William J. Obanhein (October 19, 1924 – September 11, 1994), also known as Officer Obie, was the chief of
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
for the town of
Stockbridge,
. He was a member of the police force there for 34 years, 1951 to 1985. He is fairly well known for his appearances in popular culture.
Obanhein was the "Officer Obie" mentioned in
Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his father, Woody Guthrie. Gut ...
's 1967
talking blues
Talking blues is a form of folk music and country music. It is characterized by rhythmic speech or near-speech where the melody is free, but the rhythm is strict.
Christopher Allen Bouchillon, billed as "The Talking Comedian of the South", is cr ...
song "
Alice's Restaurant
"Alice's Restaurant Massacree", commonly known as "Alice's Restaurant", is a satirical talking blues song by singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie, released as the title track to his 1967 debut album ''Alice's Restaurant''. The song is a deadpan protest ...
". Obanhein later said that some of the details in the song were not completely true; he said he had not handcuffed Guthrie during the arrest and said they removed the seat from the toilet in Guthrie's cell to prevent theft, not to prevent suicide. Obanhein later would note that he would not have arrested Guthrie had the amount of garbage been smaller (he would have picked up the garbage himself)
[William J. Obanhein; 'Alice's Restaurant' Lawman, 69]
''The New York Times'' (September 14, 1994). Retrieved October 29, 2015. and that he meant to use the arrest and subsequent
media circus
Media circus is a colloquial metaphor, or idiom, describing a news event for which the level of media coverage—measured by such factors as the number of reporters at the scene and the amount of material broadcast or published—is perceived to ...
as an example to deter any further large-scale littering incidents.
Obanhein accepted an offer from another Stockbridge resident,
Arthur Penn
Arthur Hiller Penn (September 27, 1922 – September 28, 2010)
was an American director and producer of film, television and theater. Closely associated with the American New Wave, Penn directed critically acclaimed films throughout the 19 ...
, to appear as himself in a
film adaptation of ''Alice's Restaurant'' Penn was directing and co-writing.
[Cummings, Paula (November 21, 2017)]
Interview: Arlo Guthrie Carries On Thanksgiving Traditions And Fulfills Family Legacy
''NYS Music''. Retrieved October 25, 2018. Obanhein told ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' magazine (September 29, 1969, where his photo appears) that making himself look like a fool was preferable to having somebody else make him look like a fool. Working on the film caused Obanhein to develop greater respect for Guthrie, and afterward, the two remained friends for the rest of Obanhein's life.
Obanhein posed for
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...
(himself a resident of Stockbridge) for a handful of sketches, including the 1959 black-and-white sketch ''Policeman With Boys'', which was used in nationwide advertisements for
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
The Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, also known as MassMutual, is a Springfield, Massachusetts-based life insurance company.
MassMutual provides financial products such as life insurance, disability income insurance, long term ...
(MassMutual). He was also one of the models in Rockwell's iconic ''
The Problem We All Live With
''The Problem We All Live With '' is a painting by Norman Rockwell that is considered an iconic image of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. It depicts Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old African-American girl, on her way to William Frantz E ...
'', though his face is not seen.
He is sometimes mistaken (including on Guthrie's website) for the officer who posed for Rockwell's painting ''The Runaway'', which appeared on a 1958 cover of ''
The Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...
''; this was not Obanhein but Massachusetts state trooper Richard Clemens, and the painting was instead set at Joe's Diner in
Lee, Massachusetts
Lee is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, metropolitan statistical area. The population was 5,788 at the 2020 census. Lee, which includes the villages of South and East Lee, is p ...
, not in Stockbridge.
[Larry Cultrera, ''Classic Diners of Massachusetts'' (2011), p. 112.]
Obanhein died September 11, 1994, apparently from a heart attack.
[
]
References
External links
*
Stockbridge Police Department
– displaying a licensed version of 'Policeman with Boys'
''The New York Times''. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obanhein, William
1924 births
1994 deaths
American municipal police chiefs
People from Stockbridge, Massachusetts
American artists' models