Venice, CA—In a tiny cottage here lived
Lana Clarkson. She was a great looking glamorous lady. She sought work as an actress/entertainer with limited success. In Hollywood you either have an agent or you are unemployed. Agents are difficult to obtain even for very talented people. Clarkson needed an agent.
Lana Clarkson was not particularly talented but talent is not a requirement to make it in this town if you have the looks. There is no formula, but getting famous before your famous helps a lot. Hollywood was the birthplace of the publicity stunt. The trick is to pull one off without getting arrested. Actress and comedienne,
Carol Channing was always a champ of the PR stunts.
Lana Clarkson had one B-movie, starring role and little to brag about or more importantly, pay the rent. I know many like Lana here in L.A. that are emotionally hurting while waiting to fulfill a dream.
Hollywood is unforgiving about age. For women it is doubly true. Clarkson turned 40, a milestone of old age for any actress. For an actress that has not achieved the desired career it is devastating.
Clarkson had another problem that destroyed her hope and that was a horrible fall that fractured both of her wrists crippling her for months in the recent time frame before her tragic death.
Lana became dependent upon pain killers for her emotional pain as well as the physical pain. Alcohol was also a big problem but still Clarkson tried to cope in an untenable situation.
Clarkson was forced to take a minimum wage job serving the people that she hoped were her peers. The earnings for that job were insufficient to pay for her cottage, a car with insurance, her utilities, food and her Vicadin addiction.
Clarkson had the looks and appeal to be a great porn star but sidestepped that temptation. That to me shows she was making a better choice.
Her job as a hostess at the House of Blues put her face to face with aging music legend
Phil Spector. Clarkson did not know Phil Spector, but joined him at his home after work. I’m convinced this was an opportunity to supplement her income with a low profile act of prostitution. There’s no question Clarkson needed any money she could get.
I don’t condemn Clarkson for doing what she had to do in order to try and survive. It should have never been a matter for public consumption. Hollywood is full of part-time hookers that later became stars. Many wanted to be stars but wound up as hookers and porn stars instead.
There are other unflattering things that came out about Clarkson. She often raided medicine cabinets of her friends in search of drugs for her addiction. She swindled several friends out of as much as $60,000.00 to finance a vanity film she wanted to use as a demo to showcase her act. The demo tape was an entertainment disaster. I’m sure she expected her stalled career to move and she’d pay back her friends in full. It just did not happen.
Clarkson’s hopes and dreams evaporated. A 40 year old woman with no marketable skills was out of luck and money. That left her even more despondent and hurting. This is incredibly sad but often repeated scenario in Hollywood. If someone could have whispered to Clarkson before she left school, “Lana, don’t quit, stay in school.” Maybe there would have been a much better ending.
While very drunk in Spector’s home Clarkson found a gun. I’m convinced horseplay began and an accident or suicide resulted. There were no witnesses. People are left to guess, speculate or wonder what really happened.
Found by police on a sink, were a pair of false eyelashes. On Phil Spector’s Scrotum Saliva belong to Clarkson was found. On one of Clarkson’s breasts Spector’s Saliva was found. This supports the prostitution angle since she was a stranger to Phil Spector.
Clarkson’s friends and family have been in immense pain. They blame the record producer just because he’s an easy target. The evidence for murder or manslaughter is just not there. Lana Clarkson is not coming back. She’s dead.
I grieve for Clarkson’s mother and sister. They did not deserve their loss. There is nothing for them to do but move on and make the best of their lives. We are all in this together and none of us will be leaving this world alive.
I hope people can still smile about some good times with Lana Clarkson. I’m sure there must be some great memories.
Clarkson should live on in an image she created of the hopeful starlet that had beauty and worth even though she was never properly recognized on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
Swat, Pakistan--I watched this sickening and horrible video of a vicious beating of this girl. Her screams are bone chilling. Her crime or the justification, evidence for this punishment will evade anyone but a cruel sadist.
