Black swan lives on in MySpace

It seems nowadays everyone and everything has a MySpace page: films, people, bands, even birds.

One of the newest members to join the popular networking website cannot type — doesn’t even have fingers — and, in fact, is no longer alive. Still, Rupert the black swan has managed to transcend even death to join the ranks of Web posters this week.

A page on the website created by Phoebe Shackeroff, director of a documentary on Newport Beach’s enduring mascot, features photos, paintings and Rupert trivia. The page already has 21 people logged on as friends of the bird, who was accidentally killed during a police investigation in 2006.

Rupert may not always have inspired such devotion, but he was notorious in the community, said Shackeroff. Now an even larger audience has the opportunity to get to know him.

“You know Flipper. Lassie and Gentle Ben. Now meet Rupert, a cranky black Australian swan who became famous when he arrived unexpectedly in the harbor,” Shackeroff posted for the site’s first entry.

Visitors to the page will learn about the swan’s favorite films (“Howard the Duck”), music (“Swan Lake”) and pastimes (mainly swimming). A “Comments” section will allow locals and vacationers who came in contact with the swan to submit their own photos and memories in writing.

Plus, there’s much more to come, said Shackeroff, 3, of Los Angeles. Hours of footage not included in her documentary “Rupert the Swan” will be made available in the coming months.

The Newport Harbor community was shocked when Rupert was struck by a speeding Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol boat on the way to retrieve a human body found in the water in 2006.

Shackeroff, who for years vacationed at a family home on the peninsula, was inspired to chronicle the life of Rupert after reading his obituary in the newspaper. When she arrived at the funeral, she realized how large of a project she took on.

“It was an unusual circumstance on many levels, and that caught my attention,” Shackeroff said, adding that the site will be a “fun place to contribute people’s collective Rupert stories.”

The film premiered in April at the 2007 Newport Beach Film Festival to sold-out crowds. Since then, Shackeroff has spent much of her free time diligently editing the documentary before the DVD release, scheduled for the end of summer. Updates on the DVD will be posted continuously, she said.

A portion of the sales will go toward the Wetland and Wildlife Center in Huntington Beach, the group that cared for Rupert when he was hurt. A new wing in the center has been named after the famed Newport Harbor resident.

Rupert’s former caretaker, peninsula resident Gary Wassall-Kelly, visited the Web page for the first time Thursday.

“He had a fish hook in his beak, and that’s when we first saved him,” Wassall-Kelly reminisced while viewing the photo of her old friend.

“I think it’s wonderful,” she added. “All ages now can enjoy him, whereas [at] the film festival you didn’t get a lot of children.”

During Rupert’s stay in the harbor, Wassall-Kelly used to post signs in the window of her home on the Balboa Peninsula telling visitors where Rupert could be found over the years. Now she plans on posting a new sign.

It may go something like this: Looking for Rupert? Try www.myspace.com/rupert_the_swan .

“He was just dumped in the harbor, had to find food, became injured, lost his mate and he still lives years after that,” Wassall-Kelly said. What other tale could better parallel human struggles, she added.

No one seems to be able to explain how this dead bird continues to make news. But, said Shackeroff, “so did Elvis.”