LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Sonny Bono
built 629 days ago
The widow of Sonny Bono is blaming his death last January on prescription drugs. In an interview with TV Guide, Mary Bono says the entertainer-turned-congressman was taking up to 20 pills a day for back and neck problems and the medication badly impaired his judgment. Sonny Bono was killed when he hit a tree while skiing in Nevada. Mary Bono says the drugs brought about severe mood swings in her husband and made their marriage very difficult. (An accident two years before Bono's death ... may have been drug-related, Mary said. At that time, Bono fell about 16 feet from a balcony but was unhurt.) She added that Cher, from whom Sonny Bono was divorced, was very supportive.
Source:
Following his untimely death on the ski slopes in January 1998, Sonny Bono was remembered by four-term congressman and fellow actor Fred Grandy. “One thing you can say about him: He succeeded in two of the hardest industries in this country, show business and politics, two industries that tolerate almost anything but failure.” Most people agree that Sonny Bono did not have the appearance of success. His former wife, Cher, once called him the strangest-looking man she’d ever seen. But what Sonny lacked in appearance, he made up for with determination and savvy.
Source:
A bronze statue of the late former Congressman, Sonny Bono, greets a young girl. The City of Palm Springs Public Arts Commission and Wessman Development proposed the likeness of Bono, sitting on the edge of a bubbling fountain at 155 South Palm Canyon Drive (Plaza Mercado). Congresswoman Mary Bono, civic leaders and friends attended the November 16 unveiling. Palm Springs' Emmanuil and Janet Snitkovsky created the sculpture.
Source:
Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994, Sonny Bono (1935-1998) made a career out of reinventing himself. He played the straight man to his then-wife Cher, on the "Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" in the 1970s and later served as mayor of Palm Springs, California. On Capitol Hill, he quickly established himself as a hard worker and a popular fundraiser for the Republican party.
Source:
After the TV show wrapped up Sonny went out on the road with a nightclub act, backed by two legendary backup singers from his Phil Spector days (Darlene Love of The Crystals was one of the girls); that flopped as well. The act was even booed off the stage in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. TV viewers got a look Sonny's solo act when he co-hosted 'The Mike Douglas Show' for a week in 1975.
Source:
The candidates differed on issues along largely partisan lines, with Mr. Waite supporting abortion rights and Mrs. Bono in favor of the procedure only in the first trimester. Mr. Waite backed an increase in the minimum wage and Mrs. Bono opposed it. Sympathy for Mrs. Bono played a large role in the campaign, and, indeed, all but 2 of the 38 widows who sought their husband's House seats in this century have won. Still, Mrs. Bono said she was surprised by the size of her lead.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Sonny Bono