1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: Greetings, Hollywood Land listeners, thanks for joining us. I'm Jake Brennan, 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:09,039 Speaker 1: and we here at Double Elvis are back for another 3 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:11,720 Speaker 1: week and excited once again to crack into the archive 4 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:16,320 Speaker 1: today and bring you this episode on Phil Hartman. A 5 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,120 Speaker 1: few comics played it as straight as Phil and still 6 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: made me laugh as hard. I grew up hanging out 7 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:25,799 Speaker 1: with Phil every weekend. His era of SNL was my 8 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 1: era of SNL, and when my high school friends and 9 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,040 Speaker 1: I would gather stoned around the TV every Saturday night, 10 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: unaware of how good we had it. With Phil Hartman 11 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: anchoring that incredible legendary cast of players, it seemed like 12 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: Phil was in every sketch. He was beyond funny. He 13 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: was a comedic rock. He could play it straight over 14 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: the top on his front foot and laid back kind 15 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:54,600 Speaker 1: of like a great musician. Before we put this episode together, 16 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:57,520 Speaker 1: I was unaware of Phil Hartman's connection to the rock 17 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: and roll world. And it's just one more compelling piece 18 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 1: of Phil's story, a story that ended in senseless tragedy 19 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 1: and a story that we hear at Double Elvis are 20 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:14,959 Speaker 1: proud to bring you here in Hollywood Land. This episode 21 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. Please 22 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: check the show notes for more information. Hollywood Land is 23 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: a production of Double Elvis. 24 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 2: Did You Have a Wonder? Sit and Wonda and things? 25 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 3: Why we're here and what this light is all about. 26 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:39,400 Speaker 4: It's a problem that has driven many brainy men to drinks. 27 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 4: It's the weirdest thing they've tried to figure out. 28 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: The stories about Phil Hartman are insane. He once held 29 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: Buddy Miles's kick drum pedal together with his bare hands 30 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 1: in the middle of a Jimmy Hendrick set. He designed 31 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: album covers for the band's Poco and America, as well 32 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: as the logo for Crosby Stills in nash And he 33 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: did those things as a card carrying member of the 34 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: Peace and Love movement, a movement that was so infamously 35 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:12,119 Speaker 1: disrupted by the Manson family, a ragtag group of hippies 36 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:15,640 Speaker 1: gone evil that just so happened to include one of 37 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: Phil Hartman's former friends from high school, a friend who 38 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 1: would later attempt to assassinate an American president, A friend 39 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: who helped steer sunny California into an age of darkness, 40 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: a darkness that for Phil Hartman led to secrets, blackmail, 41 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: guns and ultimately a murder suicide. But before his tragic 42 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: death at the age of forty nine, Phil Hartman made 43 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: great television in films, unlike that clip I played for 44 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 1: you at the top of the show that wasn't from 45 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 1: a great film. That was a fair use sample from 46 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: the Library of Congress of George M. Cohen performing Life's 47 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: a funny proposition after all in nineteen eleven, I played 48 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: you that clip because I can't afford the rights to 49 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: a clip from Roland Emerics Godzilla. And why would I 50 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: play you that specific slice of Lizard King Cheese? Could 51 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:17,639 Speaker 1: I afford it? Because that was the number one movie 52 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: in America On May twenty eighth, nineteen ninety eight, and 53 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: that was the day that the darkness finally caught up 54 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: to Phil Hartman in the master bedroom of his sunny 55 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 1: California home. On this episode Peace and Love, Darkness and 56 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: Light Secrets, Blackmail and Phil Hartman, I'm Jake Brennan and 57 00:03:40,600 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: this is Hollywood lamb May twenty eighth, nineteen ninety eight. 58 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:22,039 Speaker 1: Ron Douglas noted the time just after midnight, the hour 59 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: when the sun is farthest below the horizon, the darkest 60 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: hour pitchiest of pitch black. Ron's friend Bryn Hartman had 61 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 1: been hanging out in his studio City home for about 62 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: two hours now, and they had a few beers. Then 63 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,279 Speaker 1: they shot the shit. But it was a weeknight and 64 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: it was late, and Ron worried it was too late. 65 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,920 Speaker 1: Brynn's husband, Phil Hartman, asked only two things of Ron 66 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 1: whenever Brinn dropped by for a visit. One, don't let 67 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:53,359 Speaker 1: her stay out too late, and two, if she asked 68 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:57,040 Speaker 1: for cocaine, don't give it to her. The second request 69 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: was easy enough. These days. Ron was cleaned up. It 70 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,320 Speaker 1: had been fifteen years since he and Brnn were drug buddies, 71 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: bouncing around from one Hollywood audition to the next. He 72 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: knew it was different for Brinn. He knew that she 73 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,280 Speaker 1: struggled not just to stay on the wagon and stay 74 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:16,239 Speaker 1: off the hard stuff, but she struggled with the hard 75 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 1: truth that her acting career was never going to take off. 76 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:23,479 Speaker 1: That's a hard struggle, and she struggled with the fact 77 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: that her lot in life was to be the wife 78 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:28,919 Speaker 1: of a universally loved comedian and the mother of his 79 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:33,120 Speaker 1: two children, and never anything more. Ron also knew that 80 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: Brynn and Phil's relationship wasn't the hunky dory, squeaky clean 81 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,359 Speaker 1: kind that played out in the press. He knew, like 82 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 1: all people and all relationships, Brynn and Phil had the 83 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 1: roughs and downs, and Ron was sympathetic. He knew what 84 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: it was like to watch your dreams fade away. His 85 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 1: own acting career hadn't panned out like he thought it would. 