Throughout the farrago of the Phil Spector court case the one who interested me most was the victim, Lana Clarkson. Her Wikipedia entry makes for depressing reading. Look between the lines of what is obviously a bio designed to counteract the smears resulting from the case and you will find an all-too familiar story of a beautiful woman spat out by the Hollywood machine.
Sadly, it’s a story that will resonate with wannabe actresses (and often writers) who have also tried to storm the citadel. Lana Clarkson never made it beyond B-movie status and she died while trying to make ends meet in what the Wiki entry euphemistically describes as a ‘side job.’
Dig further though and it becomes apparent Lana was gutsy. She developed, wrote and produced her own showreel in an attempt to revive a career cut short by the fact that (shock horror) she was over thirty. More than 250 people, mostly friends and family, attended her funeral. She was well-loved. She tried hard. And she died at the hands of a man who had a history of violence and was clearly deranged.
I have no doubt that Hollywood will once again embrace Lana Clarkson when they make the movie of the Phil Spector case. I hope they do her justice although I have my doubts. In some way, though, spread across fifty foot screens, Lana might just have the last laugh. It’ll be her name in lights while Spector languishes in jail.
Wiki entry for Lana Clarkson:
