Trent Lehman (from Nanny and the Professor)

February 23, 1961 – January 18, 1982

(about Dad)

Oh, darn. Why does he have to keep coming home?

 

Trent Lehman
Trent Lehman

 

Juliet Mills rocked.  Fran Drescher – the other nanny … uck.

Trent and Richard were both most famous for being in one of the best sitcoms ever, Nanny and the Professor. I, like many of you, loved this show. Butch, Hal, Prudence, Clarabelle, Myrtle and Waldo – the works. I think I acquired my dislike of cats from this show too. And Phoebe Figalilly was such a silly name…

The show ran on ABC from January 1970, until December 1971. Not very long, considering how engraved in my memory it is. Anyway, here’s a little information on two of its stars.

Trent Lehman played “Butch,” the middle kid of the bunch.

 

Findadeath.com friend James Hickok writes me:  “Trent’s only big-screen role as that of George Jorgensen as a child in “The Christine Jorgensen Story” the bio of the first publicized transsexual, it was this role that lead to his being cast in Nanny and the Professor.

 

 

Trent did manage to make it to age 20. He was living in this apartment building in the Valley.

 

 

In January of 1982, someone broke in to his apartment – probably through this door, and he was burglarized.

 

 

I doubt that he lost the contents of his mailbox.

 

 

In 1977, Trent’s mother moved her family back to Colorado – to try to establish some tranquility for her kids.  Trent did odd jobs, and never expressed interest in acting again.

In August of 1981 – Trent moved back to LA.  Friends said that a girlfriend prompted the return.  Trent and the girl broke up shortly after his return, and Trent was not taking it at all well.

On the evening of January 17th of ’82, he was hanging out with friends, and a guy named Joseph Allen. Allen lived across the street from Vena Avenue School, in Arleta, CA.

 

 

Trent had attended the school up until he was in the 6th grade, including the time he spent on the show.

It should also be noted, that earlier in the evening – Trent asked Joseph Allen’s father for shells for a rifle.  When questioned why he wanted them, Trent replied, “to blow his head off.”

The friends were doing something – I don’t know what – but Trent was drinking heavily.  Around 7:30 p.m. they dropped Trent off near his Chevy van that was parked across from Allen’s home – to “sleep it off.”  He was due to show up in court the next day, the 18th, for a traffic citation.

So the friends leave. The van was parked right about here.

 

 

 

It was parked on the wrong side of the street.  Apparently one parking violation wasn’t enough.   The friends return about 2 a.m., and the van was open, keys in the ignition, and empty beer cans on the console.  Then they saw Trent.  He was hanging from the 8-foot chain link fence of the school.

 

 

His bare feet touching the ground and his legs slightly bent.  There was a green bucket beside him that he apparently kicked.  Don’t.  The noose was assembled from a bandanna and a belt that was looped around the fence at about 7 1/2 feet from the ground.  He hadn’t been dead for very long as he was warm to touch.  His fly was undone.  True.  He was wearing brown jeans, a white t-shirt, blue thermal underwear (top and bottom).  Although his feet were bare, they were in the sleeves of a sweatshirt.  I don’t get that at all.  Also, he was wearing heavy gloves – which to me says he put them on after fastening the ligature to the fence.  Bizarre altogether – but it gets weirder.

Trent wrote a will that was found in his shirt pocket.  It stated that he left everything to his mother.  Here’s the kicker:  It was written on the back of his court appearance notice.

He was only 20 years old.

 

Trent Lehman Death Certificate

 

Trent was cut down, and taken to the medical examiner for an autopsy.  His van (license plate IM40839) towed away.  A significant amount of alcohol was in his system, as well as cocaine.  Our pals at Forest Lawn Glendale cremated Trent, and his cremains were given to his mother.

I’ll bet you didn’t know that there was a mailbox in front of the Everett home on the show, and if you did, I bet you didn’t think you’d ever see it again!

 

 

Trivia: On the Nanny show, the nickname “Butch” was short for Bentley.  Coinkydink – his body was released to Forest Lawn by a T. Bentley.  I’m just sayin…

Thanks Tboy, C and Terri.

 

 

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