86 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 1: His current life as a stunt man was neither glitzy 87 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:02,840 Speaker 1: nor glamorous. But although he was sympathetic, he was also tired, 88 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: and to be honest, he didn't want to piss off Phil. 89 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,919 Speaker 1: So it was time for Bryn Hartman to go home. 90 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 1: At around twelve forty five am, Brynn left Ron's place 91 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,160 Speaker 1: and drove her jeep Cherokee back to the Encino Ranch 92 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: style house she shared with her husband. A few hours later, 93 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 1: at three twenty five am, Ron's phone rang and it 94 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,920 Speaker 1: was Brynn. She said Phil wasn't home, that he left 95 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: her a note that she found when she arrived home, 96 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:34,719 Speaker 1: a note which read I'm going out for the night. 97 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: I'll be back love you. Brynn didn't want to be alone. 98 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: She wanted to go back to Ron's Ron dismissed the 99 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: idea outright. It was the middle of the night, Her 100 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: nine year old son and six year old daughter were 101 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: sleeping in their beds. This wasn't even enough for discussion. 102 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: Hang up the phone, go to sleep. Ron took his 103 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 1: own advice, or he tried to. Barely twenty minutes passed 104 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,600 Speaker 1: when suddenly his doorbell was ringing non stop and it 105 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 1: was banging at the front door. Ron stumbled out of bed, 106 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: more irritated than frightened. He walked downstairs and looked through 107 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:14,360 Speaker 1: the front window. Brynn was standing outside, long sleeved t shirt, 108 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: pajama pants, socks, but no shoes, prout a purse in 109 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: her hands. Ron opened the door. What the hell was 110 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: she doing? What was she thinking? And where were the kids? 111 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:29,080 Speaker 1: He could smell the booze on her breath. She was drunk, 112 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: maybe high, not weed. Weed was Phil's bag, but not hers. 113 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: Maybe she took some pills and maybe something stronger. Ron 114 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: was pissed, but he brought her inside. She was crying. 115 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 1: Her words came out slurred and frantic. It sounded to 116 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 1: Ron like she said something about killing Phil. He paid 117 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: it no mind. Brynn wasn't the killing kind. She and 118 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 1: Phil probably got into another fight, and maybe it got 119 00:07:57,320 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: a little physical. Plus she was clear out of it. 120 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:05,160 Speaker 1: She kept rambling. Then she started to rummage her hands 121 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 1: stuck around in her proud up purse for something Ron 122 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 1: didn't know what. And then she pulled it out. She 123 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: babbled it between her fingers and quickly lost her grip 124 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,080 Speaker 1: and it fell to the ground, and Ron's eyes went wide. 125 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: A Smith and Wesson thirty eight. What the hell was this? 126 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: I told you, she said, desperate now for Ron to 127 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: believe her. I killed Phil. Two decades earlier, in the 128 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: mid nineteen sixties, no one carried a gun in their purse. 129 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: No one even carried a purse, at least not the hippies, 130 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 1: for whom love was free and peace was plentiful. California 131 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 1: would provide. California was sun, surf and sex, sex, salty waves, 132 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 1: sweet leaf, a rock and roll crackling through a shitty 133 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:53,199 Speaker 1: am radio while you bawled in the back of a 134 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:56,439 Speaker 1: woody If being a hippie or a peace snicker or 135 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 1: whatever you called it met girls and drugs and music 136 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:03,360 Speaker 1: and freedom, then Phil Hartman was on board, literally on board. 137 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: When he was out riding a breaker in the Pacific, 138 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 1: and when he wasn't, getting baked into two room Cabana 139 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:13,840 Speaker 1: and Malibu previously occupied allegedly by beach boy Brian Wilson, 140 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 1: while praying to God that Uncle Sam didn't call his number, 141 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: would do just fine. These amenities came courtesy of Phil's 142 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:26,080 Speaker 1: brother John, who managed Rockin' Fu, a local band that 143 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:29,680 Speaker 1: mined the psychedelic slash garage slash country rock vibe that 144 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 1: was quickly becoming the Golden State's calling card. The roadie 145 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:37,720 Speaker 1: gig that John provided meant more sex, more drugs, and 146 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:41,200 Speaker 1: more rock and roll for brother Phil. He carried things 147 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,920 Speaker 1: like amplifiers, guitars, and road cases, and he also held 148 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:49,320 Speaker 1: shit together. He was the Glue long before that nickname 149 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:51,760 Speaker 1: was bestowed upon him by his fellow castmates in the 150 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: Hall at Halls of Studio at eight h to a 151 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: kid from hohum Branford, Ontario, the middle child of eight 152 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:01,160 Speaker 1: who had to hustle to be heard or even to eat, 153 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:05,600 Speaker 1: California was an easy trip. It was ground zero for 154 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:09,560 Speaker 