(Collage created by the blog author. Picture credits: Ranker / Silentology / Historic Images / Find A Grave / Imdb / Pinterest)
*Please be aware that I will be sharing some disturbing details in this post which will involve descriptions of murders, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Suicide. I will, as always, aim to be as sensitive with the details as possible, whilst not taking away the facts of each of the cases. Please email me at jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com if you have any questions or enquiries*
Do you ever find yourself watching one of your favourite movies that you've seen hundreds of times and ever wonder what happened to some of the cast members? You soon find yourself grabbing your phone to look them up on Google to see that they've either gone on to more success, retired from acting or sadly, have passed away. Well, sometimes it is the case that they are no longer with us through illness or natural causes due to age, but sometimes you can be left in a state of shock to find they've either taken their own lives due to mental illness, accidental drug overdose or have been horrifically murdered.
It's human nature to be shocked and intrigued when we suddenly find out that an actor or actress we have admired has been murdered. We are horrified but there is a sense of curiosity about finding out the details of how they met their tragic demise. Celebrities are just the same as the rest of us but there is this naivety we sometimes have that these individuals are somewhat above human (yikes...I sound like Marshall Applewhite - See my Heaven's Gate post!) and have a protective barrier around them. Yes, they do have the money for security, bodyguards and such but sometimes that doesn't even matter, they can still fall into dangerous circumstances just like you and I can. Sometimes it's the very people that they think they can trust, that causes them harm and a lot of the time they are at risk of being in danger due to crazed fans/stalkers.
So how did I come to deciding to write this two part series about actors and actresses who have been tragically murdered? Well, believe it or not, I was watching the classic movie 'Boyz N the Hood' when I was just messing about on my phone and decided to see what the cast members were up to nowadays. I've seen this movie a dozen times since I was a child and never thought to find out what the cast members were up to at any given moment. I knew that Cuba Gooding Jr had gone on to make other movies. One of the most memorable actors in the movie who was responsible for the shocking on-screen death of the beloved character 'Ricky' (an actor by the name of Lloyd Avery) had a minor but pivotal role in the film. I found out recently that he sadly died in 2005. All of these years have gone by and I had no idea that he had passed away, I was pretty shocked, saddened and horrified when I looked into the details of his death (brace yourself, it's quite disturbing) which I will be sharing in this post.
So as we know, quite a number of horrific murders of actors and actresses have happened in Hollywood and not just in Hollywood, elsewhere in the world and I have a few stories which I will be sharing in some future posts, including the story of an actress who was murdered by her male co-star because he was jealous that she was getting more 'screen time' than him (there might be some people reading this from a certain part of the world who'll know exactly who I'm talking about but it was a horrendous case). There's quite a number of shocking stories to share from all over the world but for now the focus in this post, is Hollywood.
So grab a cup of tea or coffee, get relaxed and let's delve into part one of this short series here on my blog....
Dorothy Stratten
Ramon Novarro
When we look back over classic Hollywood movies we feel a sense of romance and glamour, like the stars held themselves with more grace and mystery back then. Everything seemed to be art deco, more elegant and award ceremonies were so glamorous, it all seemed so timeless. When it came to the matinee idol heartthrobs, Ramon Navarro, he certainly fit the bill with his dark eyes, exotic features and charisma. Like a lot male movie stars of that era, Ramon lived a double life, on one side he was a heartthrob, adored by thousands of women and the other side, he was having to hide his sexuality for the sake of his career. As we know back then, attitudes were very black and white, not just the movies, times were different and a lot of singers and actors were forced to portray a squeaky-clean image, even going so far as to having their childhood's fabricated and being forced to lie about their ethnicity. That's part of the reason I have included writing about dark history on my blog because there certainly is a lot of skeletons in Hollywood's closet and an abundance of shocking stories about what went on back then.
