Hollywood's Unhappiest Endings: Legends Never Die Updated

by Les MacDonald

  On January 27, 1977 Katherine was granted a restraining order against Freddie. This sent him into a depression and, on the evening of January 28, Freddie began a series of "goodbye" phone calls from his hotel room in Beverly Hills. One of the first calls went to his business manager Marvin Snyder who was worried enough to go and see Freddie. The young comic then called his mother telling her that he loved her very much but that he couldn't go on and needed to find peace. Snyder showed up and Freddie continued making his calls. He called his wife and told Katherine that he loved her and the baby. He repeated what he had told his mother about not being able to go on and needing to find peace. Freddie then pulled out a.38 calibre pistol from under the cushions on the sofa and shot himself in the head. Marvin Snyder had tried to intervene but to no avail. Freddie was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center but died the next afternoon without having regained consciousness. Freddie Prinze was just twenty-two years old.

  Freddie's son, Freddie Prinze Jr. has gone on to a successful career in Hollywood starring in films such as Scooby Doo and it's sequels. In 2005 he had his own tv show simply titled Freddie. The pilot episode was dedicated to his father. His production company was named Hunga-Rican Productions and during the credits you can hear his father say "Loooooking Goooood." Freddie is buried at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills.

  Rebecca Schaeffer (1967-1989)

  Dial DMV for Murder

  Rebecca Schaeffer was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. She knew from an early age what she wanted to do and when she turned sixteen she left the stability of her home and family life and set out alone for New York City in search of a career in modeling. The success came early and four months later Rebecca found herself on a modeling assignment in Japan. Things would only get better from there. In 1986 Hollywood beckoned and Rebecca appeared in an episode of Steven Spielberg's television series Amazing Stories. Not long after this she got her first big break and landed the role opposite Pam Dawber in the television sitcom My Sister Sam.

  In Tucson, Arizona a sixteen year old male began to take notice. Robert John Bardo, the child of an air force officer, had already been sending a plethora of letters to the likes of Dyan Cannon, Tiffany and Madonna. His attempts to get closer to these celebrities always failed. He now began to turn his attention to Rebecca. His bedroom became a shrine for her. He began writing letters to her and, unfortunately, one day Rebecca wrote one back. It was just a generic letter thanking him for his interest. She enclosed a signed publicity photo. This must have spurred Bardo on as twice he attempted to visit Rebecca at the Warner Brothers studio where she was filming the sitcom My Sister Sam. Both times he was denied access to the set.

  The world must have seemed pretty good to Rebecca on the morning of July 18, 1989. It couldn't have seemed all that long ago that she had left Portland as a sixteen year old to find her way in the world. Now, barely five years later, she had become a successful model, was starring in a new television sitcom, had a nice new apartment in Hollywood and was dating a director, Brad Silberling. Now, on this summer morning in LA she was excited as she had an important audition for a part in Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather III. The future did indeed look bright for Rebecca but on this day fate would intervene.

  Back in Tucson Robert John Bardo, who was now nineteen years old had hired a private investigator and given him only one job to do...find Rebecca Schaeffer's home address. He paid the investigator $250 and in very short order received the information he was looking for. One call to the California Department of Motor Vehicles was all it took. On the morning of July 18, while Rebecca was at home preparing fo her audition, Bardo calmly walked up to her door and rang the bell. Rebecca answered the door herself, shook Bardo's hand and then closed the door on him. Bardo was stung. He apparently had thought that he had made some kind of connection with Rebecca through his letters. He had brought a brown bag with him. In it were copies of all the letters he had written her, the signed photo that she had sent him, a paperback copy of The Catcher in the Rye and a handgun. Bardo retreated to a nearby restaurant to collect his thoughts. He went to the men's room to load the handgun. He then walked back to Rebecca's and once again rang the bell. When she came down and answered the door again Bardo made a gesture indicating that he wanted to give her something. When she opened the door Bardo pulled out his gun and fired point blank into her heart. Rebecca was able to utter one word, "why?" and then collapsed. She died on the way to hospital.

