Sam Westwood's Hollywood
- Thread starter markedward
- Start date
Yep. What Harris was laughing about is how it actually turned out IOTL. Caught it on TCM years ago and it's like some sort of Beach Party meets Mod cinema slasher flick. Jill Haworth was an AIP request IOTL, but I left her in because she was about the only good thing going. That and some cool Carnaby street shots which allegedly might have been AIP's doing. That article explained a lot and it's been a while since I read it, but it seemed like it was hard to sort of figure out how the final film would have turned out IOTL had Michael Armstrong been allowed more creative freedom.
Bowie playing the killer would have been awesome, though.
8/8/1969: A very brief Timeline
August 9th, 1969
Via New York Times front page
“HOLLYWOOD STARS, DIRECTOR AMONG FOUR FOUND BRUTALLY MURDERED IN POLANSKI HOUSE” [1]
Timeline of events
Evening of August 8th, 1969
Jill St. John, husband Roman Polanski, aspiring screenwriter (and friend of Polanski) Wojciech Frykowksi, actor Robert Wagner, and Wagner’s wife, actress Marion Marshall, as well as actress Raquel Welch, Wagner’s co-star a year earlier in The Biggest Bundle Of Them All, are spotted out for dinner at Mexican restaurant El Coyote. Frykowski is photographed with Welch, his date for the evening, after his split from coffee heiress Abigail Folger some months prior.
Following dinner, Marion Marshall left to check in on her daughter with Wagner, Katie. Wagner wishes to discuss a film project with Polanski that would have been the director's follow-up film to Rosemary's Baby.
Welch, who is not feeling well after dinner, declines an offer to join the others at the house for a late-night party.
10:30 PM: Polanski, St. John, Wagner, and Frykowski head back to the Polanski residence at 10050 Cielo Drive. Marshall calls about 10:50 PM to tell Wagner that their daughter Katie is feverish and that she won’t be coming by, but not to worry. It’s the last Marshall will talk to her husband.
After Midnight
Following orders from failed musician turned cult leader Charles Manson, Manson Family follower Tex Watson takes Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkel to "that house where Terry Melcher used to live with Candice Bergen" and told them to "totally destroy everyone in [it], as gruesome as you can."
Cut to August 10th, 1969
Following the murders of Roman Polanski, Jill St. John, Robert Wagner, and Wojciech Frykowksi, The Manson Family kills Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, a wealthy Los Angeles business couple.
April 9, 1970
Charles Manson is sentenced to death. In 1972, California bylaws are changed to life imprisonment. Foul play was suspected but never confirmed. The three followers would spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
September 25, 1984
While imprisoned at the California Medical Facility at Vacaville, Charles Manson dies after being severely burned by a fellow inmate who poured paint thinner on him and set him alight. The prisoner, Jan Holmstrom, explained that Manson had objected to his Hare Krishna chants and had verbally threatened him.
From Sam Westwood's Hollywood (2016)
Sam: That, uh, freaked me out. I kind of wondered, you know, if all this was worth it.
I was shooting 'The Grifters' when the murders happened. Used to not lock my doors unless I was gone. After that, everyone was getting security put in. I usually took people in that seemed trustworthy. An actress that was staying at the beach house moved out and Harris---things were not going well with his career, so I let him stay there for a while.
The interviewer asks about rumors that Sam was on the Manson hit list
Sam: No. there is no basis for that. It doesn't even make sense. I met Robert Wagner once at a party but never knew anyone else in that circle. Same with rumours I knew some of the Manson family members from the beach or was invited to Polanski's house that night. Any of the hippies I did know were really harmless people who weren't part of the Manson crowd.
[1] Steven Parent doesn't show up at the guesthouse that night to talk to caretaker William Garretson about a clock radio.
Via New York Times front page
“HOLLYWOOD STARS, DIRECTOR AMONG FOUR FOUND BRUTALLY MURDERED IN POLANSKI HOUSE” [1]
Timeline of events
Evening of August 8th, 1969
Jill St. John, husband Roman Polanski, aspiring screenwriter (and friend of Polanski) Wojciech Frykowksi, actor Robert Wagner, and Wagner’s wife, actress Marion Marshall, as well as actress Raquel Welch, Wagner’s co-star a year earlier in The Biggest Bundle Of Them All, are spotted out for dinner at Mexican restaurant El Coyote. Frykowski is photographed with Welch, his date for the evening, after his split from coffee heiress Abigail Folger some months prior.
Following dinner, Marion Marshall left to check in on her daughter with Wagner, Katie. Wagner wishes to discuss a film project with Polanski that would have been the director's follow-up film to Rosemary's Baby.
