Over the years, especially in the 1970s, many runours were circulated regarding Alice and what he may or may not have done or been involved in. Here's some of the lesser known rumours that were passed off as true, however bizarre or rediculous, and the truth behind them.

The Following Are Untrue!

"Didn't he blow up sheep on stage?"

or "She would never go to one of his shows because he slaughtered cows on stage."

Of course Alice has never done either of these things, but these are genuine quotes from US newspapers.

Alice Cooper Is Eddie Haskell from the 'Leave it to Beaver' TV show.

This is a very American one, as no one outside the US would know who Eddie Haskell was. It was regurgitated endlessly in the mid to late seventies newspaper letters columns when the press would take any opportunity to run an Alice Cooper related story. Haskell was a character, played by actor Ken Osmond, in a show called 'Leave It To Beaver'. Osmond looked nothing like Alice at all. Alice even took to wearing a t-shirt saying "No, I am not Eddie Haskell".

Interestingly Marilyn Manson had almost the exact same rumour circulating about him in the 90s/200s. For him it was the suggestion he was Josh Saviano, who played the part of Paul Pfeffier in 'The Wonder Years'. It was equally untrue of course, but at least these two looked vaguely similar.

Alice Cooper Plays Golf with Presidents

This next one is often repeated to this day. When talking about Alice's golf obssession it's often stated that he used to play with Presidents, or vice-presidents.

"The funny one is that when someone slags Alice for golfing, it is almost always about him golfing with a President or a Vice President. Something that he has never done.
(Renfield, May 1997)

Now when Brian said that it was likely true, however since a lot has happend and it may not strictly speaking be true any more. Alice has appeared at probably over 100 celebrity golf tournaments in the last 2 years so it's actually quite likely he HAS now played with an ex-president or vice president. He certainly played golf with future president Donald Trump at least once at a charity event.

However for now we'll leave this as untrue, as at the time most people were saying it, it hadn't yet thappened.

Alice Cooper ran for governor of Arizona

Alice never ran for Governor! He mentioned it *as a joke* in some interview ("A Troubled MAn For A Troubled Time") and it all got out of hand with the mainstream press mentioning it frequently over the subsequent years.

From an Interview circa '94:

Meanwhile, Alice tells me that there's absolutely no truth to the rumour that he intends to get involved in Politics in his home state of Arizona. He said, "In Arizona we had three governors in a row thrown out of office and people asked me why I didn't run for office. I told them I wasn't crooked enough."

"No, he never actually campaigned, but he had a lot of fun toying with the idea, suggesting that people vote for him as a write-in candidate and giving wise ass, but good reasons why they should. This was in RIP magazine, probably 1986 or 1987, in the bit they devoted to random news bits.
(Sister Mary Widow, October 2000)

In 2016 Alice reissued 'Elected' in time for the presidential election in the USA. The promotional campagn of course centered around the 'A Troubled Man For A Troubled Time' catchphrase, and even put him up for election in the UK, dispite there being no election at the time! This time Alice even put out a list of things he would do if elected.

  1. Getting Brian Johnson back in AC/DC
  2. A snake in every pot
  3. No more pencils, no more books
  4. Adding Lemmy to Mt Rushmore
  5. Rename Big Ben "Big Lemmy"
  6. Groucho Marx on the $50 bill
  7. Peter Sellers on the £20 note
  8. Cupholders required for every airplane seat
  9. Ban on talking during movies in movie theatres
  10. Ban on taking selfies, except on a designated National Selfie Day
There was even a website for the campaign. Again it was a joke, and no one with any intelligence thought it was anything more then a publicity campaign, but of course some media sources still reported it as if it was serious... which maybe explains how Trump won.

The "Gross Out" Competition

This is an oldie but a goodie going back to the very early 70s if not before. The names mentioned have varied over the years, but it's often Frank Zappa and Alice Cooper. Of course there was never any 'Gross Out' contest.

From a Frank Zappa Interview in Playboy Magazine:

Playboy; One of the more colorful legends maintains Zappa and Alice Cooper had a gross-out contest on-stage; After Cooper allegedly squashed some live baby chicks, Zappa supposedly picked up a plastic spoon and ate a plate of steaming feces.
- and later-
Playboy:.. .some of your antics from the Mothers of Invention days like the famed gross-out contest.
Frank Zappa: "There never was a gross-out contest. That was a rumor. Somebodys imagination ran wild. Chemically bonded imagination. The rumor was that I went so far as to eat shit on-stage. There were people who were terribly disappointed that I never ate shit on-stage. But no, there never was anything resembling a gross-out contest.

Bill Gate's Wedding

Here's an obscure one but worth mentioning:

B"ill Gates' Wedding - Although this was reported in the media (USA Today, etc.) It was not true. Not known why this happened except that Gates got married on an island in Hawaii, and Alice was in Maui at the time.
(Renfield, August 1995)

Oh, and Alice's father was NOT Captain Kangeroo!! That was another gossip column rumour from the 70s.

However, This lot ARE True!

