The voice of Frosty the Snowman has brought a lot of joy and warmth to thousands over the decades, ever since the beloved animated movie was released in 1969.
The voice belonged to comedian and actor Jackie Vernon, who was 45 years old when he took on the role.
However, behind the scenes, it appears that his life paled in comparison to the wholesomeness of Frosty, according to one of his kids.
Jackie, who was born in New York City in 1924, and passed away aged 63 in 1987, welcomed three kids with his wife Hazel Vernon, David, Lisa and Tracey. However David, speaking on the Nostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia podcast this week, alleged that his father had "three" secret families.
Recalling a surprise visit he received in his family home when he was younger, he said: "There was a woman there with a kid who was older than I was," adding: "He was probably in his late teens and a little rough around the edges looking."
"The woman asked to speak to my dad and I said, you know, my dad's on the road and he's not home. Then, I remember she was very firm, she was like, 'Well then I want to speak to your mother then,'" he further recalled.
"So my mom came and I guess she assessed what the situation was right away, but my mom told me to go upstairs and talked to her. But I heard a somewhat heated conversation going on, and then a couple of minutes later they left. And so I had to know, I asked my mom, 'Who was that?'" he went on, before revealing: "And it finally kind of came out that before our family, my dad had been married at least three other times, which I was kind of shocked to find out."
Though it's unclear when exactly Jackie married Hazel, born Hazel Sawyer in 1929, who died in 2006 aged 77, their son further claimed: "From these marriages, he had sons, and he named them all Ralph, after himself, after his original name, Ralph Verrone. But he also abandoned all these families, moved on."
"My mom wasn't even sure if he'd divorced one of the women or if he was married to another one, but when my parents were married, they had a deal," he added, explaining: "She would name the boys and he could name the girls. She had sort of gotten this idea that a Ralph was an unloved kid, a kid that was left behind, and she wanted to make sure that I was never going to be a Ralph. That's when I realized that my mom had this plan that he stayed with our family and didn't abandon us."
David also shared that his father's later life was marred with struggles with drug addiction and depression. "He went through some of his own demons with depression and addiction. His addiction was really kind of tranquilizers, Quaaludes, and Valium. It really took a toll on him and he had to work very hard to kind of break free from that depression. It was a hard struggle for him and it was hard for us, seeing him go through that."
Still, he maintains fond memories of his father, including one of their last Christmases together, during which they watched Jackie's classic movie. "One of the last Christmases that my dad was around, we all watched it together and he was so proud of it. He enjoyed it, he laughed at it. He was so happy he had done it and it became a very warm spot in his heart that I loved seeing that for him."
"Even though my dad did so many other things... he worked with Judy Garland, Bette Midler, Frank Sinatra, it was the one thing people really remembered him for. Newer generations found it and he really embraced it. He accepted that that was something he was going to be remembered for and he loved it."