Gaslit: Who was Frank Wills and How Did Watergate Security Guard Die? – The Watergate Scandal has been the subject of numerous movies and television series. What sets ‘Gaslit‘ apart from the rest is that it concentrates on individuals who, despite their pivotal role in the scandal’s discovery, have been forgotten by history. As a result, Frank Wills, the security guard who discovered tapes taped to the locks at the Watergate Complex and alerted the authorities, is rightfully included in this narrative.
In ‘Gaslit,’ Frank Wills (Patrick Walker) struggles to cope with his sudden celebrity and gradually finds that he has become virtually unemployed as a result. A disillusioned Frank decides to return to Georgia near the end of Starz ‘Gaslit’ episode 6, titled ‘Tuffy.’ We’ve got you covered if you’re wondering what happened to Frank Wills.
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Who Was Frank Wills?
Frank was born on February 4, 1948, in Savannah, Georgia, and was raised primarily by his mother. He dropped out of school in the 11th grade and went to the Job Corps to get an equivalency degree in heavy machine operations.
Frank worked on the assembly line at the Ford factory in Detroit, Michigan, for a short time before being forced to leave owing to his asthma. He subsequently moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked as a security guard at the Watergate Complex.
On that fateful June night in 1972, a 24-year-old Frank discovered the tapes on the Watergate office building’s locks and dialled 911 from the lobby phone. Officer Carl M. Shoffler, Sgt. Paul W. Leeper, and Officer John B. Barrett arrived in plainclothes and detained five individuals from the DNC offices. James McCord, Bernard Barker, Virgilio Gonzalez, Frank Sturgis, and Eugenio Martnez were the men in question.
This resulted in the exposure of one of the most well-known political scandals in American history. Several members of Nixon’s administration were found guilty and sentenced to prison. Nixon resigned from the presidency, but Gerald Ford granted him a presidential pardon.
While many others, including some of the condemned, were able to profit from their role in the Watergate scandal, Frank was not so fortunate. He quit his work, according to The New York Times, because he didn’t think he was getting the raise he deserved. According to The Washington Post, Frank did so due to a lack of paid vacation.
He was asked to give public talks about his experience, but he didn’t make much money from them. Frank was likewise having trouble finding a job. “I don’t know if they’re being advised not to hire me or if they’re just terrified of hiring me,” he once told The Washington Post. In the 1976 film ‘All the President’s Men,’ Frank played himself.
What Caused Frank Wills’ Death?
Frank’s financial difficulties persisted for the remainder of his life. He was arrested in 1983 for attempting to steal a pair of sneakers from a Georgia store. He was sentenced to a year in prison after that. Frank moved to North Augusta, South Carolina, at some point to care for his ailing mother.
Frank apparently earned money in his later years by mowing lawns and completing other jobs for the elderly in his area. He was told he had a brain tumour. Frank died on September 27, 2000, at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, Georgia. At the time, he was 52 years old. Angel Brown, his daughter, survived him.
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