1: the movement, and the movement didn't just provide. It blew 155 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:14,200 Speaker 1: Phil's mind, or maybe it just rattled his skull. Phil 156 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:16,840 Speaker 1: experienced the latter at a Jimmy Hendricks gig when he 157 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:20,200 Speaker 1: watched from the sidelines as Buddy Miles's kick pedal kept 158 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:24,520 Speaker 1: getting separated from the kick trum. Phil's roady instincts kicked in. 159 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:29,160 Speaker 1: He was the glue personified. Within seconds, Phil was on 160 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 1: stage on his knee, sandwiched between the drumstool and the kickdrum, 161 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: holding the pedal in place while Buddy bashed away on 162 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:39,600 Speaker 1: the kit. It was bliss, all of it, the ringing 163 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:42,520 Speaker 1: in his ears. After that Hendricks gig and the Brushes 164 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:45,080 Speaker 1: with Eric Burden at the film mor and with Janis 165 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:49,680 Speaker 1: Jopplin the Palm Beach International Raceway. The music, the grass, 166 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:53,320 Speaker 1: the pussy seemed like it would never end, and then 167 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:55,160 Speaker 1: it did. 168 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:00,719 Speaker 5: We had weird. 169 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 2: Later last night. 170 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 4: Another bizarre murder in Los Angeles, the second. 171 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:05,920 Speaker 2: In two days. 172 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:09,680 Speaker 5: Roman Polanski, the film director and husband of Sharon Tape 173 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:12,720 Speaker 5: Paul Newsman to a hotel in Hollywood to day, and 174 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:15,719 Speaker 5: there he made a long emotional statement, told a good 175 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 5: deal of what had been on his mind since his 176 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 5: pregnant wife and four others were killed at their home 177 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:24,200 Speaker 5: on August eighth. Twenty one year old Susan Atkins is 178 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 5: involved in still another murder case. 179 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:27,719 Speaker 2: She appeared in the. 180 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:31,240 Speaker 6: Santa Monica City courtroom this morning to enter a plea in. 181 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 2: A trial stemming from the July thirty. 182 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:36,640 Speaker 7: First murder of thirty four year old Gary Tinman. 183 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:40,760 Speaker 6: Los Angeles police had placed ms Atkins, also known as 184 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:41,920 Speaker 6: Sadie Glutts. 185 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 8: At the scene of the Tate. 186 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:46,960 Speaker 4: Murder, taking into account the published report in the Los 187 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,600 Speaker 4: Angeles Times, the story that Susan Atkins told about what 188 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 4: allegedly happened that night after the murder at the Tate house, 189 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 4: we drove from Cielo Drive at the base of Benedict Canyon. 190 00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:04,280 Speaker 5: Up here we found some trousers and some shirts appeared 191 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:08,040 Speaker 5: to be turtleneck shirts or something dark in color. 192 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:09,880 Speaker 4: Did they appear to have any stains on them? 193 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:14,120 Speaker 9: This is where they lived, among the stables, barns, and 194 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 9: tony buildings of an old rundown movie location twenty miles 195 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:23,240 Speaker 9: from Los Angeles. They called themselves the Family. Five members 196 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 9: are now in jail on other charges in the Desert 197 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 9: Child of Independence. The family's leader, Charles Manson, is jailed here. 198 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:33,280 Speaker 9: It is expected that he will be charged in the 199 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:34,520 Speaker 9: tape murders. 200 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:36,160 Speaker 2: The weird how to say. 201 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: In June of nineteen seventy, Charlie Manson and three of 202 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:51,400 Speaker 1: his family members went on trial, charged with first degree 203 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:55,520 Speaker 1: murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Phil Hartman watched the 204 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:58,960 Speaker 1: local news coverage on TV, but not coverage of the 205 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,680 Speaker 1: actual trial. He watched coverage of the protests that was 206 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 1: happening outside the courthouse, which is how he saw her. 207 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:10,119 Speaker 1: It had been years, but he recognized his former Westchester 208 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:13,960 Speaker 1: High classmate and fellow drama geek right away. He knew 209 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 1: that face. They were calling her Squeaky now, but Phil 210 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:22,120 Speaker 1: knew her by her given name, Linette Frome. Lynette Frome 211 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:24,679 Speaker 1: was now Squeaky, a name given to her by her 212 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:29,080 Speaker 1: new friends, the friends she was defending, now friends united 213 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:34,000 Speaker 1: by something unspeakable, something so depraved and so wicked it 214 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 1: could hardly be comprehended. Phil couldn't believe what he was seeing, 215 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: his old friend Lynette from protesting in defense of that monster, 216 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:46,240 Speaker 1: and to think that they had once been on the 217 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 1: same path together, fellow actors and artists, and now, at 218 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:53,720 Speaker 1: the dawn of the nineteen seventies, that path diverged somewhere 219 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 1: in the Woods, and Lynette Frome aka Squeaky took the 220 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: path less traveled, a path pained with blood and pulsing 221 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:05,680 Speaker 1: with evil. As he watched Lynette defend crazy Charlie for 222 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:08,839 Speaker 1: all the sea. Phil had one thought in his head, 223 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:14,200 Speaker 1: darkness is descending on the movement, and that darkness never 224 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:19,440 Speaker 1: went away. It settled in, It took root, and twenty 225 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: years later it was still there, casting its shadow from 226 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:27,240 Speaker 1: Spawn Ranch all the way out into Mammoth Mountain, in 227 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,320 Speaker 1: the halls of Westchester High up to the sleepy suburbs 228 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 1: of Encino. And on May twenty eighth, nineteen ninety eight, 229 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:37,320 Speaker 1: as the sun began to rise in the west the 230 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:41,720 Speaker 1: Pacific lapping the soft shores, surfers scanning the horizon for 231 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:47,800 Speaker 1: the big One, the darkness did what darkness does. It descended. 