Francis Van Wie

For the 1928 song, see I'm a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas. For the 1942 animated short, see Ding Dog Daddy. For the 1966 comic book, see Ding Dong Daddy.
Francis Van Wie
Black and white portrait of Francis Van Wie from 1952. This staged photograph was provided for press coverage following his 1952 arrest for bigamy (21 Aug 1952) and depicts the subject, characterized by the press as an unlikely Lothario due to his baldness, surrounded by three attractive women. One woman is hugging him from behind and her face is fully visible to his right. Two women are kissing the top of his head.
Francis Van Wie, staged photograph for press coverage following his 1952 arrest for bigamy (21 Aug 1952)
Born1886 (1886)[1]
Madison, Wisconsin[1]
Died1973(1973-00-00) (aged 86–87)[2]
Lake Elsinore, California[2]
Other names
    • Car Barn Casanova
    • Ding Dong Daddy of the D-car Line
    • Trolley Toreador
OccupationStreetcar conductor
Known forserial bigamy

Francis Harrison Van Wie (Born 1886 - Died 1973) was a streetcar conductor for the Market Street Railway and its successor, the Municipal Railway in San Francisco, who was famed for romancing and marrying as many as twelve women without divorce by the time he was arrested in 1945 for bigamy. Local press coverage of his arrest and trial gave him colorful, alliterative nicknames, including the Ding Dong Daddy of the D-car Line, the Trolley Toreador, and the Car Barn Casanova.

  1. ^ a b Finnerty, Peggy (March 27, 1945). "'Daddy' Claims Headaches at Insanity Trial". Berkeley Daily Gazette. U.P. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference MSRy-DDD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).