Carter De Haven III

Movie producer Carter De Haven III, 94, died on July 3. He is interesting—to me, anyway—for several reasons. Most notably, he produced such films as Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round, Ulzana’s Raid, Hoosiers, A Walk with Love and Death, Yellowbeard, and Scandalous. He was also the grandson of vaudeville and movie stars Carter De Haven and Flora Parker (billed as “Mr. and Mrs. Carter De Haven”), and a nephew of film actress Gloria DeHaven (his father, Carter, Jr., was also a producer). De Haven was also one of the few people who could legitimately call himself “III” (being a copy editor has ruined me for real life). You can add a “III” to your name if you are royalty (King Charles III), if your father and grandfather are still living, or if you come from a famous family (thus, Douglas Fairbanks and Lon Chaney, Jr.). Otherwise, once your elders begin kicking off, you are demoted (promoted?) to Jr. or II (only if your grandfather is alive but your father is dead). And that is my Copy Editor bloviating for today!