A Teenager Killed Himself after emulating the Gallows trick

Yep, sadly this one is very true, and was reported in the press at the time. It all came about after a 1974 repeat broadcast of the 'ABC In Concert' TV show which featured the 'School's Out' show including the execution by hanging. The 14 year old was David Andrew Coomes from Calgary, Canada. The news reported that "the boy told his sister after the programme that the hanging was just a trick, and that he could do it himself. His body was found later, hanging by a cloth belt in a bedroom closet". It's been suggested it happened more than once, possibly because the pathologist refered to the hanging as a "fad" and there are mentions of "hanging parties".

Elton John watched Alice's home burn to the ground

Yep, this one's true as well. In 1975 Elton owned the house next to Alice's new Beverley Hills home when it it caught fire. Alice wasn't at home but saw it on the TV news. There were many reports at the time that "everyone" went over to Elton's house to watch the fire. Alice had only just bought the property and later had it rebuild.

"Yup! The house that burned down in '75 when he was watching the news. it was his Beverly Hills home which he had just purchased and subsequently rebuilt."
(Renfield, May 1997)

The John Denver Feud

Denver had said in a magazine that he would be around for a lot longer than a flash-in-the-pan Alice Cooper. Alice responded in an interview that he would be around long enough to piss on Denver's grave. Denver then sent AC a bouquet of flowers, Alice then sent Denver an AC album with a pair of earplugs.

The Hollywood Sign

This is now pretty well known, having recieved a great deal of publicity over the years. Alice was the driving force for rehabilitating the famous Hollywood Sign in California. He donated a startup capital, and even the "O" out of his name for awhile. Awnings at shows at the time would list "Alice Coper" as playing the venue.

This is so real that it cost Alice $27,777.00. (I'm pretty sure that was tax deductible). Alice actually started the whole campaign to save the sign - although credit mistakenly goes to Playboy's Hugh Hefner (Alice not getting credited - shocking!) Hugh bought the "H" (get it), Warner Bros, bought the "W" (get it). Alice bought the "O" next to the D. He bought it in memory of Groucho [Marx]. To this day, Alice insists that it was the first O that he bought - but he is WRONG and I have documented proof. The check for the 27thou was painted on a big piece of the old sign and endorsed by Alice - very cool as a piece of Alice memorabilia, but also a real Hollywood collectible. Yes - I do have it.
(Renfield, June 1995)

Alice and Kane Roberts were in a gun fight

In the November '92 issue of 'Metal Edge' magazine, it was reported that Alice and Kane Roberts had recently been having dinner together in some restaurant that was held up at gunpoint. Shots were fired; Alice and Kane managed to slip out the back unharmed - into the path of the getaway car. Supposedly ducking bullets, they escaped unscathed.

This is definitely true!
(Renfield, February 1999)

"A friend of mine reminded me of an unusual event that took place a while back. Alice and I were shot at (repeatedly) one night while eating at a Marie Callenders restaurant in Van Nuys CA. AC and I happened to be there (after meeting with Bob Ezrin) during a robbery. We were eating pie (not kidding) and we heard gunshots. Our waitress leaned back to see WTF was happening in the front of the restaurant, she threw plates in the air and ran for the back. Everyone headed for the back exit door that opened into their kitchen storage.
Bullets were striking the walls on either side of us. When we made it outside the gang members were rolling thru the lot and all I can say is I'm amazed we weren't hit.
Alice and I got separated and one guy focused on me, maybe four to six shots - I was hugging a car trying to stay out of the line of fire (he must have had trouble aiming from a moving car). They were caught when Randy Shields (pro boxer) shot one of them at their next stop (another restaurant lol).
When it was over we were catching our breathe and a guy came out of hiding and asked for Alice's autograph... seriously. Funny shite.
(Kane Roberts, September 2015 via Facebook)

Alice was almost stabbed

Alice has spoken about a man named 'Pat' who supposedly saved him from a fan when the madman attempted to stab Alice back in his earlier years.

"True story. He's a sports caster. He used to work at a hotel that Alice was once staying at back in the 70's.

Aice and Grocho Marx

Alice was friends with legendary comic Groucho Marx in the last 70s, and the two were often seen together around Hollywood. Groucho once gave Alice a stuffed bear as a companion to his own bear. One story Alice tells is that Groucho gave him his old bed, which he in turn gave to Paul McCartney. McCartney appeared to cnfirm the story when the pair were both on the 'Later.. with Joolz Holand' show.

A few more 'Little Things

Alice's costume for Halloween 1994 was.... Frank Zappa!

Alice WAS the singer once was named Homecoming Queen at the University of Houston

In the late 60s Mercury Records wanted the band to sack Alice before they would sign them. Luckily for everyone they refused.

Finally we have the 'Who knows?'

ALice and The Old Lady On The Plane

Allegedly, while on a plane trip, Alice was seated next to a little old lady. After chatting for a while, she told Alice that she was going to take a nap. When the plane landed, Alice tried to wake her only to find out she had died in her sleep.
Interestingly in recent years Ozzy Osbourne has also told the exact same story.