Vito Paulekas

Born: May 20, 1913, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. Died: October 25, 1992, Cotati, California, USA. Paulekas was typical of the hippy 'freak scene' personalities of California's '60s, leading an ensemble of squatters, occupying the Log Cabin once owned by Tom Mix, in a Laurel Canyon commune of love-fests, happenings and freak-outs. Among his spontaneous 'dance troupe' were Miss Christine, Miss Pamela and Miss Sandra, oft appearing in the Cherry Sisters and later to become members of Frank Zappa's GTO's project by the time Zappa resided in the Log Cabin. Paulekas was also associated with Kim Fowley and Fraternity Of Man. The son of a Lithuanian sausage-maker, Paulekas was already a social rebel when he arrived on the Sunset Strip, having spent time in a reformatory in his teens and released for war service in 1942. During the Depression he had made a living as a marathon dancer and it was this skill which gained him work on the Strip in 1962. Into his 50's, with freak clothes and a Beatle haircut he put in a fortnightly club appearance, dancing for Jim Doval & The Gauchos. Paulekas was an accomplished wood-carver and sculptor and very much a 'free spirit', like his friend Carl Franzoni, and both appeared in 'films' like "LSD-25", "Mondo Hollywood" and "You Are What You Eat". Paulekas cut a single produced by Kim Fowley and made appearances on Frank Zappa works by the Mothers Of Invention (who also performed on the single). A hippy to the end Paulekas departed for Haiti, moved to Jamaica and then became the 'mayor' of Cotati, a small music-oriented community at Sonoma near Santa Rosa, California- where he inspired many in the Arts.