John W. Hinckley Jr., whose 1981 attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan earned him a place as a character in the Stephen Sondheim/John Weidman musical Assassins, is being released from a psychiatric facility August 5, according to a report in The Washington Post.
In the musical Hinckley sings the duet “Unworthy of Your Love” with Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, would-be killer of President Gerald Ford. The characters were linked because they both said they committed their crimes to impress a third party, Fromme for Charles Manson and Hinckley for actress Jodie Foster.
The real-life Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity and has spent more than 32 years in a government psychiatric hospital. This week U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman ruled that Hinckley “no longer poses a danger to himself or others and will be freed to live full-time with his mother in Williamsburg, VA,” on August 5, the Post reported.
Other musical theatre characters based on real-life people have spent time as guests of the government, including Tommy DeVito (Jersey Boys), Leo Frank (Parade), Clive Barrow (Bonnie & Clyde) and the title characters of The Scottsboro Boys.