Edward Walter Fryer: How Did Eric Clapton’s Father Die?

Who Is Eric Clapton’s Father, Edward?

Edward Walter Fryer is the father of one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time Eric Patrick Clapton. Edward’s son Eric Clapton is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Eric is widely recognized as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. He has received 18 Grammy Awards and the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.

Edward Walter Fryer: Bio Summary

Eric Clapton’s father, Edward Walter Fryer was born on 21 March 1920, in Montréal, Québec, Canada. His parents are Edward Arthur Fryer and Sarah Mooney. Edward was a Canadian soldier. At age 25, he got 16-year-old Patricia Molly Clapton (7 January 1929 – March 1999) pregnant after a brief encounter. On 30 March 1945, their son Eric Patrick Clapton was born.

Edward Walter Fryer Never Met His Son Eric Clapton

Edward Walter Fryer never knew of his son Eric Clapton. Eric even wrote the song “My Father’s Eyes” in the early ’90s. The song is inspired by the fact that he never met his father. He first performed the song in 1992 but was never released until 1998. My Father’s Eyes” won a Grammy award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Eric Clapton was born in Ripley, Surrey, England. His father Edward was stationed in England during Second World War. He got drafted to war before his son was born and then returned to Canada. Edward and Patricia’s son Eric Clapton was raised by his grandparents in Ripley, a village outside London.

Eric thought his grandmother, Rose, and her second husband, Jack Clapp, (Eric’s mother Patricia’s stepfather) were his real parents. Eric saw his biological mother Patricia Molly Clapton as his older sister. Edward also loved music. He played piano and sang in pubs at the time he met Patricia, Eric’s mother in England.

Also, Read: Patricia Molly Clapton: What Happened To Eric Clapton’s Mother?

Edward Walter Fryer allegedly sounded like Nat King Cole. Edward married Yvonne Colson from 1965 to 1971 and had a daughter, Eva Jane. Per reports, Edward’s marriage failed because he was drifting and didn’t want to be with one woman. Before this, he was thought to have married more than once.

Edward Walter Fryer also fathered at least two other children, Edward Jr., and Sandra Fryer, from previous marriages. He eventually bought a sailboat named Jupiter IV. He met Sylvia “Goldie” Nickason and the duo married. They remained together until Edward passed away. His partner Sylvia recalled a moment she had with him:

“I remember my first time on the boat, all we had to eat was a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter. But we had a nice sunset to watch that night and Ted took me in his arms and said, ‘I wonder what the poor people are doing right now. His happy-go-lucky ways endeared him to many people,” Sylvia says.

‘He continued to earn money singing at piano bars and the occasional bit of sign-painting.’

Eric Clapton Finds The Truth

The mother of Edward Walter Fryer’s son Patricia Molly Clapton married another Canadian soldier and relocated to Germany. She left her then-young son Eric with his grandparents in Surrey. Eric got to know that Patricia was his real mother and not his sister. At the time he knew, he was at age 9. However, Patricia decided to remain known as Eric’s sister.

Also Read: Conor Clapton: How Did Eric Clapton And Lory Del Santo’s Son Die?

Edward Walter Fryer died long before Eric Clapton got to know about him other than his name, which his grandmother had told him. Sources have it that, in 2007, Montreal journalist Michael Woloschuk tracked down Eric’s father Edward, and his family, discovering facts about them. That was when Eric Clapton got to know more about his father.

How Did Eric Clapton’s Father, Edward Die?

Eric Clapton’s father, Edward Walter Fryer was killed by leukemia. He died on 15 May 1985, at age 65, in a North York, Ontario, Canada veterans hospital. He was Cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea. His wife Sylvia said: “We had Ted cremated, and I danced with his ashes on the boat. Then we scattered his ashes in the water. “You tell this Eric Clapton that his father was a good man,” says Sylvia.