232 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:22,680 Speaker 1: Manson changed everything. Los Angeles locked its doors and left 233 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 1: the lights on at night, social circles tightened up, baseball 234 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:31,480 Speaker 1: bats next to beds, hammers hidden nise pillows, and everyone 235 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:35,560 Speaker 1: gout guns, even Phil Hartman. It was like a window 236 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,840 Speaker 1: had been left open, and for days, months, years even, 237 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,440 Speaker 1: it had been fine and nothing happened. But then one 238 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:45,560 Speaker 1: day evil slipped through that crack between the sill and 239 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:49,440 Speaker 1: the sash, from one world into another. And evil that 240 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:56,640 Speaker 1: had been there all along, unsuspected, undetected, unseen by everyone, 241 00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:59,560 Speaker 1: and now that it was here, it was here to stay. 242 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,760 Speaker 1: It was inside your head. But he carried on with life. 243 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 1: What else could you do? For Phil Hartman? That meant work, 244 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:12,200 Speaker 1: and in the early to mid seventies, that work was 245 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 1: briefly graphic design at a Santa Monica ad agency, but 246 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: advertising was too stuffy, too corporate. Phil was rock and 247 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:24,200 Speaker 1: rolled to his core. He was a better fit at 248 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: his brother's music agency on Sunset, working out of Alfred 249 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:33,280 Speaker 1: Hitchcock's former offices, where he designed album covers. Yes, the 250 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:37,000 Speaker 1: Phil Hartman was the artist behind many album covers in 251 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies for major records by bands like Poco 252 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:45,240 Speaker 1: and America. You know a horse with no name? Those dudes. 253 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:47,880 Speaker 1: He even designed the logo the Crosby Stills in Nash 254 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 1: US for decades. No shit, work didn't have to feel 255 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 1: like work. Work could lead to peace and to love. 256 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 1: Phil tried to find love in a postmanson California. He 257 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,320 Speaker 1: fell in love and hard, but it was the part 258 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:06,680 Speaker 1: after the falling that he struggled with his first marriage 259 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:12,560 Speaker 1: barely lasted two years. Love peace both so fleeting, so elusive, 260 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 1: it was hard to tell that the peaceful, easy feeling 261 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:18,480 Speaker 1: that the Eagles were singing about on the radio had 262 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:21,359 Speaker 1: actually been there at all in the first place, before 263 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:24,399 Speaker 1: the darkness came crashing down, or if it was just 264 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 1: a product of his imagination. Peace wasn't just physically getting 265 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:31,840 Speaker 1: away from everything, although in his later years Phil reveled 266 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 1: in the serenity and silence of solo trips to Catalina Island. 267 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:40,480 Speaker 1: Peace was putting on a mask. Peace was playing a character, 268 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:44,679 Speaker 1: and not just playing a character, but being buried in 269 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:48,679 Speaker 1: a character. The deeper the burial, the better. There was 270 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,840 Speaker 1: no vulnerability when you were someone else. You didn't have 271 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 1: to reveal who you really were or what you were 272 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:58,119 Speaker 1: really feeling. You didn't have to reveal shit. Playing characters 273 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:02,080 Speaker 1: was what Phil did a kid, doing Shakespeare and Moliere 274 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:05,560 Speaker 1: at school, and now as an adult picking up roles 275 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 1: where he could, like a local production of The Music Man. 276 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:11,960 Speaker 1: His discovery by chance of a new improv group called 277 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,520 Speaker 1: The Groundlings at a small theater in East Hollywood was kismet. 278 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:20,879 Speaker 1: The Groundlings meant more roles, more characters, and therefore more peace. 279 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:25,120 Speaker 1: He helped others with their characters, too, like this skinny 280 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:28,400 Speaker 1: kid named Paul Rubens who transformed into the bow tie 281 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:34,600 Speaker 1: wearing manchild pee Wee. Herman Phil pushed forward onward, upward, 282 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:39,520 Speaker 1: deeper into character who was nineteen seventy five. Everything was 283 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:50,439 Speaker 1: about to change. Lynette squeaky Frome stood out. She was 284 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:55,119 Speaker 1: wearing all red, red like hi alert, red like blood. 285 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 1: She was out for blood and justice, justice for what 286 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: they had done to Charlie, or for what they were 287 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:04,040 Speaker 1: now doing to the environment, something like that didn't matter. 288 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 1: She just felt in her bones that justice could be 289 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 1: exacted by spilling the blood. As the leader of the 290 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:15,199 Speaker 1: free world, free what a croc Flynnette knew there was 291 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 1: no free anymore, and there never had been. Just darkness. 