Welch, who is not feeling well after dinner, declines an offer to join the others at the house for a late-night party.
10:30 PM: Polanski, St. John, Wagner, and Frykowski head back to the Polanski residence at 10050 Cielo Drive. Marshall calls about 10:50 PM to tell Wagner that their daughter Katie is feverish and that she won’t be coming by, but not to worry. It’s the last Marshall will talk to her husband.
After Midnight
Following orders from failed musician turned cult leader Charles Manson, Manson Family follower Tex Watson takes Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkel to "that house where Terry Melcher used to live with Candice Bergen" and told them to "totally destroy everyone in [it], as gruesome as you can."
Cut to August 10th, 1969
Following the murders of Roman Polanski, Jill St. John, Robert Wagner, and Wojciech Frykowksi, The Manson Family kills Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, a wealthy Los Angeles business couple.
April 9, 1970
Charles Manson is sentenced to death. In 1972, California bylaws are changed to life imprisonment. Foul play was suspected but never confirmed. The three followers would spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
September 25, 1984
While imprisoned at the California Medical Facility at Vacaville, Charles Manson dies after being severely burned by a fellow inmate who poured paint thinner on him and set him alight. The prisoner, Jan Holmstrom, explained that Manson had objected to his Hare Krishna chants and had verbally threatened him.
From Sam Westwood's Hollywood (2016)
Sam: That, uh, freaked me out. I kind of wondered, you know, if all this was worth it.
I was shooting 'The Grifters' when the murders happened. Used to not lock my doors unless I was gone. After that, everyone was getting security put in. I usually took people in that seemed trustworthy. An actress that was staying at the beach house moved out and Harris---things were not going well with his career, so I let him stay there for a while.
The interviewer asks about rumors that Sam was on the Manson hit list
Sam: No. there is no basis for that. It doesn't even make sense. I met Robert Wagner once at a party but never knew anyone else in that circle. Same with rumours I knew some of the Manson family members from the beach or was invited to Polanski's house that night. Any of the hippies I did know were really harmless people who weren't part of the Manson crowd.
[1] Steven Parent doesn't show up at the guesthouse that night to talk to caretaker William Garretson about a clock radio.
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Aftermath from Sam's perspective
From Sam Westwood's Hollywood (2016)
I: You've gone on record saying you didn't know--
Harris: I didn't know Sam was gay. He was just really nice to me and didn't expect anything back.
(Harris shrugs)
It wouldn't have made any difference to me if he hadn't been.
Sam: There was talk about Harris maybe swinging both ways but I had no motives. Maybe a crush (laughs).
Harris just intrigued me. He was very creative and funny and just really genuine.
Harris: There wasn't talk about Sam until he got really big because there wasn't any sort of visible female companion.
Sam: My publicists arranged "dates"
Interviewer asks a question in the background
Sam: Well, let me get into the backstory first.
Harris and I socialized a lot at parties but we usually had dates and weren't left alone for long. And it wasn't something that came up much. This was before and during the period of the Stonewall riots. Nobody talked about it.
Harris: Things got better if you weren't in the acting profession. I realized early on that while I liked working, I kinda hated the big parties and ceremonies. And the pressure to stay in the closet.
Harris continues
To cut a long story short, I had lost my apartment and was scraping by.
Sam: Harris stayed for a while before he signed with Helen Benson. I thought he'd be extra security.
Harris: Sam and I were both jumpy. Nobody anticipated that some big stars were going to be murdered. It could have happened again and it could have been anyone.
In the meantime, I brought someone over there thinking Sam was going to be out that night.
Sam: I had a break in filming and couldn't reach him. Accidentally left the front door unlocked. He brings this guy in and I didn't know who it was. I came out holding a gun in the dark. The guy just jumps!
The two laugh awkwardly
Harris: I decided to just take the guy home. I thought Sam might be mad because I brought a date over, which in hindsight wasn't responsible.
Sam: I wasn't mad. It was a misunderstanding. I never said you couldn't have visitors. Everyone was scared after what happened. I had to reassure Harris that it didn't bother me and came out to him.
Harris: Sam could trust me. I wasn't going to blow his cover to someone like...who was that bitch that printed blind items about Jane Fonda?
Sam: Joyce Haber. I had a couple close calls with Joyce Haber in the mid-'70s when she tried to out me. They fired her around the same time for unreliable sources.
Harris: It was a rough time. I was already not doing well emotionally and started to drink a little.
Sam: I did notice it then but didn't say anything. There weren't any pills or coke at that point--
Harris: I'd just have like a couple drinks in a row. And smoke some pot which--
Sam: Everyone smoked pot. It wasn't the pot that bothered me.