So Ramon was a shining star but like all shining stars, there comes a time when the light begins to fade and times move on. As he got older, Ramon was still held in high regard and very much loved, he was seen (and quite rightly so) as Hollywood royalty and a huge part of cinema history. The sad thing is, that part of this popularity caught the attention of the wrong people. Now in his late 60s, Ramon was approaching his 70s with no signs of slowing down. With the pressures of his career no longer holding him down, he knew he had made his mark on Hollywood and was now feeling more relaxed to be himself and live life on his own terms however, this would lead to disturbing consequences. Ramon was living comfortably and enjoyed the attention of younger men at his home, he lived in a beautiful big house and the young men who came to see him would often be treated to his generosity and some would steal items from his home. These men were hired from an escort agency and Ramon would pay them for their time, their company and their sexual services. It's heartbreaking to think that this wonderful actor who'd captured the heart of so many in his hay day was now paying for sex (sorry to put it so bluntly) with these younger men who didn't care about him or appreciate who he was.
Of course, this sort of lifestyle where you are inviting strangers to your home, especially if you are known as an actor, can be very risky because they types of people believe that you have lots of money and expensive belongings. It was only a matter of time before someone really took advantage of this and two brothers (named Paul and Tom Ferguson) had overheard one of the boy's bragging about going to Ramon's home, the beautiful big house, the lovely food, the fancy furniture etc and decided that they were going to get a hold of his phone number and make him an offer they thought he would never refuse.
The two brothers called Ramon on the phone and on the promise of a threesome with these two guys the older actor jumped at the chance. However, when the pair arrived at Ramon's home, what Ramon was expecting as he opened the door (wearing his bathrobe with $20 in the pocket) was not exactly what he had in mind. The Ferguson brothers pounced on the 69 year old and beat and tortured the poor man for hours constantly demanding that he tell them where his money was hidden. The pair were convinced that this veteran Hollywood actor had money stashed somewhere in the house. When Ramon told them there was no money, they beat him more and more to the point that he was now passed out lying in his own blood, choking. The evil brothers got fed up and decided to leave but not before checking Ramon's bathrobe pockets as he lay dying, they walked away with the $20 that he had in his robe. They didn't call an ambulance, they just left him there and Ramon sadly passed away from choking on his blood on the 30th of October 1968.
I would leave the this terrible story there but I know you want to find out what happened next for the Ferguson brothers. Well, let's just say that karma came back for them in a big way. They were caught, found guilty and thrown in prison for what they did to Ramon but they were eventually released....but not for long as they just couldn't stay out of trouble. The chickens soon came home to roost for the pair of them, as the saying goes, Tom committed suicide in 2005 and his brother, Paul was beaten to death in 2018.
David Huffman
David was one of those rare actors that never forgot his roots! He was a very talented man who had not only lit up the screen with his acting skills but also won praise in the theatre too. He was very creative and had many talents which included painting and music....he could even play the bagpipes! The story of what happened to David is heartbreaking, I wasn't familiar with him before I did my research but he had one of those faces where you would say to yourself ''I've seen this guy before'', which is a silly thing to think considering he was an actor but as I am someone who practically lives for 1980s movies, it's most probable that I have seen him in a 1980s movie or show.
Well David was not just a talented man, he had two sons with his wife who he had met as a student at university and was very much a family man who never let the success of his career go to his head. Unlike a lot of celebrities, he never thought of himself as above anyone and those who knew him describe him as being generous to a fault. This was clearly demonstrated in the heartbreaking circumstances in which his death came about. His kindness and caring was to be the very things that ended up costing him dearly.
In February of 1985, David was spending some time at a theatre with his cast members having cookies and having some time bonding with everyone. When he left that afternoon he was sitting in his vehicle practicing playing his bagpipes when he noticed out of the corner of his eye some commotion across the street.