292 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:23,720 Speaker 1: Darkness was her and she was it. She hid it well, 293 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:27,720 Speaker 1: cloaked beneath her bright red dress. She felt for the 294 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:30,640 Speaker 1: cold forty five strapped to her thigh, cold against her skin, 295 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:35,080 Speaker 1: but temperatures and Sacramento were worn mid eighties. Was she 296 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:37,680 Speaker 1: walking with the gun or was the gun walking with her? 297 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 1: She couldn't tell. Was she going to use it? She 298 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,239 Speaker 1: wasn't sure could she do it, would she do it? 299 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,080 Speaker 1: She had no answers to these questions. She just had 300 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 1: to go ahead and find out. She pushed her way 301 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:54,080 Speaker 1: through the crowd and watched as President Gerald Ford made 302 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:57,680 Speaker 1: his way out of his hotel in across Capitol Park 303 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:02,119 Speaker 1: towards the State Capitol Building by secret Service, surrounded by 304 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:05,960 Speaker 1: regular people, but not people like her. These people were sheep, 305 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:08,719 Speaker 1: sheep that wanted to shake the hand of a wolf, 306 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 1: Lemmings desperate to rub elbows with a Charlatan and actor, 307 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 1: a man who didn't care about anything besides himself. He 308 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:18,160 Speaker 1: didn't care about the air of the trees. He didn't 309 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 1: care about Charlie, that once in a lifetime soul, And 310 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:25,520 Speaker 1: for a moment, Lynette's thoughts drifted back to that soul, 311 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:29,840 Speaker 1: to her Guru, to her saint, to her Charlie. She 312 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:34,159 Speaker 1: felt such an overpowering connection to him, she shook it 313 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 1: off focus. She got closer look at him. Cherald's Ford 314 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:44,639 Speaker 1: wasn't even a person fucking smile in that posture. He 315 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:47,600 Speaker 1: looked like a cardboard cutout of what a person should 316 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:50,439 Speaker 1: look like. I have to do this, on that thought, 317 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:54,080 Speaker 1: this is the time, this was for the Redwoods and 318 00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:57,680 Speaker 1: for Charlie sitting alone in some dank prison cell with 319 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: the rest of his natural life. This was what the 320 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:04,000 Speaker 1: fucking President and his minions and blind followers all chose 321 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 1: to ignore. Lynette pushed people aside and got closer. She 322 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: reached down to removed the cold forty five from the holster. 323 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:14,399 Speaker 1: She raised it, and just as she was about to 324 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 1: told the trigger, she was clocked by a Secret Service 325 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:22,040 Speaker 1: agent who leapt at her with full force. Within seconds, 326 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:25,160 Speaker 1: she was on the ground, tackled, the gun was wrestled 327 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:28,320 Speaker 1: from her hand. President Ford was rushed away to safety, 328 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,679 Speaker 1: to the darkness. It was nothing but a momentary interruption. 329 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:37,960 Speaker 1: Lynette Squeaky From's second appearance on national television for the 330 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:41,880 Speaker 1: attempted assassination of President Ford in September of nineteen seventy 331 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: five happened the same year as her former friend Phil 332 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,160 Speaker 1: Hartman's induction into the ground Wings, and over a decade 333 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 1: before Phil made his debut on Saturday Night Live, and 334 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:54,720 Speaker 1: by that time the nineteen eighty six nineteen eighty seven 335 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:58,360 Speaker 1: season in which Phil became an SNL cast member, Lynette 336 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 1: was back in the news again, this time because she 337 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:03,800 Speaker 1: broke out of the West Virginia Women's Prison where she 338 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:06,920 Speaker 1: was serving a life sentence. She said she was trying 339 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:10,879 Speaker 1: to get to Charlie Manson. Lynette was quickly captured in 340 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,760 Speaker 1: a search for her one time guru came to an end. 341 00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:19,320 Speaker 1: Phil Hartman meanwhile found what he was looking for. Peace. 342 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: He founded inside countless characters at SNL, Unfrozen, Caveman, Lawyer, 343 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 1: the anal retentive chef, Sinatra, Iyacoca McMahon, Reagan, Clinton, and Trump. 344 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:36,119 Speaker 1: And for eight seasons he was a Clydesdale. He was 345 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:38,919 Speaker 1: the greatest utility player in the show's history. And I 346 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:43,159 Speaker 1: say that as an extreme compliment. He held everything together 347 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:45,800 Speaker 1: to the rest of the cast. He was at Phil, 348 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:49,879 Speaker 1: he was the glue. The other not ready for primetime 349 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:54,880 Speaker 1: players chanted for him like cheerleaders at the Big Game. Glue, Glue, 350 00:22:55,000 --> 00:23:00,680 Speaker 1: Glue Glue. SNL's creator and executive producer Lauren Michaels once 351 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 1: said that, quote Phil has done more work that's touched 352 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:07,600 Speaker 1: greatness than probably anybody else who's ever been here, unquote. 353 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,199 Speaker 1: And it wasn't just DESENL. Phil continued to beat the 354 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:15,080 Speaker 1: glue on shows like The Simpsons and News Radio and 355 00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:19,960 Speaker 1: in movies with Steve Martin and Arnold Schwarzenegger. But the 356 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 1: success was bittersweet. He wasn't a breakout star like Carvey 357 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:29,440 Speaker 1: or Farley or Sadler. It was the everyman, capable of anything, 358 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:32,879 Speaker 1: the everyday Eddie. It was easy to take him for 359 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,160 Speaker 1: granted because he was always there and was always solid. 360 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:39,720 Speaker 1: And that said, his level of success was greater than 361 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:43,720 Speaker 1: most in the entertainment industry, greater than most ever achieved. 362 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:46,679 Speaker 1: It afforded him cars and boats and the things he 363 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,320 Speaker 1: used to chase down moments of peace, and it bought 364 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:52,520 Speaker 1: him the house and encino that he shared with his 365 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:57,680 Speaker 1: third wife, Brinn. Phil called it the Ponderosa on account 366 00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 1: of the Ponderosa pine ceiling beams. Inside. The master bedroom 367 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:04,399 Speaker 1: alone was bigger than the place he'd lived in before. 