Jack Frye as an assistant. However, the project was cancelled. Frye died February 3, 1959 in a car accident in Tucson, Arizona, exactly 33 years to the day after his founding of Standard Air Lines. The death received limited coverage, due to the deaths of famous musicians Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, and The Big Bopper in a plane crash on the same day. He was originally buried in Tucson, but now is at rest in Wheeler, Texas. In Martin Scorsese's 2004 biopic of Howard Hughes, "The Aviator", Frye was portrayed by actor Danny Huston. Jack Frye William John "Jack" Frye (March 18,
American Pie (song) 1999, "Weird Al" Yankovic wrote and recorded a parody of "American Pie". Titled "The Saga Begins", the song recounts the plot of "" from Obi-Wan Kenobi's point of view. While McLean gave permission for the parody, he did not make a cameo appearance in its video, despite popular rumor. McLean himself praised the parody, even admitting to almost singing Yankovic's lyrics during his own live performances because his children played the song so often. The City of Grand Rapids, Michigan created a lip dub video to "American Pie" in response to a "Newsweek" article that stated the city was "dying".