1965 law, prompted by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, specified a maximum sentence of life in prison for attempted presidential assassinations.

On December 23, 1987, she escaped from the Alderson Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia, attempting to meet up with Manson, who she had heard had testicular cancer. She was captured again two days later and incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Texas.

Fromme and her story became the basis for one of characters in the popular Stephen Sondheim-John Weidman musical ASSASSINS. In the musical, events are compressed, allowing Fromme and Sara Jane Moore to try to murder Ford in the same attempt. Fromme and John Hinckley, Jr. share a duet together, "Unworthy of Your Love".

To read the entire CNN article, click here.

ASSSASSINS, the legendary Stephen Sondheim/John Weidman musical, premiered at Playswrights Horizons, opening December 18, 1990. The darkly comic musical exploring the minds of Presidential assassins and attemptors, among them John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinkley, and the lesser known Charles Guiteau, Samuel Byck and Squeaky Fromme. Some had very specific motivations, others' intentions were muddled. All changed the course of U.S. history, and, this musical suggests, added to our unsettling national obsession with celebrity.

ASSASSINS made its Broadway premiere in the 2003-2004 season. The show began previews March 31, 2004, and officially opened on April 22. The show closed July 18, 2004, after 26 previews and 101 performances.

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