Harris: It got worse living in New York--
I: You've gone on record saying you didn't know--
Harris: I didn't know Sam was gay. He was just really nice to me and didn't expect anything back.
(Harris shrugs)
It wouldn't have made any difference to me if he hadn't been.
Sam: There was talk about Harris maybe swinging both ways but I had no motives. Maybe a crush (laughs).
Harris just intrigued me. He was very creative and funny and just really genuine.
Harris: There wasn't talk about Sam until he got really big because there wasn't any sort of visible female companion.
Sam: My publicists arranged "dates"
Interviewer asks a question in the background
Sam: Well, let me get into the backstory first.
Harris and I socialized a lot at parties but we usually had dates and weren't left alone for long. And it wasn't something that came up much. This was before and during the period of the Stonewall riots. Nobody talked about it.
Harris: Things got better if you weren't in the acting profession. I realized early on that while I liked working, I kinda hated the big parties and ceremonies. And the pressure to stay in the closet.
Harris continues
To cut a long story short, I had lost my apartment and was scraping by.
Sam: Harris stayed for a while before he signed with Helen Benson. I thought he'd be extra security.
Harris: Sam and I were both jumpy. Nobody anticipated that some big stars were going to be murdered. It could have happened again and it could have been anyone.
In the meantime, I brought someone over there thinking Sam was going to be out that night.
Sam: I had a break in filming and couldn't reach him. Accidentally left the front door unlocked. He brings this guy in and I didn't know who it was. I came out holding a gun in the dark. The guy just jumps!
The two laugh awkwardly
Harris: I decided to just take the guy home. I thought Sam might be mad because I brought a date over, which in hindsight wasn't responsible.
Sam: I wasn't mad. It was a misunderstanding. I never said you couldn't have visitors. Everyone was scared after what happened. I had to reassure Harris that it didn't bother me and came out to him.
Harris: Sam could trust me. I wasn't going to blow his cover to someone like...who was that bitch that printed blind items about Jane Fonda?
Sam: Joyce Haber. I had a couple close calls with Joyce Haber in the mid-'70s when she tried to out me. They fired her around the same time for unreliable sources.
Harris: It was a rough time. I was already not doing well emotionally and started to drink a little.
Sam: I did notice it then but didn't say anything. There weren't any pills or coke at that point--
Harris: I'd just have like a couple drinks in a row. And smoke some pot which--
Sam: Everyone smoked pot. It wasn't the pot that bothered me.
Harris: It got worse living in New York--
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How about Sam Being chosen to play Mason in the 1976 Helter Skelter Movie?
I really want to distance myself (and poor Sam!) from any more Charlie Manson posts. The topic is a haven for conspiracy theorists on this site.
She's going to marry another old co star and it won't be as contentious as OTL. I don't want to dive into theories but I'm convinced there was foul play involved.
Natalie Wood deserved a much happier later career. She was still getting offered decent scripts ('Ordinary People' if I recall). Unfortunately, the offers she accepted weren't very good. 'Meteor' was awful but she looked great in it.
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Okay: re Sam playing Munchkin, I mean Manson. Manson is about a foot shorter than Sam. Now if Tom Cruise were around......
Sam and Harris are tall guys. It kinda just panned out that way. Tom Cruise seems unhinged to me so that could have worked IOTL...
Thank You so much for this!
Are you ok if I add this to the actual post?
(with credit of course)
What happens with the Avengers TV series ITTL? Diana Rigg still leaves, presumably, to shoot On Her Majesty's Secret Service; IOTL, they did propose having a series of guest actresses to replace Rigg before going with Linda Thorson (who was dating one of the producers, IIRC). This replacement (which really isn't Thorson's fault, IMO (1)) and the fact that it was put up against Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, one of the most popular shows at the time, led to the show's cancellation...
(1) Anyone taking over from Diana Rigg would have had the same problems; Rigg was very popular as Emma Peel...
(1) Anyone taking over from Diana Rigg would have had the same problems; Rigg was very popular as Emma Peel...
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Kind of apples and oranges but will answer.
Same as IOTL. Obviously Diana Rigg doesn't do James Bond in my timeline (check the index) but she still quits. Can't give away spoilers to future posts or it ruins the story. Linda Thorson is Canadian so she maybe she'll pop up later in a B-movie. If something has nothing to do with Sam, unless mentioned, it likely will be as IOTL.
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Coming soon to a theatre near you for late 1969:
Hopefully, some new posts will be ready in a week or so. Stay tuned.
Hopefully, some new posts will be ready in a week or so. Stay tuned.