David witnessed a young man harassing an elderly couple and trying to steal items from their mobile home. Being the person that he was, David went to see what was happening and to see if the elderly couple were ok. It turned out that the perpetrator was a 16 year old illegal immigrant called Genaro Samano Villanueva who had come into America illegally with his family, not that long before this incident and had been going around committing petty crime as a way to make money. David saw what had happened and decided to confront Genaro which ended up with David giving chase to the 16 year old boy, the situation quickly escalated even worse when the pair got into a scuffle and Genaro forcefully stabbed David in the chest numerous times with a screwdriver, puncturing some main arteries. Blood was coming out of David very quick and fast and it didn't take long for David to collapse and die of his injuries. The whole thing took seconds, maybe a few minutes at most but David Huffman (later nicknamed by many as 'The Good Samaritan') was dead at just 39 years old.
The elderly couple didn't know what had happened because when David chased Genaro, the pair disappeared and they never saw anybody again after that. David was found about an hour later by a group of children, Genaro fled the scene. The police launched an investigation and the elderly couple noticed the information posters and reports and recognised David, they contacted the police straight away and were give them a description of Genaro. Thanks to the elderly couple's poster of Genaro, he was soon tracked down and arrested, he was found guilty and jailed. It's scary to think that if the elderly couple had not come forward, would Genaro have ever been charged? It's a sad story about a man who was very loved and was kind and saw something happening and wasn't too proud to go and help an elderly couple in need.
David was a hero that day and will be remembered for what he did as well as his acting credits and many talents. It's a shame that the world never got a chance to see what more David had to offer because 39 is no age and his family miss him terribly as you can imagine.
Lana Clarkson
This case will probably ring a few bells with you especially if I mention the name, Phil Spector. Lana Clarkson was a stunning blonde actress and model. She had minor roles but sadly wasn't very well known until her tragic death. You'll often see her name appear next to the late Sharon Tate, who as you know was also a beautiful, blonde actress who was pregnant and married to Director Roman Polanski. Sharon and her friends had been horrifically murdered by Susan Atkins and the Manson Family back in 1969. Lana and Sharon are often compared because of some of their similarities, beautiful promising young actresses that were on the cusp of a glittering career. The story of Lana's death was difficult to understand, although we know that Phil Spector was responsible, the question that is always asked in any of these types of circumstances is why?
Phil Spector before being known to the world as a monster and a murderer, was an American music producer and icon in the music world, and everyone wanted to work with him. He'd collaborated with everyone from Tina Turner to The Beatles. He was seen as royalty so when the news broke that a young actress had died in tragic circumstances in his home, the world was shocked. The details that were being made public about the tragic incident were even more confusing. Phil gave a strange version of events, he said that Lana had committed suicide by mistake and had been kissing the gun.
Phil's limo driver spilled the beans and it really was one of those cases where there was quite literally a smoking gun. Apparently Phil had picked up Lana and they went back to his home where the limo driver waited outside, after about an hour, there's a loud bang that sounds like a gunshot. The limo driver then witnesses Phil coming out of the back door of his home holding a gun and saying ''I think I've shot her''.
As awful as the circumstances were, this was pretty much an open and shut case because obviously Phil was responsible for this young woman's death. It became a real saga and a real lesson in what people think they can get away with if they have a certain reputation and wealth. Phil was a powerful man at one point and knew everybody in the music industry as well as underground figures in the criminal world. He had a vast amount of wealth and when he appeared in his first trial (which ended in a hung jury), there was an air of confidence about him. The whole thing was a complete and utter waste of time but he actually thought that he could get away with it because of who he was and how rich he was. This was a man who was able to buy people's silence in the past and get everything pretty much his own way and there was a point where I actually thought he was going to get away with it. The trouble was that there was a big debate on this poor woman's mental health and whether she held the gun herself and why this so-called legendary music producer would put himself in such a position to take the life of this young woman.
