Alfred Uhry accused of defaming Litchfield Mortgage
By PATRICK CROWLEY
2/17/2005

The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of Driving Miss Daisy allegedly drove his son-in-law out of the mortgage business, according to a federal law suit.

Author Alfred F. Uhry, whose screen adaptation of his Driving Miss Daisy also won an Oscar, is in the middle of a bitter family dispute with his son-in-law, Russell B. Rhea, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Hartford, Conn.

Rhea, 43, is seeking nearly $1.4 million in damages against Uhry for spreading rumors so defamatory that Rhea said he was forced to close his mortgage business, Litchfield Mortgage Associates LLC, formerly of New Milford, Conn.

Rhea has asked for $1 million for harm to his reputation and $378,000 he lost in the mortgage business.

"Uhry made the statements...willfully, maliciously, outrageously, deliberately and purposely with the intention of inflicting emotional distress," Rhea claims in the suit.

Uhry, 68, who also wrote the Tony-winning plays The Last Night of Ballyhoo and Parade, called the allegations "ludicrous" and "preposterous," reportedly told the Hartford Courant.

"(Rhea) has a credibility problem," Uhry reportedly said.

Rhea, of West Hartford, Conn., was married to Uhry's daughter, Emily Ann Uhry, for 16 years. The couple filed for divorce in June of 2003.

Rhea said his father-in-law told "friends and business associates" in several cities that he "engaged in criminal conduct in both his personal life and in his profession of mortgage brokerage," according to the lawsuit.

Uhry told people that Rhea had "stolen documents from potential clients" and "attempted to obtain potential clients' signatures on various mortgage documents under false pretenses," Rhea alleges in the suit.

"Uhry owed (Rhea) a duty to either speak truthfully" about his personal and professional conduct "or to remain silent about them."

Rhea said he is experiencing "severe emotional distress and mental suffering" because of Uhry's alleged comments.

Uhry also allowed another one of his daughters, Katherine Fox-Uhry, to make "numerous defamatory statements "and tell "numerous and dangerous lies" about Rhea, according to the suit.

Rhea is also suing Fox-Uhry for slander, the paper reported.

But the Courant also reported that Rhea is also facing some bizarre allegations.

The court documents in the Rhea and Uhry's divorce "portray a tempestuous marriage, complete with allegations of excessive drinking, bullying and attempted poisoning," the paper reported.

Rhea allegedly put antismoking nicotine patches on his wife while she was sleeping after drinking and watching a television show where "someone had been murdered with nicotine patches," according to the paper.

Rhea denied the allegations, it was reported.

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