Heather O'Rourke (December 27, 1975 / February 1, 1988)

O'Rourke plays Carol Anne in the horror film "Poltergeist" (1982). She utters the movie's most famous line: "They're here!" She reprises the role in the second and third installments. In February 1988 she dies at the age of 12 of cardiac arrest and septic shock caused by a misdiagnosed intestinal stenosis. The Poltergeist Curse strikes again...

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Stalked! Dominique Dunne (November 23, 1959 / November 4, 1982)

I walk home from work past the street where Dominique Dunne lived - Rangely Ave. in West Hollywood. Dunne was strangled to death in the driveway of this home by her ex-boyfriend John Thomas Sweeney who served less than 4 years for her murder. I think about Dunne every time I pass by and since I started working on the next issue of Dead in Hollywood it has become a particularly poignant part of my walk. “Stalked" follows the lives of Dunne, actress Rebecca Schaeffer, and cheerleader/model Linda Sobek. All three women are stalked to their death by deranged men with criminal records. In death, these women are responsible for new laws that are put in place to protect stalking and domestic violence victims. 

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Margot Kidder (October 17, 1948 / May 13, 2018)

Margot Kidder (October 17, 1948 – May 13, 2018) rises to fame in 1978 for her role as Lois Lane in the “Superman” film series, alongside Christopher Reeve. Kidder says of her friendship with Reeves, "When you're strapped to someone hanging from the ceiling for months and months, you get pretty darned close.” Kidder also appears in two of my all time favorite horror movies "Black Christmas" and “The Amityville Horror.” Later in life, Kidder is known for her battle with mental illness. She is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which is the cause of a widely publicized manic episode in April 1996. Kidder had been working on an autobiography when a virus causes her computer to crash. She loses three years’ worth of drafts. She flies to LA and has her computer examined by a data retrieval company, who are unable to retrieve the files. Kidder then enters a manic state and disappears for four days. She is found in a backyard by a homeowner and is taken by the LAPD to Olive View Medical Center in a distressed state, the caps on her teeth having been knocked out during a rape attempt. Her cause of death has not been disclosed.

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Joan Crawford (March 23, 1904 / May 10, 1977)

The American Film Institute ranks Crawford tenth on its list of the greatest female stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema. Crawford becomes one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest-paid women in America, but her films begin losing money and, by the end of the 1930s, she was labelled "box office poison." But she makes a major comeback in 1945 by starring in "Mildred Pierce," for which she wins the Academy Award for Best Actress - Crawford feigns illness before the 1946 Academy Award ceremony and accepts her Oscar in her bed, inviting the press to come into her bedroom to photograph her. In 1955, Crawford becomes involved with the Pepsi-Cola Company through her marriage to company Chairman Alfred Steele. After his death in 1959, Crawford is elected to fill his vacancy on the board of directors, serving until she is forcibly retired in 1973 - "Don't fuck with me fellas."  Crawford marries four times. Her first three marriages end in divorce; the last ends with the death of husband Alfred Steele. She adopts five children, one of whom was reclaimed by his birth mother - California law prevented her from adopting within the state so she arranges the first adoption through an agency in Las Vegas. Crawford's relationships with her two elder children, Christina and Christopher, are acrimonious. Crawford disinherited the two, and, after Crawford's death, Christina writes a well-known "tell-all" memoir titled Mommie Dearest (1978) that forever tarnishes Crawford's legacy. On May 8, 1977, Crawford gives away her beloved Shih Tzu, "Princess Lotus Blossom," being too weak to care for her. Crawford dies two days later at her New York apartment of a heart attack.