368 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,040 Speaker 1: It looked like a sanctuary, hiding in plain sight, an 369 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:12,920 Speaker 1: oasis of calm lined with sycamores, oaks, redwoods, and Chinese elms. 370 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,479 Speaker 1: But it was more than a sanctuary. It was a 371 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:20,639 Speaker 1: place to keep secrets, like the one tucked safely away 372 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: in the metal lock box on a closet shelf inside 373 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:28,000 Speaker 1: that sprawling master bedroom, a secret that was supposed to 374 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:33,760 Speaker 1: help guard against the darkness, but instead welcomed it inside. 375 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:39,000 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this. 376 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:40,480 Speaker 2: We're, We're, We're. 377 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:52,159 Speaker 1: Phil and Bryn Hartman saw it as soon as they 378 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:55,760 Speaker 1: pulled into their driveway. A Manila envelope nailed to the 379 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:59,520 Speaker 1: garage door, not taped, not left in the mailbox or 380 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:03,399 Speaker 1: on the ground near the front door. Nailed to the 381 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:07,920 Speaker 1: garage door. It was bulky and awkward. It was meant 382 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:10,960 Speaker 1: to be. It was meant to stick out like squeaky 383 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,119 Speaker 1: from dressed in all red amid the throng at Capitol Park. 384 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 1: Phil took the envelope down and opened it. Inside was 385 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,720 Speaker 1: a video set and a note, and the note demanded 386 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:24,879 Speaker 1: twenty five thousand dollars asap, or the contents of the 387 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:27,840 Speaker 1: tape would be released to the public, a public that 388 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:30,160 Speaker 1: had come to love Phil Hartman for what they perceived 389 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:34,200 Speaker 1: to be. A team player, a solid guy, a loving 390 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,200 Speaker 1: husband of nearly ten years to his gorgeous third wife, 391 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,640 Speaker 1: and a dependable father who doted on his two small children. 392 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 1: You know the glue. The people who planted the envelope 393 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,960 Speaker 1: wanted the public to watch as the glue came apart 394 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,280 Speaker 1: at the seams, not because Phil Hartman wasn't who he 395 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:54,240 Speaker 1: said he was, and not because he deserved it, but 396 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:56,879 Speaker 1: simply because the blackmailer saw a way to exploit a 397 00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:59,800 Speaker 1: celebrity in order to get what they wanted. Because the 398 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,760 Speaker 1: darkness can't help but see light and want to smother 399 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:06,840 Speaker 1: it in shadows. Phil and Brynn took the tape inside 400 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,399 Speaker 1: and popped it into the VCR. Phil hit play. The 401 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:13,280 Speaker 1: TV fluttered with black and white static as the tape 402 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:17,680 Speaker 1: started up, and then on the screen they watched as 403 00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:20,399 Speaker 1: footage from what seemed to be a hidden camera played 404 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 1: Very clearly. They could see Phil sitting inside the Body Shop, 405 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:29,160 Speaker 1: a notorious strip club on Sunset Boulevard, as a nude 406 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,680 Speaker 1: dancer writhed on his lap. Sitting next to him was 407 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:37,240 Speaker 1: another blonde bombshell. The Blackmailer's intent was to expose Phil 408 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:40,920 Speaker 1: Hartman as a cheater, an unfaithful pussy hound, a man 409 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:43,960 Speaker 1: who in reality bore zero resemblance to the clean cut 410 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:48,159 Speaker 1: family man persona he so effortlessly represented. But there was 411 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:52,440 Speaker 1: one big problem with the Blackmailer's intent the blonde smoke show. 412 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 1: Sitting next to Phil at the club was Brynn, his wife. 413 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:02,159 Speaker 1: This wasn't a gotcha moment. Phil wasn't cheating. Phil was 414 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 1: at the club with his wife and with another couple 415 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:09,880 Speaker 1: that he thought he could trust, acquaintances, friends, and now 416 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:12,520 Speaker 1: those so called friends were taking advantage of Phil for 417 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 1: a stupid, opportunistic cash grown unbelievable. Phil picks up the phone. 418 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: He died the blackmailer's number, and before they answered, Phil 419 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,840 Speaker 1: found some peace. He put on a mask and he 420 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:27,959 Speaker 1: buried himself in a character. The character was a man 421 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:30,480 Speaker 1: who would do whatever the blackmailer wanted, and he'd do 422 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:33,720 Speaker 1: it happily. Sure, Sure, no problem, I'll get you the 423 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:35,359 Speaker 1: money from out where did you say he wanted to 424 00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:39,120 Speaker 1: deliver to what time? Of course? Of course? See there. 425 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:43,480 Speaker 1: Then Phil hung out and dialed another number. This call 426 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:48,000 Speaker 1: was made to a let's say, persuasive type, capable even 427 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:50,800 Speaker 1: a guy that one of Phil's friends said looked just 428 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:54,719 Speaker 1: like Luca Brasi from the Godfather, A guy that Joe Rogan, 429 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:57,760 Speaker 1: Phil's former co star on news radio said was a 430 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:03,040 Speaker 1: quote unquote dangerous person. Whoever, that guy was a private 431 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:06,399 Speaker 1: eye Roe muscle for hire. He went and met with 432 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:09,879 Speaker 1: Phil's blackmailer in Phil's place and told him in no 433 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,760 Speaker 1: uncertain terms that very bad things would happen to them 434 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:21,320 Speaker 1: if he ever fucked with the Hartman's again. The Hartmans 435 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:25,359 Speaker 1: had their own problems to worry about. Phil wanted Brynn 436 00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 1: to get help for her on again, off again cocaine 437 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:31,240 Speaker 1: and alcohol how it. Brynn wanted Phil to stop smoking 438 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:33,840 Speaker 1: weed alone in his office and instead focus on how 439 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:36,040 Speaker 1: he's going to help her with her own acting career. 440 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:39,160 Speaker 1: He said he'd make introductions, ask around. 