The actress and singer was formerly married to musician Andy Williams.

Claudine Longet, singer and actress who fatally shot Olympic skier boyfriend Spider Sabich, dies at 84

The actress and singer was formerly married to musician Andy Williams.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

EW's editorial guidelines

May 14, 2026 6:47 p.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Claudine Longet in 1970. Credit:

- Actress and singer Claudine Longet has died, her nephew said. She was 84.

- Longet was also well known for her 1977 conviction in the shooting death of her boyfriend, Olympic skier Vladimir "Spider" Sabich.

- Longet had previously been married to singer Andy Williams, with whom she shared three children.

Claudine Longet, an actress and singer who spent the 1960s appearing in TV shows such as *McHale's Navy* and movies including Blake Edwards' *The Party*, then went on star in a very real 1976 trial after fatally shooting her Olympian boyfriend, has died. She was 84.

Longet's nephew Bryan Longet shared the news on social media in French: "You were a true source of inspiration in my life, and you always will be," an English translation read. "One more star in the sky. Thank you for everything, Auntie. My thoughts are with my French-American family. I will continue to honor your memory."

The former showgirl married singer Andy Williams in 1961, after meeting him in Las Vegas when her car had broken down. He stopped to help.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our ******EW Dispatch newsletter******.***

She began to appear onscreen in *The Andy Williams Show*, then on shows such as *McHale's Navy*,* Dr. Kildare*, and *Hogan's Heroes*. By 1968, Longet was part of the cast of movie *The Party, *alongside comedy legend Peter Sellers. In the meantime, she had released several albums.

Notably, the couple were close friends of Robert F. Kennedy and his wife Ethel, and they were upstairs in his suite the night he was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, according to the *Hollywood Reporter*. They were also at the nearby Good Samaritan Hospital when he was pronounced dead.

Celebrity deaths 2026: Remembering the stars who died this year

'Revenge of the Nerds' actor Donald Gibb dies following a battle with throat cancer

Longet and Williams, who shared three children, split by the end of the decade. But they remained friends.

Longet went on to date Vladimir "Spider" Sabich, after the couple met at a skiing event for celebrities in 1972. He had competed at the 1968 Winter Olympics in France.

The athlete died from a gunshot wound inflicted by Longet on March 21, 1976. She maintained that the gun had gone off accidentally at their home in Aspen, Colo.

Claudine Longet and Spider Sabich in 1974.

"I told him to try to make it, to talk to me," she told the *New York Times* in January 1977, "and I saw he was sort of fainting so I tried to give him mouth‐to‐mouth resuscitation."

He died on the way to the hospital. Longet was convicted of negligent homicide, a misdemeanor, in the case. She was sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years of probation.

Longet later faced a civil lawsuit that was settled out of court from Sabich's family, *THR* noted.

She married one of her defense attorneys, Ronald Austin, in 1985.

- Celebrities & Creators

- Celebrity Death News

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Celebrity”