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Dana Plato (November 7, 1964 - May 8, 1999)

Actress Dana Plato is known playing the role of Kimberly Drummond on the TV show “Diff'rent Strokes,” from 1978 to 1986. After leaving “Diff'rent Strokes,” Plato attempts to establish herself as a working actress, with mixed success. “Diff'rent Strokes” debuts on NBC in 1978, becoming an immediate hit. The show features Phillip Drummond (Conrad Bain), a wealthy white widower in New York City who adopts two black boys after their parents' deaths. Plato plays Kimberly, Drummond's teenage daughter. During her years on “Diff'rent Strokes,” Plato struggles with drug and alcohol problems. She admits to drinking alcohol, and using cannabis and cocaine, and she suffers an overdose of diazepam when she is only 14. On May 7, 1999, the day before she dies, Plato appears on “The Howard Stern Show.” She speaks about her life, discussing her financial problems and past run-ins with the law. She admits to being a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, but claims she has been sober for more than 10, and is not using any drugs. Callers to the show insult her and question her sobriety. The next day, Plato and her husband are returning to California and stop off at her husband’s mother's home in Moore, Oklahoma, for a Mother's Day visit. Plato goes to lie down inside her Winnebago motorhome parked outside the house, where she dies of an overdose of the painkiller Lortab and the muscle-relaxant Soma. Her death is eventually ruled a suicide. Her son kills himself almost exactly eleven years to the day after Plato's death. 

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When Bowie "Meets" Dietrich

David Bowie and Marlene Dietrich appear together in the 1978 movie "Just a Gigolo."  "Gigolo" is a West German film starring David Bowie. It also features Sydney Rome, Kim Novak and, in her last screen appearance, Marlene Dietrich. The hostile reception the film receives leads Bowie to quip that it is "My 32 Elvis Presley movies rolled into one."

Marlene Dietrich (December 17, 1901 – May 6, 1992)

Marlene Dietrich's life is transformed in 1929 when she is cast as the tawdry cabaret singer who starts Emil Jannings on his descent into madness in the German film "The Blue Angel."  American audiences are introduced to her in the film "Morocco," with Dietrich playing a wayward chanteuse who sings her first number in a gender-bending top hat and tails and kisses another woman full on the lips.  Theater critic, Kenneth Peacock Tynan, describes Dietrich as “Sex without gender.” From the start her sexuality was at the core of her stardom. "Morocco" earns Dietrich her only Academy Award nomination.  

Dietrich's show business career ends on September 29, 1975 when she falls off the stage and breaks her thigh during a performance in Sydney, Australia. The following year, her husband, Rudolf Sieber, dies of cancer. An alcoholic dependent on painkillers, Dietrich withdraws to her apartment at 12 Avenue Montaigne in Paris. She spends the final 11 years of her life mostly bedridden, allowing only a select few to enter the apartment. During this time, she is a prolific letter-writer and phone-caller. Her autobiography, Nehmt nur mein Leben (Take Just My Life), is published in 1979.

 

 

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The Thrill of the Year: Albert Dekker (December 20, 1905 – May 5, 1968)

Albert Dekker is an American character actor and politician best known for his roles in "Dr. Cyclops," "The Killers," "Kiss Me Deadly," and "The Wild Bunch." On May 5, 1968, Dekker is found dead in his Hollywood apartment by his fiancée, fashion model and future "Love Boat" creator Jeraldine Saunders - "Love Boat" is based on her 1974 book "Love Boats," an anecdotal account of her time employed as the first full-time female cruise director. Saunders is still kicking ass at 94 as the author of "Omarr’s Astrological Forecast," a nationally syndicated horoscope column read by hundreds of thousands worldwide.

Back to Dekker... the circumstances of his death are super weird. He's found nude in his bathtub with a scarf over his eyes and a ball gag in his mouth. His hands are handcuffed behind his back - the key still in the cuffs. In addition to the leather belt around his neck, Dekker has an additional leather belt wrapped around his waist, which is tied to a rope that also ties his two ankles together and is wrapped around his wrist and clasped in his hand. He also has two hypodermic needles sticking out of his arms and two hypodermic punctures on his right butt cheek. Above these puncture wounds are the words “whip” written on his butt cheek in lipstick, and a drawing of the sun. Lipstick is used to write all over Dekker’s naked body, including “make me suck,” “slave,” and “cocksucker.” There are also drawings of sun rays around his nipples and a picture of a vagina on his lower abdomen. The initial ruling is suicide, but after S&M pornography and bondage equipment is found in the apartment, the ruling is changed to accidental death caused by autoerotic asphyxiation 

