Dead in Hollywood is a true-crime web series of strange and tragic Hollywood deaths.
I'm excited to announce my latest issue, Dead in Hollywood: Behind the Sign (Issue 20)!! Twenty Tinseltown Tinglers to keep the hairs on your arm up at night. This 10,000-word collector's companion took a while to compile but it finally makes me smile. The 40-page fanzine covers everyone from Peg Entwistle to Whitney Houston, Fatty Arbuckle to Alexis Arquette, Sam Cooke to Jon-Erik Hexum, Divine to RFK (to name a few).
DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD: THE DROWNING OF NATALIE WOOD (EPISODE 8). COMING SOON! Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE (CLICK HERE) to our YOUTUBE PAGE!
Go behind the sign to the afternoon of July 18, 1989... the day Rebecca Schaeffer was killed in broad daylight by her stalker, Robert John Bardo. Rebecca Schaeffer was a promising young newcomer ("My Sister Sam") when her life was cut tragically short on the doorstep of her West Hollywood apartment. CLICK HERE to subscribe to the Dead in Hollywood Youtube Channel!
I spent some time shooting, er, filming, in Dallas last week. And today would’ve have been JFK’s 104th birthday!
My obsession with the dark side of Hollywood began on the grassy knoll in the shadow of the Texas School Book Depository. When I was 15, my grandma would drop me off at Dealey Plaza on our way to my mom's chemotherapy appointments at Baylor University Medical Center. That summer, I read Helter Skelter for the first time on the Grassy Knoll. Sharon Tate was also from Dallas. Twenty years later, I found myself in the backyard of Lee Harvey Oswald's former home, a two-story Craftsman duplex in the heart of the Oak Cliff district of Dallas, questioning everything I thought I knew about Oswald. Stay tuned! Coming Soon!
CLICK HERE & SUBSCRIBE TO THE DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD YOUTUBE CHANNEL! Coming this Friday will be Episode 7: Rebecca Schaeffer Stalked! You do not want to miss it!
Subscribe to the Dead in Hollywood Youtube channel HERE! Episode 7 coming soon!
CLICK HERE to like and subscribe to the Dead in Hollywood Youtube Channel! Rebecca Schaeffer’s story is fascinating and so tragic. If you head over to our Youtube Channel, be sure to watch Episode 6 - River Phoenix Died Here.
If you haven’t checked out the movie event of the season, CLICK HERE!
On November 3, 1984, on a soundstage somewhere in Hollywood (Stage 18 at 20th Century Fox, to be exact), hunky actor Jon-Erik Hexum accidentally shot himself in the head while filming the T.V. show "Cover Up." The show would go on without Hexum's pecs.
Antony Hamilton would be introduced three weeks later as the new model on the team. The premise of "Cover Up" revolved around a fashion photographer and a veteran special forces soldier posing as her model go on intelligence missions around the world. The blue-eyed Hamilton began his career as a ballet dancer with The Australian Ballet but stopped dancing at the age of 20 to pursue a career as a model.
Hamilton worked extensively as a model - a favorite subject of photographers like Richard Avedon and Bruce Weber, working with designers like Gianni Versace and appearing in magazines like Vogue and GQ. At the height of his career, Hamilton was offered the lead in “Cover Up.” He had been friendly with Hexum, but Hamilton initially had misgivings about taking the role. The series struggled with Hamilton as their new lead, and the show was canceled shortly after Hamilton’s debut. There was serious talk of Hamilton replacing Roger Moore as the next James Bond. “Bond" producer Albert R. Broccoli was hesitant to cast Hamilton as the womanizing James Bond because, in real life, Hamilton was gay. Timothy Dalton was ultimately cast as 007. On March 29, 1995, Hamilton died from AIDS-related pneumonia in Los Angeles. His ashes were scattered off the shores of Malibu.
Here it is! A lot of love and a LOT of time went into Episode 6. I hope you all enjoy it! Go behind the sign to Halloween night 1993... the night River Phoenix died on the pavement outside of the Sunset Strip nightclub the Viper Room. I thought I know the whole story, I had no idea.
Don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel HERE for the world premiere of DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD: RIVER PHOENIX DIED HERE (EPISODE 6)!!!
Dead in Hollywood: Behind the Sign is a true-crime vlog on Youtube (Be sure to subscribe!). Episode 1 was an experiment as you will see. But I had a lot of fun making it and I think it’s a nice overview of Dead in Hollywood and the story of Peg Entwistle, the only person ever to have committed suicide by jumping off the letter ‘H’ of the Hollywood Sign. Join us this Friday for RIVER PHOENIX DIED HERE (EPISODE 7).
Clara Blandick is best known for her memorable minor role as Auntie Em in The Wizard of Oz. Blandick's health steadily declined throughout the 1950s. Her eyesight began to fail, and she was suffering greatly from severe, painful arthritis. At 69, Blandick had gone into seclusion at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. On April 15, 1962, Blandick returned to her room from Palm Sunday services at church. She began rearranging her room, placing her favorite photos and memorabilia in prominent places. She laid out her resume and a collection of press clippings from her lengthy career. She dressed immaculately in an elegant royal blue dressing gown, and with her hair properly styled, she took an overdose of sleeping pills. She lay down on a couch, covered herself with a gold blanket over her shoulders, and tied a plastic bag over her head. She left the following note: "I am now about to make the great adventure. I cannot endure this agonizing pain any longer. It is all over my body. Neither can I face the impending blindness. I pray the Lord, my soul, to take. Amen." Blandick's landlady, Helen Mason, found her body Sunday morning. In preparing to die, she had disposed of all her medicines the previous week. Her ashes were interred at the Great Mausoleum, Columbarium of Security at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale. Blandick's ashes lie just yards from those of Charley Grapewin, her on-screen husband in The Wizard of Oz.
CLICK HERE for the trailer for Dead in Hollywood: River Phoenix Died Here (Episode 6). Coming Super Fucking Soon! Be sure to catch up on the first 5 episodes of Dead in Hollywood HERE! While you’re there, be sure to subscribe to our Youtube page! A new video every month! I can’t wait to share Episode 6 with you all. I thought I knew everything there was to know about River Phoenix. I was so wrong!
A belated Happy Easter from the late Sharon Tate.
Be sure to subscribe to our Youtube page! I can’t wait for you guys to see what I have in store for you on April 9! River Phoenix lives! CLICK HERE for Dead in Hollywood on Youtube!
You saw the movie! Now get the zine! Dead in Hollywood: Here Lies... Ramon Novarro (Issue no. 28) - The Unauthorized Guide to Calvary Cemetery & Mortuary. Coming Soon. And if you haven’t watched the movie, CLICK HERE!
Go behind the sign to Halloween Eve 1968. Two young hustlers ring the doorbell at 3110 Laurel Canyon Drive. A gracious 69-year-old man greets them. Once upon a time in Hollywoodland, the old man was one of the greatest Latin heartthrobs to have ever lived. Now frail and looking older than his age, the man invites the hustlers inside - "a burly young man of 22 and a slender twink of 17--his murderers." By morning, the old man would be dead, badly beaten, and having choked to death on his own blood. The bludgeoned body was that of actor Ramon Novarro.
Go behind the sign to Calvary Cemetery... in the search of Ramon Novarro's grave.
