Kroger Babb - Personal Life

Personal Life

Babb met Mildred Horn in 1944 during a showing of Dust to Dust in Indianapolis, where she was working as a movie critic; her review of the film called it a "cheap, mislabeled morality play," but the two struck up a conversation about it. They stayed together in a common-law marriage; Horn wrote a number of Babb's screenplays, including Mom and Dad, as well as companion books.

In November 1953, Babb was arrested on a drunk-driving charge after running a red traffic light and refusing a sobriety test. His $250 bail was continued, and he was not convicted, although this mishap to the recent creator of the anti-alcohol film One Too Many was widely covered in the press.

Babb had tax troubles in the years after his success with Mom and Dad. He suggested to the Press-Enterprise that his operation was so diffuse that sales of his one-dollar sex education pamphlets were too difficult to track accurately. Babb eventually sold the rights to Mom and Dad and his stake in Modern Film Distributors to Erwin Joseph and Floyd Lewis — former partners in Modern Film who would continue to showcase Mom and Dad across the United States.

Babb suffered from various ailments toward the end of his life, including a stroke. He retired in 1977, at 70, and died of heart failure (due to complications from diabetes) on January 29, 1980, in Palm Springs, California. He was survived by his wife, a son, and five grandchildren. Babb is buried in Centerville, Ohio. His gravestone reads, "His many trips around and all over the world began in Centerville and end here in Lees Creek."