441 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:40,120 Speaker 8: He didn't. 442 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:43,720 Speaker 1: She started taking zoloft, but it didn't keep the resentment 443 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 1: from rising, and it didn't stop the fights, fights that 444 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,920 Speaker 1: Phil told his friends about, fights that frequently got nasty. 445 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:54,000 Speaker 1: And when they got nasty, Phil smoked a joint and 446 00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:57,000 Speaker 1: took a nap. Brynn, on the other hand, did a 447 00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:00,400 Speaker 1: line and got more worked up. She got pissed. She 448 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,160 Speaker 1: got pissed when Phil's second wife sent them a card 449 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:05,920 Speaker 1: to congratulate them on the birth of their son. She 450 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,520 Speaker 1: got pissed when Phil received fan mail. She got pissed 451 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:12,440 Speaker 1: when Phil tooled around Catalina on his boat and what 452 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:14,600 Speaker 1: was he really doing and who was he really with? 453 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:18,040 Speaker 1: And where was her piece? Where could she go to disappear? 454 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:23,280 Speaker 1: The drugs, the jealousy, the resentment, the attention Phil received 455 00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:26,640 Speaker 1: for his work, the patronizing attention Brynn received merely for 456 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,960 Speaker 1: looking attractive on Phil's arm and nothing else. It all 457 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 1: built up, and it calcified. Phil buried himself and other people, 458 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:37,800 Speaker 1: and when that didn't work, he turned onto his side 459 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:41,320 Speaker 1: and went to sleep until the day when he didn't 460 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:49,160 Speaker 1: wake up. May twenty eighth, nineteen ninety eight six, am 461 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:53,720 Speaker 1: Ron Douglas, the studio city stuntman and former drug buddy 462 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:57,040 Speaker 1: of Bryn Hartman, put Brin's thirty eight Smith and Wesson, 463 00:29:57,160 --> 00:29:59,360 Speaker 1: the one that spilled out of her Prada bag, into 464 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: a plastic for safekeeping. It had been a few hours 465 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:06,280 Speaker 1: since she showed up, but Ron's unannounced. In a frantic 466 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:10,320 Speaker 1: and inebriated state, she said she now felt sober enough 467 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,400 Speaker 1: to drive back to her house in Encino, but only 468 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:16,480 Speaker 1: if he followed her back in his car. She wanted 469 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:18,400 Speaker 1: to prove to him that it was true that she 470 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:20,680 Speaker 1: had really done what she said she did, that she 471 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:25,040 Speaker 1: killed Phil. Ron still didn't fully believe her, but he 472 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 1: agreed the caravan back to her place. A few minutes later, 473 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:31,880 Speaker 1: Ron pulled his car up to the Hartman's home and 474 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:35,440 Speaker 1: put it in park. The neighborhood was quiet. He stepped 475 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:37,520 Speaker 1: out of the car, carrying Brinn's thirty eight in the 476 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:41,040 Speaker 1: plastic bag. He followed her inside and they entered through 477 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:44,080 Speaker 1: the garage. The house was just as quiet as outside. 478 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:47,520 Speaker 1: Ron assumed the kids were still sleeping. They made their 479 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:50,160 Speaker 1: way down a long hallway and into the master bedroom, 480 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 1: and there lying on the bed was philm a bullet 481 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:58,080 Speaker 1: hole in his head. Brynn began to scream. Ron started 482 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:01,400 Speaker 1: to fully process what he was seeing, though in shock, 483 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:04,520 Speaker 1: he went into action modeing He stepped out of the bedroom, 484 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 1: found the nearest phone and dialed nine to one one. 485 00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:10,480 Speaker 1: From inside the bedroom, Brynn shut the double doors and 486 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:13,920 Speaker 1: locked them. Ron yelled to her to come out. She didn't. 487 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:17,960 Speaker 1: Ron still had her gun safely in his hands, but 488 00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:19,760 Speaker 1: he didn't think it was a good idea for her 489 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:21,600 Speaker 1: to be locked in a room with her dead husband 490 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:25,040 Speaker 1: all the same, and he tried to handle but no luck. 491 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:28,360 Speaker 1: He couldn't get the doors to budge. He listened as 492 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:32,280 Speaker 1: Brin continued to cry hysterically, and he watched as the 493 00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:34,920 Speaker 1: first rays of the morning sun started to creep from 494 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:37,440 Speaker 1: the bottom of the double doors, struggling in vain to 495 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:38,200 Speaker 1: husher out. 496 00:31:38,120 --> 00:32:07,000 Speaker 8: The darkness. 497 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 4: Again with the murder investigation that has stunned the entertainment world. 498 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:05,320 Speaker 1: Murder and bostriggers. 499 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:07,560 Speaker 2: Stun the entertainment world. 500 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:10,920 Speaker 10: Phil Hartman, who rose to fame on Saturday Night Live, 501 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:14,200 Speaker 10: was found shot to death today. Jaun shot to death 502 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:17,520 Speaker 10: today inside his home in southern California, but the story 503 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:20,320 Speaker 10: was still unfolding when police arrived on the scene. As 504 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:23,520 Speaker 10: the couple's children were being removed from the hall, Hartman's 505 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:24,760 Speaker 10: wife shot herself. 506 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:27,880 Speaker 2: Hartman's wife shot herself. 507 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:29,000 Speaker 10: In what is looking now more and more like a 508 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:30,160 Speaker 10: murdered soul side. 509 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:35,120 Speaker 3: At six point twenty this morning, residents of this upscale 510 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:38,640 Speaker 3: Ensino neighborhood called police to report gunshots coming from the 511 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:42,239 Speaker 3: Hartman's gated estate. Officers arrived to find a nine year 512 00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:44,240 Speaker 3: old boy and a six year old girl by the 513 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:44,840 Speaker 3: front door. 514 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:47,800 Speaker 2: As they were taking the children out of the house, 515 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:52,000 Speaker 2: officers lived a gunshot and the master bedrow. There they 516 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:56,000 Speaker 2: discovered comedian Phil Hartman dead. Authority say it here's his 517 00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:59,320 Speaker 2: wife Brin and shot him. Then from the gun on herself. 