AS SEEN ON TV: TRACEY THURMAN

TRACEY THURMAN

AS SEEN IN:
"A Cry For Help: The Tracey Thurman Story"

AS PLAYED BY:
Nancy McKeon

From All-Movies:
Tracey Thurman was a real-life Connecticut housewife who, throughout her marriage, suffered horrendous abuse at the hands of her husband. The beatings culminate in a single bloody night when Buck Thurman stabs his estranged wife 13 times. She survived--barely--and Buck was arrested.

[The significance of this frame grab: Ms. Thurman was so badly injured still when she took the stand, that she could not raise her right hand to take the oath.]

Having failed to get proper protection from the local police force, Tracey successfully sued the officers in 1989. The long-range result was the Thurman Law, which called for mandatory arrests in wife-beating cases in Connecticut and several other states.

Nancy McKeon, who plays Tracey Thurman in "A Cry for Help", starred in the film in the hope that it would prevent Buck Thurman's early release from prison.

"A Cry For Help: The Tracy Thurman Story" first aired on October 2, 1989; Thurman was scheduled for release in 1991.

BCnU!

PS:
The true-life events happened in the next town over from the Lake cottage which has been in my family for generations. While I was on vacation there back in August, 28 year old Charles Motuzick - the son of Buck and Tracey Thurman - pleaded guilty to one count of possessing narcotics (while on parole) and will be going back to prison for at least the next seven years.