Could Dekker have really gotten himself in that position all on his own? Saunders believes there had to be someone else involved. She knows that Dekker was keeping $70,000 in cash hidden in his apartment, but the money was never found. A bunch of camera equipment is also missing. The most baffling aspect of Dekker’s death is that the bathroom door is locked with a chain from the inside and there are no other exits - there are no windows in his bathroom. 

It's pretty obvious that Dekker had a private life that he kept from everyone including his fiancée. When she hadn't heard from Dekker in a couple of days, Saunders would show up at his apartment and leave notes taped to his door, asking him to contact to her. 

Dekker's most famous for his role in the movie, "Dr. Cyclopes." Tagline: "The Thrill of the Year!"

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Bonnie Lee Bakley (June 7, 1956 – May 4, 2001)

I can’t believe I almost missed this one! On May 4, 2001, actor Robert Blake takes his wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley, to dinner at Vitello's Italian Restaurant on Tujunga Ave. in Studio City, CA. Afterward, Bakley is killed by a gunshot to the head while sitting in the car, which is parked on a side street, around the corner from the restaurant. Blake claims that he returned to the restaurant to collect a gun which he had left there, and was not present when the shooting occurred. The gun that Blake claimed he had left in the restaurant was later determined not to have fired the shots that killed Bakley. That’s has to be the strangest alibi ever, right? 

At 16, Bakley is a high school drop out. She goes to NYC to pursue a career in modeling and acting at the Barbizon School of Modeling - my mom went to Barbizon when I was a kid! In an effort to support herself, Bakley begins a mail-order business sending nude photos of women, including herself, to men. She also runs "lonely hearts" ads in magazines advertising for a "male companion." After communicating with the men who answer her ads, she then asks them for money for rent or travel expenses. Bakley's business and scams eventually afford her enough money to buy several houses in Memphis and a house outside L.A. Her checkered past leads many to blame the victim. 

Bonnie Lee Bakley has a history of pursuing celebrities. Her friends and relatives describe her as "celebrity-obsessed." Tapes of Bakley's phone conversations reveal that she was starstruck and determined to marry someone famous. She once says, ”Being around celebrities makes you feel better than other people.” In 1990, she moves to Memphis and begins pursuing singer Jerry Lee Lewis. Bakley eventually meets Lewis and becomes close friends with Lewis' sister. In 1993, Bakley claims that the daughter she gave birth to, Jeri Lee, was Lewis' child. However, DNA tests later disprove her claim. After Jeri Lee's birth, Bakley decides to relocate to Cali. She leaves Jeri Lee with her ex-husband to raise, but continues to financially support the child.

While in California, Bakley pursues other celebrities, including Dean Martin, Frankie Valli (Bakley claims they dated when she was a teenager. Valli denies the claim), and Gary Busey. In 1991, Bakley becomes interested in Christian Brando. Christian, the eldest son of Academy Award-winning actor Marlon Brando becomes a media fixture when he is tried for the murder of his half sister's boyfriend, Dag Drollet. Brando pleads guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter and is sentenced to ten years in prison. While he is in prison, Bakley begins writing him and sending photos. After his release in 1996, Brando and Bakley begin a romantic relationship. In 1999, Bakley discovers she was pregnant and initially thinks that Brando is the child's father. In June 2000, she gives birth to her fourth child, a daughter she names Christian Shannon Brando.