  Bardo left the scene and made his way back to Tuscon where he was arrested the next day after a tip from his sister. He was brought back to LA where he waived his right to a jury trial meaning simply that his fate would be determined by a judge once all of the evidence had been presented. Bardo's lawyers hired Park Dietz, a well known psychiatrist, to back their claim of mental deficiency. They hoped to show that Bardo was incapable of premeditation. Dietz interviewed Bardo at length and videotaped the results which included Bardo re-enacting the crime. Bardo and his lawyers had claimed that while he was looking for something in his brown bag Rebecca had seen the gun and tried to grab it at which time the gun accidentally went off killing Rebecca.

  The prosecuting attorney was Marcia Clark who was still several years away from becoming a household name herself in the State of California vs. Orenthal James Simpson trial. After several viewings of the re-enactment Clark knew she had him. During the re-enactment Bardo is holding his right arm behind his back. He then draws his hand out and points the gun. No struggle for the gun. The judge promptly sentenced Bardo to life without parole. Bardo has since stated that it was the "immorality" of the sex scene that Rebecca had in the movie Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills that drove him to the murder. Another time he has said that Rebecca was rude to him when she opened the door. The murder was eerily similar to that of John Lennon by Mark David Chapman in 1980. Both had seen their victim earlier in the day and both were carrying copies of J.D. Salinger's book The Catcher in the Rye.

  As a result of Rebecca's murder the state of California has passed several anti stalking laws including the Driver's Privacy Protection Act which prohibits the DMV from releasing personal information. Brad Silberling went on to make a movie loosely based on the murder and it's effect on him. Originally to be titled Baby's in Black he changed the name when he could not secure the rights to that song by the Beatles. The movie became Moonlight Mile which was named for a lesser known song by the Stones. Brad went on to marry Amy Brenneman of tv's Judging Amy fame. Robert John Bardo continues to serve out his life sentence.

  Rebecca Schaeffer's final movie was released after her death and was ironically titled The End of Innocence. Rebecca is buried in her hometown of Portand, Oregon.

  Bob Crane (1928-1978)

  A Life out of Focus

  Bob Crane was born in Waterbury, Connecticut. During his school years he was labeled as the class clown and also developed a love for music, excelling on the drums. Before dropping out of school he would meet and eventually marry his high school sweetheart and they would go on to have three children together.

  Bob's love of music, combined with his talent on the drums, helped win him a job as a drummer with the Connecticut Symphony Orchestra. He remained with the CSO for over a year before turning his attention to radio. One of his first jobs as a DJ was at a small 500 watt station in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was an ultra small station with an even smaller fan base. On one slow day Bob offered $100 to the first listener to call in. No one did. He continued to work in radio at various stations until packing up the family and moving to California in 1956.

  Once in LA Bob found success quickly. His morning show on the radio was so popular that he was dubbed 'King of the LA Airwaves." His easygoing style combined with his comedic wit was a huge hit with his fans. Hollywood stars would begin to show up for on air chats with the popular morning man. Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Bob Hope, Ronald Reagan and Jayne Mansfield were just a few to show up on the #1 rated morning show in Los Angeles. By 1963
Bob's success on radio was being noticed by more than just his fans. Television's top producers offered Bob a role as Dr. Dave Delsey on the popular Donna Reed Show. Bob stayed with the show for two years until his character was written out by the producers who thought that his character was "too suggestive". This is a little ironic when you consider the turn that his personal life would take.

  Being written out of the Donna Reed Show may have been the best thing that could have happened to Bob. That same year he was cast in a new show that was being produced by CBS. Hogan's Heroes would debut in 1965 with Bob Crane as the very likeable Col. Robert Hogan. The show was set in a Nazi prison camp (Stalag 13) and featured an ensemble cast that had great chemistry right from the beginning. Hogan was in charge of a group of prisoners who pretty much had the run of the camp and anywhere else that they may have needed to go to further the Allied cause. The show greatly benefited from an outstanding cast including Werner Klemperer as the embattled German Commandant. The show however centered around the charismatic Col. Hogan and Bob himself was nominated for Emmy Awards in 1967 and 1968.

