It's a way of getting the love from their family that they never got before. By the autumn of Karen's failing health could no longer be ignored.
The real reason Karen Carpenter was driven to anorexia
In addition to her skeletal appearance, she was mentally and physically exhausted. Although she made it through a series of shows in LasVegas without a major incident, upon returning to Los Angeles she checked into Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, where she spent five days while doctors ran tests. In my opinion it would have been highly dangerous to her long-term health.
Ticket sales for the 50 shows, which sold out in a matter of hours, were refunded. Under Agnes Carpenter's close watch, Karen slept hours a day. It was obvious that for the past two years I'd been running on nervous energy. Over the next five years Karen continued to struggle with anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Meanwhile Richard Carpenter fought and won a battle with Quaalude addiction. Then in June , after an unsuccessful attempt to launch a solo career, Karen announced her engagement to a property developer called Tom Burris.
Thirty-nine-year-old Tom Burris met a number of Karen's requirements in a potential husband. Two months into their relationship, Burris told Karen he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. The couple's plan for a year-long engagement was ditched when they announced in July their plans for an August ceremony.
The push to be married alarmed Karen's friends. Karen was dumbfounded. He offered to reverse the procedure but their chances at a family would be significantly lessened. Karen felt betrayed. Burris had lied to her; he had withheld this information for the duration of their courtship and engagement, knowing full well that starting a family was at the top of Karen's list of priorities.
This was a deal breaker. The wedding was off. Karen picked up the phone and called her mother. She cried to Agnes as she explained the deceit that left her with no choice but to cancel the ceremony. But Agnes told her she would do no such thing. Family and friends were travelling from all over the country to attend the event.
Moreover, the wedding expenses had already cost what Agnes considered to be a small fortune.
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There are reporters and photographers coming. People magazine is going to be there. The wedding is on, and you will walk down that aisle. You made your bed, Karen," she told her. Most of Karen's family and friends had assumed Burris's lifestyle and net worth were comparable to her own. The expensive cars and other possessions gave him the appearance of a multimillionaire, but what others did not realise was that he was living well beyond his means.
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Finally it got down to the point where all she had left was stocks and bonds. As Itchie Ramone recalls, "Tom couldn't afford the houses, the cars, her wedding ring; he couldn't pay for anything. He was often impatient, and she admitted being fearful when he would occasionally lose his temper. But Karen's longing to be a mother proved to be stronger than her desire to leave her husband. At their house in Newport Beach Karen expressed to Burris her desire to get pregnant and start a family. His response was brutal. She was still crying hysterically when she called Itchie Ramone for support.
Burris had told her he wouldn't even consider having children with her and called her "a bag of bones".
Karen Carpenter Suffered From Anorexia Nervosa
According to Itchie, this marriage was "the straw that broke the camel's back. It was absolutely the worst thing that could have ever happened to her. Friends suggested she and Burris seek marital counselling. Instead, the Carpenters prepared to leave for Europe and South America. Itchie went along to keep Karen company. In reality, however, according to Itchie, "Laxatives were her major companion.
When we were in Paris we made quite a scene in a pharmacy across the street from our hotel about her needing to buy more laxatives. I suggested natural food groups that might relieve her 'constipation' but she always won those arguments. Following a brief stop in Amsterdam, the Carpenters arrived at London's Heathrow airport on Wednesday, 21 October They made numerous promotional appearances while in London, both in person and on television.
Barely one minute into their visit, host Sue Lawley surprised Karen by casting light on her darkest secret. She struggled to fake a laugh, rolling her eyes at the interviewer, who quickly converted the amount to approximately 84lbs. In actuality her weight was hovering around 5st 10lbs even then. The interviewer's continued efforts to pinpoint a reason for Karen's skeletal appearance prompted Richard to come to his sister's defence. It's really not what we're here for. Returning to Los Angeles in November , Karen filed for divorce.
Leaving behind the pieces of her broken marriage, she set out on a year-long recovery mission, relocating to New York City's Regency Hotel in January Cherry O'Neill, the eldest daughter of singer Pat Boone who had herself recovered from anorexia, had recommended Karen consider coming to the northwest and seeing the doctor who helped her.
But in Karen's world, one name was synonymous with anorexia treatment, and that name was Steven Levenkron. He was a psychotherapist specialising in eating disorders and his successful book The Best Little Girl in the World had become a highly acclaimed television movie, which aired in May Levenkron agreed to treat her.
A week into their daily sessions, Karen admitted to Levenkron she was taking a large number of laxative tablets — Dulcolax a night. This did not surprise Levenkron. In fact, it was a common practice for many anorexics. What did stun Levenkron was Karen's next casual disclosure. She was also taking thyroid medication — 10 pills a day.
He was shocked, especially when she explained that she had a normal thyroid. Realising she was using the medication to speed up her metabolism, Levenkron confiscated the pills. This was the first case of thyroid medication abuse he had seen in his dozen years in the field. According to Levenkron's book, Treating and Overcoming Anorexia Nervosa , the patient must become totally dependent upon the therapist. Once the patient has transferred their dependence on to him, he tries to teach them how to create their own sense of identity, and he helps them disengage from their dependence on him with new behaviours, habits, and thought patterns.
Karen took advantage of the beautiful spring weather and began a new exercise routine — to and from her sessions with Levenkron — a brisk two-mile round-trip walk. This was yet another method to burn extra calories. Outwardly Karen seemed committed to the idea of therapy, but as evidenced by her daily walking regimen, she was not as committed to making actual changes that would result in real progress. Debilitating things like that. Several months into his sessions with Karen, Levenkron began to suspect that she had fallen off the wagon.
He invited the Carpenter parents and Richard to a minute family therapy session at his office.
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By then, Karen seemed to be starting to turn the corner a bit emotionally. The stigma surrounding mental illness and a need for therapy was frightening for the family, especially Agnes, who felt Karen was simply going overboard as far as dieting was concerned. If only she would stop being so stubborn and just eat.
Over the years the family tried every possible approach to get through to her and make her eat. Obviously it wasn't about to work, and I was upset. Levenkron explained that the family's attempts to threaten or bribe Karen out of her behaviours would never make them go away. According to his book, "Failure of the family to understand this produces division within the family that in turn results in feelings of anger and guilt.
The family atmosphere is chaotic, reinforcing the anorexic's belief that she and no one else knows what is best for her. Karen cried uncontrollably during the meeting.
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She told them how sorry she was for having put them in a situation where they felt a need to defend her upbringing, and she went so far as to apologise for ruining their lives. Rather than address her daughter, Agnes explained how she preferred to be called Mrs Carpenter. But despite her epic success and notoriety, Karen Carpenter suffered silently with her personal demons.
From the outside looking in, Carpenter seemed to have it all. She was beautiful and talented, both as a vocalist and drummer. Her image was squeaky clean, almost to a fault. The Carpenters were often chided by critics for their wholesome, goody-goody image. Sadly, the stress of living on the road in a tour bus along with other more personal struggles finally took its toll on Carpenter. The public Karen Carpenter was hugely successful and adored by her peers and countless fans.