While dating Brando, Bakley is also dating Robert Blake whom she meets at a jazz club in 1999. After the birth of daughter, Bakley informs Blake that she is unsure of the child's paternity and that he might be the father of the child. Blake insists on a paternity test which later determines that Blake - not Brando - is the father. After paternity is established, the child's name is legally changed to Rose Lenore Sophia Blake. Blake agrees to marry Bakley under the condition that she sign a temporary custody agreement. Under the agreement, Bakley agrees to monitor visits with Rose and to get written permission for her friends and family to visit Blake's property. The agreement also stipulated that if either spouse decides to end the marriage, the other spouse will retain custody of Rose. Bakley's attorney advise her not to sign the document because he thinks the agreement is “lopsided.”Eager to marry Blake, she ignores her attorney's advice and signs the agreement. Bakley and Blake are married in November 2000. Although married, the couple never live together. Bakley and Rose live in a small guest house beside Blake's house in Studio City of the San Fernando Valley. The relationship is fucking rocky to say the least; Blake is distrustful of Bakley and hires a private investigator to find more information about her. Blake finds out that Bakley has continued to operate her "lonely hearts" ad scam while they are marriage.

Blake is found NOT guilty of the murder of Bonnie Lee Bakley, and of one of the two counts of soliciting a former stuntman to murder her. The other count of solicitation is dropped after it is revealed that the jury is deadlocked 11-1 in favor of acquittal. L.A. District Attorney comments on this ruling, calling Blake a "miserable human being" and the jurors "incredibly stupid.”

On November 18, 2005, Blake is found liable for the wrongful death of his wife in a civil trial. He is ordered to pay $30 million to Bakley’s family. 

"Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them. The study of victimology seeks to mitigate the perception of victims as responsible. There is a greater tendency to blame victims of rape than victims of robbery if victims and perpetrators know each other."

Antony Hamilton (May 4, 1952 – March 29, 1995)

Speaking of Jon-Erik Hexum… English-born Australian actor, Antony Hamilton, begins his career as a ballet dancer with the Australian Ballet. He stops dancing at 20 to pursue a career as a model. Hamilton later says: "Dancing was too confining and regimented for me. I became a model not because I was interested in fashion or styles, but because I knew it was a good way to see the world. It gave me independence. The money was good too.” After signing with a London modeling agency, he works extensively as a model in Europe, America, Asia and Africa, becoming a favorite subject of world-famous photographers such as Richard Avedon and Bruce Weber, often working with designers such as Gianni Versace, and frequently appearing in magazines such as Vogue and GQ. Hamilton begins taking acting classes in an effort to expand his career. Later that same year, he is offered the lead in the TV show “Cover Up” after the series' previous star, Jon-Erik Hexum, dies after an on-set accident in October 1984. Hamilton had known Hexum having previously met him at an acting class when they both lived in New York. They shared the same acting coach and also competed for the same roles. Hamilton initially has misgivings about taking the role but ultimately accepts. Hamilton's first episode airs on November 24, 1984. After Hexum's death, the series struggles in the ratings and CBS cancels “Cover Up” the following year. After the cancellation, Hamilton is in talks to replace Roger Moore as the new James Bond in the 007 film series. Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli is reportedly hesitant to cast Hamilton as the womanizing James Bond because, in real life, Hamilton is gay - Timothy Dalton is ultimately cast as 1980’s Bond. In 1988, Hamilton lands a role in the ’88 revival of “Mission: Impossible.” On March 29, 1995, Hamilton dies from AIDS-related pneumonia in Los Angeles. Today would’ve been Hamilton’s 66th birthday.

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Jon-Erik Hexum (November 5, 1957 – October 18, 1984)

Jon-Erik Hexum is apparently unaware that his actions with the on-set gun are dangerous. Blanks use paper or plastic wadding. If the blank is fired within a few feet of the body should it strike at a particularly vulnerable spot, such as the temple or the eye - at a close enough range - the effect of the powder gasses is a small explosion can be deadly. So although the paper wadding in the blank that Hexum discharged did not penetrate his skull, there was enough blunt force trauma to shatter a quarter-sized piece of his skull and propel the pieces into his brain, causing massive hemorrhaging. Hexum is rushed to Beverly Hills Medical Center, where he undergoes five hours of surgery to repair his wounds. Hexum dies six days later on October 18.

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