  In the show the commandant had a very sexy blonde secretary named Hilda, played by Patti Olsen. Hogan and Hilda often fooled around right under the nose of those running the camp and soon the two began a torrid real life love affair. Crane divorced his first wife and married Patti in 1970. In 1971 Hogan's Heroes would be cancelled after a very successful run. Bob would go on to make two Disney movies. SuperDad and Gus were both critical and commercial flops. Like many performers before him and since, Bob was being typecast. He was identified too much with the Hogan character to be believable as someone else. He started taking guest roles in shows such as The Love Boat, Quincy M. E, Police Woman and Love, American Style to name just a few.

  During this time Bob's private life began to show a darker side. He started participating in group sex with a number of different women and began filming these sessions. Some of the women knew they were being filmed and some did not. In 1973 Bob bought the rights to a stage play called Beginner's Luck. It was also around the same time that he met and became friends with electronics wizard John Henry Carpenter. He would supply Bob with all of the latest technology for recording his trysts with the ladies. In return Bob would let Carpenter participate with the women. Many of the women went along with it. Having sex with the unattractive Carpenter was the price they paid to get up close and personal with Bob. Soon Bob and Patti separated.

  On June 28, 1978 Bob found himself in Scottsdale, Arizona at the Windmill Theater performing his play Beginner's Luck. No one knows exactly what transpired that night but the end result was indeed a shocker. Bob Crane was found dead the next morning in his hotel room. He had suffered severe head trauma from repeated blows delivered with a camera tripod. Many of his homemade movies were found in the room. At first police involved thought that it might have been one of Bob's sexual dalliances gone bad. They eventually gave up on that theory when it was pointed out that a woman would have trouble with the weight of the tripod. They shifted their focus to John Henry Carpenter who also just happened to be in Scottsdale at the same time. The new scenario had Crane inviting Carpenter to his room to sever their relationship. Bob was growing tired of having to provide Carpenter with women. Carpenter reacts badly and bludgeons Crane to death. Unfortunately there was little evidence to support this new theory. The case went cold and nothing happened until fourteen years later, in 1992, when Carpenter was charged with murder. The trial ended in 1994 with Carpenter being acquitted. One juror said that there simply was not enough evidence to support putting a man away for murder. Many people, including Bob Crane's son, feel that Carpenter got away with murder. More than thirty years later the murder is still unsolved. Carpenter died in 1998 always claiming that he was innocent.

  Hogan's Heroes live on in syndication and is now available on DVD. Bob Crane is buried at the Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

  Jayne Mansfield (1933-1967)

  The Poor Man's Marilyn

  Vera Jayne Palmer was born on April 19, 1933 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Her father was a well known and respected attorney who died of a heart attack when Jayne was just three years old. Her mother would marry again three years later and move the family to Dallas, Texas. At the age of sixteen Jayne met Paul Mansfield. She became pregnant and married Paul soon after. Her first daughter, Jayne Marie, was born while her mother was taking acting classes at the University of Texas. She eventually talked her husband into moving to California and the young family left Texas for Hollywood. The marriage however would not last. Paul returned to Texas within four months and obtained a divorce.

  1955 would prove to be a breakout year for Jayne. In February of that year she was named Playboy's Playmate of the Month following in the footsteps of another famous blonde, Marilyn Monroe. The exposure, if you'll pardon the pun, led to small parts in movies such as Hell on Frisco Bay, Female Jungle and more notably in Pete Kelly's Blues. In 1956 Jayne appeared in The Girl Can't Help It and then showed up in four films the following year. Jayne always received decent notices even if the roles were mostly forgettable. Kiss Them for Me was a vehicle for Cary Grant but the pairing with Jayne did not do well at the box office. She fared better in the movie version of the hit Broadway play, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? By now Marilyn Monroe was soaking up most of the roles that called for blonde bombshells. Despite winning the 1957 Golden Globe for Best Newcomer Jayne was already being unfairly tagged as the Poor Man's Marilyn.