In the second trial which wasn't televised, he was found guilty of second degree murder and obviously this was a huge shock to him because all of a sudden he's no longer the big American producer, he's now in handcuffs and a jumpsuit with his wig off and instead of enjoying caviar and champagne, he's now in a cell with big Bob eating lumpy porridge. The mighty had surely fallen and it was a great thing to see that it didn't matter how much money you had or how many celebrities friends you had (who, by the way had dropped him like a bad habit) if you take the life of an innocent person, you have to pay the price.
Again, like with Sharon Tate and others who were murdered and never had the chance to experience the success that lay ahead of them, Lana will sadly be forever remembered as being a victim of this horrible situation. Phil Spector, after all those decades of being seen as music royalty, died in disgrace in his jail cell in 2021. Instead of being remembered for the incredible achievements and moments of musical history he helped create, people look at him and his legacy now as in a dark light, the images of him in the courtroom, the mug shots without his wig on and the whole set of circumstances just go to show that a lifetime's glittering career can be utterly tarnished forever in a short space of time and there's nobody to blame but himself.
Jenny Maxwell
Jennifer Helene Maxwell (known professionally as 'Jenny Maxwell') is often unfortunately nicknamed 'The Elvis Girl Who Was Murdered'. Obviously to star in a movie with the late, great and legendary Elvis Presley (the movie was 'Blue Hawaii' - 1961) is nothing to shake a stick at but there was more to Jenny. She was a talented woman in her own right and had a unique beauty about her. She had worked in various movies and television roles and was said to have been a distant relative of Marilyn Monroe.
Her rise to fame was quite extraordinary, she was discovered at the age of 16 by none other than the legendary film Director, Vincente Minnelli (Judy Garland's former husband and father to Liza) and the future looked bright Jenny and obviously she went on to star alongside Elvis. Being a beautiful woman she was never short of male attention and had been married twice, both marriages being quite tumultuous, her second marriage was to a lawyer who was a couple of decades older than her. Jenny was also mother, she had a son (named: Brian) that she had with her first husband and was involved in a custody battle with him.
Her second marriage wasn't easy either when it fizzled out either, there was drama when the pair decided to separate. The man she had been in the second marriage to had rumoured dealings with the mafia and was involved in all kinds of trouble so it's no surprise that sadly, Jenny was going to be caught up in tragic circumstances. According to a book which was written by Jenny's cousin (and released in 2021), on the night of the 10th of June 1981, Jenny and estranged husband were having a conversation in the lobby of her home when someone came out of nowhere and shot the the two of them. At the time it was declared in the media as an unsolved case and a tragic robbery gone wrong but decades later the truth would be revealed. In the book that was written by her cousin (titled: 'Murder of an Elvis Girl by Buddy Moorhouse) he explains that the police found that nothing had been stolen during this horrible incident and that they believe due to their investigation that Jenny's second husband had set up the whole thing. Apparently it was all a plot to get his hands on Jenny's money. The second husband had arranged for a guy posing as a hitman to shoot Jenny but to also shoot him but in a way that it wouldn't be fatal. His plan was to have Jenny murdered, he would be injured and recover, then he would inherit all of her money.
His plan didn't work out though because the shooter shot too close to an artery and he ended up dying from his wound. Sadly Jenny died at the scene. A further shocking twist to this whole tragic story was that due to the fact that they were still technically married and Jenny had died before her second husband, her estate automatically transferred over to him when she died. He held on for another couple of hours before he passed away and the estate was then transferred over to his daughters. Who turned out to be every bit as shady and dodgy as their father. Brian, Jenny's son was left nothing from his mother's estate, the daughters of the man who arranged his mother's murder wouldn't give him a thing. A sad story all round and your heart goes out to Jenny and Brian. If only things had turned out differently but again even when you're famous you are not immune to backstabbing people, even people who you were married to or once had a close friendship with and when it comes to money, some people have no heart and will stop at nothing to get their hands on someone's money.
