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Source of apparent photo Hal hugging Karen?

BenKlesc

Member
Does anyone know where this photo came from? Who initially posted it?

Can anyone confirm if this is Hal Blaine?

53284194879_50a9491fe2_z.jpg
 
No idea. It looks like it could be Hal Blaine and maybe Karen. But what could the story be here?

"Hal" is holding a piece of paper in his left hand with his arm outstretched. There looks to be four(?) car-tops in view. One that the photographer is standing behind and only the roof is visible. One about where "Karen" and "Hal" are standing, and one behind that (both taller than the other two), and one VW-type of car to the right. Are these cars on a street? In a parking lot? It looks like a 5 MPH sign in the background, or is that a parking level 5? It seems more like street-level to me.

Was this a traffic incident where "Hal" was collecting or giving insurance and license information? Were "Hal" and "Karen" involved in the incident? Was the third car involved? Is that the driver of the third car walking behind them, or is he heading for the VW-thing? Was the hug one of recognition on the street?

Is that a Christmas tree lit up on the right side of the photo?

Lots of questions - very few answers.

A slightly improved version of the photo:
HalBlaineAndKaren.jpg
 
No idea. It looks like it could be Hal Blaine and maybe Karen. But what could the story be here?

"Hal" is holding a piece of paper in his left hand with his arm outstretched. There looks to be four(?) car-tops in view. One that the photographer is standing behind and only the roof is visible. One about where "Karen" and "Hal" are standing, and one behind that (both taller than the other two), and one VW-type of car to the right. Are these cars on a street? In a parking lot? It looks like a 5 MPH sign in the background, or is that a parking level 5? It seems more like street-level to me.

Was this a traffic incident where "Hal" was collecting or giving insurance and license information? Were "Hal" and "Karen" involved in the incident? Was the third car involved? Is that the driver of the third car walking behind them, or is he heading for the VW-thing? Was the hug one of recognition on the street?

Is that a Christmas tree lit up on the right side of the photo?

Lots of questions - very few answers.

A slightly improved version of the photo:
HalBlaineAndKaren.jpg

Hal's holding what was then a standard-sized coffee or water cup.

The sign is a 5 MPH speed limit sign that I remember having been on the A&M lot.

My guess--this is after a recording session, and they're saying goodbye.

The thing about still photos is that they can make two seconds look like a big deal.
 
Assuming that is "the Lot", then it all makes much more sense.

There are only about 13 parking spaces within the old Chaplin studios (the tan pavement area), so there's a parking lot behind Henson (then A&M):

Screenshot 2023-10-25 at 7.20.20 AM.jpg

Screenshot 2023-10-25 at 7.17.58 AM.jpg


The parking area at DeLongpre and Sycamore has several rows, which would match up with the perspective of the photo, and it's posted (both at the gate and, when I was there last around 1980, in a couple more places within the parking lot) at 5 MPH.


Screenshot 2023-10-25 at 7.17.58 AM-2.jpg
 
Looking at the Hal/Karen photo and the perspective, I'd suggest this was taken with maybe a large telephoto lens from across a street or some distance away, given the size of the 5 MPH sign in relation to the people and cars.
 
Looking at the Hal/Karen photo and the perspective, I'd suggest this was taken with maybe a large telephoto lens from across a street or some distance away, given the size of the 5 MPH sign in relation to the people and cars.

Through the chain link fence on Sycamore. Here's the original photo again.

hal-karen.jpg


See the steps off to the right of the speed limit sign?

A&M parking.jpg

There they are---to the right of the red car facing forward. Can't duplicate the zoom of the telephoto lens, but it's near enough. Clearly the photog was shooting with the lens up against an opening in the chain-link. The photog probably wasn't as tall as the Google Street View camera, either.

The 5 MPH sign is no longer there, but we know that picture has to be at least 40 years old, and stuff changes.
 
So have we confirmed this is indeed a photo of Hal and not someone else?

Also... looks like it was scanned from a newspaper or press pamphlet. Doesn't look like an original negative or photograph. Attempting to find the source.
 
So have we confirmed this is indeed a photo of Hal and not someone else?

Also... looks like it was scanned from a newspaper or press pamphlet. Doesn't look like an original negative or photograph. Attempting to find the source.
Yeah, that’s Hal and Karen on the A&M lot.
 
The late Hal Blaine in the late 70's or early 80's did hugged Karen BUT he noticed that she was quite thin & skinny during "The E! True Hollywood Story" of Karen Carpenter.
 
Just throwing in my two pennies’ worth. I don’t think that’s Hal Blaine in the photo with Karen and didn’t from the first time I saw it. Hal’s face is a totally different shape to the man in that photo, whose jawline is wider. The eyebrows and bone structure over the eyes of the man in the photo are much straighter than Hal’s, whose eyebrows are curved down slightly.
 
I've emailed Dick Whitney and contacted a few others who posted the photo on social media to see if they have any information on who took the photo.

Keep in mind this was taken from a telephoto lens that can distort subjects. Same hairline. Not 100% though.
 
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I've emailed Dick Whitney and contacted a few others who posted the photo on social media to see if they have any information on who took the photo.

Keep in mind this was taken from a telephoto lens that can distort subjects. Same hairline. Not 100% though.

Why the original interest in the photo and whether or not it’s Hal Blaine?
 
Interesting. Looks like same outfit, glasses, purse and cars. From the same shot.

5320B504-18D9-44BA-8241-8ADE63785EEE.jpeg

Seriously?

There's a Holiday Inn sign in that shot. In fact, this is probably the Holiday Inn parking lot. We've established the original is the employee parking lot behind A&M (now Henson).

There's a limo driver with the trunk open. In the original, Karen's between a light-colored pickup truck and a VW convertible. There is nothing in the color shot that matches them.

I'll give you the hairstyle, the short-sleeved light top and the sunglasses. But in the color shot, Karen's purse strap is dark---in the original shot it's a white (or at least light-colored)purse.


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Keep in mind this was taken from a telephoto lens that can distort subjects. Same hairline. Not 100% though.

Not only the telephoto lens but the fact that the man in the original photo has his head cocked to the left, and more than half his jawline is hidden behind Karen's hair.
 
Yeah, I'm scratching my head wondering what all the to-do is about with this photo. So it's Karen in a parking lot. Why is it important to know any more about it?
 
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