  In January 1958 Jayne married a former Mr. Universe, Mickey Hargitay. By now the studios did not quite know what to do with Jayne. However, if the lack of decent movie roles bothered Jayne, she didn't let it show. She simply took her nightclub act on the road and commanded fees of up to $25,000 a week at places like the Dunes and the Tropicana in Las Vegas. By 1960 it appeared that Jayne was yesterday's news as far as Hollywood was concerned. She headed to Europe and made a few more forgettable flicks in England before returning to Hollywood to act in Promises, Promises in 1963. Jayne was paid $150,000 and a percentage of the profits. The movie is most notable for having the first nude scene in an American film. In 1964 Jayne turned down the role of Ginger in tv's Gilligan's Island. She preferred to keep making movies and taking her nightclub act on the road. Jayne continued making low budget films resulting in movies such as Dog Eat Dog and the Las Vegas Hillbilly. Not exactly Oscar material but Jayne was now getting some of the roles that would have gone to Marilyn Monroe who had died in 1962. The movies, along with her nightclub act, kept Jayne very busy and provided her with a healthy income.

  Jayne and Mickey divorced in 1964 but remained friends. She would marry again a year later but that union also would not stand the test of time. By 1967 Jayne was romantically involved with her lawyer Sam Brody. Such was the state of affairs when Jayne was performing her act on the road that year. On April 19, 1967 Jayne had performed her show in Slidell, Louisiana and was heading to New Orleans. Her driver Ronnie, Sam Brody and Jayne were all in the front seat while her three kids slept in the back. As their 1966 Buick Electra rounded a bend on the interstate they slammed into a semi trailer which had come to a stop behind a mosquito fogger. All three in the front seat were killed instantly. The children in the back seat all survived. Many reports claimed that Jayne had been decapitated. It is true that she suffered extreme head trauma but she had not been decapitated. Her blonde wig was found on the dash of the car possibly starting those rumors.

  The actress who could not quite rise above the blonde bimbo roles was anything but. Jayne could speak five languages, had an IQ of 163 and left behind an estate worth more than $2M. Jayne's first daughter, Jayne Marie, followed in her mother's footsteps and posed for Playboy in 1976. The daughter that Jayne had with Mickey, Mariska Hargitay, is an Emmy Award winner acting in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Her father Mickey has appeared with her in several episodes. The 1966 Buick Electra that Jayne died in was sold at an auction in 1999 for $8,000. It reportedly still has the blood
stains from the accident. Jayne is buried at the Fairview Cemetery in Plainfield, Pennsylvania

  Ronni Chasen 1946-2010

  Ronni started out as a publicist for her brother Larry. Larry Cohen was a B-movie director back in those days (the 1070’s). From there she landed a job as publicity director for American International Pictures (AIM) in 1978. In 1993 she became MGM’s Worldwide Publicity Chairman. She also directed a few very successful Oscar campaigns which helped films like Rocky (1976) and Driving Miss Daisy (1989) win Best Picture Oscars. Patrick Goldstein called Ronni “Hollywood’s ultimate old-school publicist.”

  In 2010 Ronni was heading up the publicity for the movie Burlesque which starred Cher and Christina Aguilera. On November 16 she attended the Hollywood premiere. While she was driving down Sunset Boulevard, another vehicle (possibly an SUV) pulled up beside Ronni’s Mercedes. Five bullets crashed through the driver’s side window and into Ronni. Her car then jumped a curb and ran into a streetlight. Police found her slumped over with the airbag inflated. She died shortly after being found.

  In the weeks after the murder, the Los Angeles Police Department flip flopped several times. They were investigating Harold Smith who was a known felon. As the police approached him in the lobby of his apartment building, he took out a gun and shot himself. This occurred on December 1. However, five days later it was reported that the man who killed himself was “no longer a person of interest.” Two days after that the gum Smith had uses to shoot himself was the same gun used to murder Ronni Chasen. I guess he became a person of interest again. Apparently, it was a tip from the television show America’s Most Wanted that put the police on to Smith. Smith had been bragging that he received $10,000 for killing Ronni Chasen. No one else has ever been charged in the murder.