Lloyd Avery II
So last but not least in this first part of this short series of posts, I have also been looking into the tragic death of actor Lloyd Avery II, most famously known for his role in the classic and Iconic 'Boyz N The Hood'. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, it was looking up the cast members of the film and seeing what had happened to Lloyd which inspired me to write this post. So as you know, Lloyd was a talented young actor but his original dream was to get into the music industry which he continued to pursue alongside an acting career.
When it comes to Boyz N The Hood, everyone remembers the shocking scene when the character 'Ricky' is shot and the scene where Avery's character leans out of a car window and fires the fatal shot. His character is later killed in an act of revenge by Ricky's brother. Lloyd became a familiar face and had also appeared in cult movies such as 'Poetic Justice' and 'Don't Be A Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood'. He had an interesting upbringing counting the children of the legendary Quincy Jones and Smokey Robinson as his childhood friends. He was always creative as a child and it always expected that he would have some sort of career in the arts.
Sadly though for reasons best known to himself, Lloyd's real life didn't stray that far from his on-screen characters. He found himself on the wrong side of the law many times and despite opportunities and future acting roles offered to him, Lloyd went down a different path and ended up shooting to death two people. These two people were reported to be random citizens so it's unclear if someone paid him to shoot these people or he was under the influence of something and carried out the murders after some sort of drug binge but whatever the case, he murdered two people and was sentenced to life imprisonment. All the promise of a great career gone down the tubes.
More tragedy was to come when on the 4th of September 2005, Lloyd, at the age of just 36, was found dead in his prison cell. He had reportedly (as part of a satanic ritual) been strangled by a cellmate by the name of Kevin Roby. Looking into the murderer of Lloyd was another ordeal in itself, I wasn't expecting to go down a horrible rabbit hole as bad as it was. I was expecting the murderer of Lloyd to be a member of a gang but this was far worse. Kevin Roby was known for being a satanist who raped his sisters and reportedly murdered one of them. Even the mugshots of this monster put the chills down one's spine. An utterly terrifying individual and the circumstances of the death of Lloyd get more horrendous the more you look into it. Kevin had apparently strangled Lloyd and then used his blood to paint a pentagram on the floor before placing his body in the centre. This was all because Lloyd had apparently turned to Christianity whilst being in prison and Kevin (who was a hardcore satanist) strongly objected to being placed with Christians. Kevin tried to also murder one of the corrections officers. A very sick and dangerous man indeed.
I know Lloyd was responsible for the deaths of two people and the whole thing is horrendous but to have his life end like that just adds more tragedy and horror to what could have been a successful and fulfilling life. What the hell happened to that young boy who was so talented and on the way to bigger and better things? I guess we will never know but what a horrible way for things to end.
So this was a very difficult post to get through, each of these stories was tragic and in many cases, utterly horrifying. I appreciate it if you have made it this far in the post. I'm thinking of the people I have written about here and how incredibly different each of these stories are. It's tragic in every case. RIP Lloyd, Ramon, David, Jenny, Lana and Dorothy.
Further Reading & Sources:
- Kevin Roby | True Crime Database
- Lloyd Avery ll | Investigation Discovery
- Lloyd Avery ll | Find a Grave
- Roman Novarro | Golden Globes
- Roman Novarro | Find A Grave
- David Huffman: Article | LA Times
- David Huffman | Find A Grave
- Jenny Maxwell: Article | The Livingston Post
- Murder of an Elvis Girl | Book by Buddy Moorehouse
- Jenny Maxwell | Find A Grave
- Murder of Lana Clarkson | Wikipedia
- Lana Clarkson | Find A Grave
- Dorothy Stratten | Wikipedia
- Dorothy Stratten: Article | ABC News
- Dorothy Stratten | Book by Morghan Knight
- Dorothy Stratten | Find A Grave
Thank you for taking the time to read this post, I appreciate it very much. If you would like to help support my weekly content by making a small donation by buying me a coffee, you can find the link on my page at the right of this page. You can also find all of my social media links here
Stay safe and I hope to see you in part two....x