518 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:09,920 Speaker 7: From the gun on herself, Mister Hartman had been dead 519 00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:12,960 Speaker 7: for a while for a wine did not die. 520 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:17,800 Speaker 6: At the same time time apparently kill alf But certainly 521 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:21,880 Speaker 6: anytime our officers in her location, if there are children present, 522 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:27,160 Speaker 6: they are our first consideration, removing children from potentially dangerous situations, 523 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:28,680 Speaker 6: and that's what the officers did. 524 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:34,680 Speaker 1: Bryn Hartman wasn't listening to her friend, Ron Douglas yelled 525 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:36,959 Speaker 1: at her from the other side of the lock double doors. 526 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:40,120 Speaker 1: She was busy removing the metal lock box from the 527 00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:44,160 Speaker 1: shelf inside the master bedroom's closet once more. She opened 528 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:48,000 Speaker 1: it and pulled out the other gun, her Charter Arms 529 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:52,400 Speaker 1: thirty eight. While lapd were busy safely removing her two 530 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:55,840 Speaker 1: young children from the house, Brynn crawled into her kink 531 00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:58,600 Speaker 1: size bed right next to her dead husband, whom she 532 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:01,480 Speaker 1: had shot in the neck, chest and the heads some 533 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:05,000 Speaker 1: three hours ago. She propped herself up with a pillow, 534 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:07,840 Speaker 1: and then she stuck the barrel of the Charner Arms 535 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:13,080 Speaker 1: in her mouth and pulled the trigger. According to the 536 00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:17,080 Speaker 1: coroner's report, Bryn Hartman's blood contained traces of cocaine and 537 00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:20,640 Speaker 1: therapeutic levels of zoloft, and of blood alcohol content of 538 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:24,880 Speaker 1: zero point eleven percent. Well over California's legal limit of 539 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:28,520 Speaker 1: zero point oh eight percent. No drugs were found in 540 00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:33,200 Speaker 1: fill system. Some blamed Brynn's actions on the combination of 541 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:37,200 Speaker 1: coke and Soloft, and some blamed coke and alcohol. Some 542 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:40,000 Speaker 1: just wanted something or someone to blame for such a 543 00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:45,200 Speaker 1: senseless tragedy. Brynn's brother blamed Pfizer. He brought a wrongful 544 00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:48,640 Speaker 1: death lawsuit on behalf of the Hartman's children and their parents' 545 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:52,000 Speaker 1: estates against the maker of Zoloft, along with the doctor 546 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:55,680 Speaker 1: who prescribed it, arguing that Brynn did not have major 547 00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:59,120 Speaker 1: clinical depression and therefore the drug did are more harm 548 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 1: than good. Pfizers settled privately out of court. John lovettz 549 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:08,800 Speaker 1: Phil's close friend and former SNL classmate, blamed Andy Dick, 550 00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:13,200 Speaker 1: one of Phil's co stars on news radio. Lovett's thought 551 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:16,839 Speaker 1: Dick was an enabler. He once gave Bryn cocaine at 552 00:35:16,840 --> 00:35:19,439 Speaker 1: a party at Phil's house at a crucial moment when 553 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:22,360 Speaker 1: she was trying to stay clean, and Andy Dick claimed 554 00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:24,680 Speaker 1: he had no idea that she struggled with addiction, but 555 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:28,680 Speaker 1: John Lovett didn't buy it, and years later, still mourning 556 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:31,839 Speaker 1: the loss of his friend, John Lovitz, grabbed Andy Dick 557 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:34,080 Speaker 1: by his shirt and slammed his head into the bar 558 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:37,880 Speaker 1: with the Laugh Factory. The kicking Andy Dick's ass make 559 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:41,560 Speaker 1: John Lovitz feel better, probably, but it didn't dull the 560 00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:44,920 Speaker 1: pain of losing Phil Hartman, and it didn't bring him 561 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:48,440 Speaker 1: or his wife back. It also didn't restore peace and 562 00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:52,279 Speaker 1: love to a world that had long before slipped into shadow. 563 00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:56,919 Speaker 1: Eleven years after Phil's death, Lynette's Squeaky Frome slipped past 564 00:35:56,960 --> 00:35:59,520 Speaker 1: the razor wire fences of a federal prison and into 565 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:02,600 Speaker 1: a car waiting for her on the outside. But she 566 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:08,560 Speaker 1: wasn't escaping again this time. She left legally after serving 567 00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:11,520 Speaker 1: more than three decades of her life sentence. The one 568 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:16,120 Speaker 1: time Manson family member would be presidential assassin and former 569 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:21,680 Speaker 1: friend of Phil Hartman, was released on parole in twenty nineteen. 570 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:25,520 Speaker 1: During an interview with ABC's Nightline, Squeaky was asked if 571 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:29,680 Speaker 1: she was in love with Charlie Manson. Oh yeah, she responded, 572 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:33,359 Speaker 1: I still am. I don't think you fall out of love. 573 00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:48,880 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brand and this is hollywood Land. Hollywoodland was 574 00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:51,960 Speaker 1: created by Years Truly and is produced in partnership with 575 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:55,919 Speaker 1: Double Elvis, follow, like, rate, and review hollywood Land wherever 576 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:57,799 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts, and get in touch with us 577 00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:01,520 Speaker 1: on social media at double Elvis. If you like Hollywoodland, 578 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:04,399 Speaker 1: check out my other show, the award winning Disgraceland, which 579 00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:06,239 Speaker 1: looks at the world of music through the lens of 580 00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:09,040 Speaker 1: true crime. Just search for Disgraceland or wherever you get 581 00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:09,719 Speaker 1: your podcasts. 582 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:16,800 Speaker 8: Good, there's a laugh.