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Judith Barsi
A quck note, Todays episode features a story involving child abuse and murder. Listener caution is advised. Also if you think a child is being abused please report it to the local authorities or even call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-a-child or 1800-422-4453. They serve the U.S. and Canada, the hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with professional crisis counselors who—through interpreters—provide assistance in over 170 languages. The hotline offers crisis intervention, information, and referrals to thousands of emergency, social service, and support resources. All calls are confidential. The year is 1988 kids Halloween costumes would never be the same after a certain red headed doll named Chucky made his first appearance in the horror film called Child's Play. Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman would both raise autism awareness and introducing the savant misconception in Rain Man. It would be the highest grossing film and best picture winner that year. Tim burton would blend horror and comedy like only he can in the smash hit Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. Bruce Willis would ignite the genre of the everyman vs a colorful and engaging villain. We would see Steven Spielberg and George Lucas collaborate to make Bambi but with Dinosaurs in the Animated film The Land Before Time. One star of this film would never get to see this completed piece of art. Today we look at the story of Judith Barsi and how alcohol, abuse, and rage would lead to the unthinkable. Im Justin Harvey and you're listening to Death and Hollywood Judith Barsi was born on June 6th th 1978 in Los Angeles California to parents Jozef and Maria Barsi She would be the couples only child. Jozef had two other children from a previous marriage but we will get to that later. Her mother almost immediately began training her daughter for a future in Hollywood. Her brother once told her “you like it's like a 1 in 10,000 chance that kids get into show business right”. But Maria Barsi wasn't going to let odd stop her she was a true stage mom teaching Judith in the ways of posture and poise and working on her enunciation and singing voice. It would all pay off accidentally in 1983 for Judith. A crew shooting that happened to be shooting a commercial at an ice rink noticed Judith only 5 years old at the time skating gracefully across the ice. This crew would help her land her first commercial job for Donald Duck Orange Juice. She would become a successful commercial actress and with her Agent Ruth Hansen's experience and Judith's skill would go on to appear in over 70 commercials. Here I want to take a step back and introduce you a little more to the parents of Judith Barsi. Maria Virovacz and Jozsef Barsi had both separately fled the 1956 Soviet occupation of Hungary. Jozef would initially settle in France and marry a fellow Hungarian refugee named Klara with whom he had two children, a son named Barna and a daughter named Agi. Jozef would develop a drinking problem around this time and begin to physically abuse his wife Klara. The family would relocate to New York in 1964 and Jozef would begin to extend his abuse towards his son Barna. This prompted Klara to escape with the children to Arizona in 1969. Although József attempted to reconcile himself with his family, Klara filed for divorce after he threw a cast iron skillet at her in a drunken rage. Shortly after the divorce, József moved to California, where he worked as a plumbing contractor. There, he would meet Maria Virovacz, a waitress at Los Angeles restaurant that was a well-known gathering place for immigrants. The dark and husky, Joe Barsi would sit at the bar, head down over his drinks, for which he paid with $100 bills. Maria was impressed, seeing in the brooding man, dubbed “Arizona Joe” because he had once lived there, someone who could give her security. Maria, herself a Hungarian immigrant escaping the Soviet occupation. She suffered psychological and physical abuse from her father. The two married, and Judith's birth quickly followed in Los Angeles, California, where Judith was raised. Now you ask why I might bring that information up. There are two reasons One is to simply say they were both immigrants that had fled from Soviet control and to highlight that their life was filled with strife at an early age. The second is to show that violence and mental abuse were not a new phenomenon in Jozefs life. Back to Judith now she's seeing tremendous success in commercials and even landing guest spots in tv roles like growing pains, punky brewster, and Cheers. According to her agent, Ruth Hansen, part of her success was how young she looked. . “When she was 10, she was still playing 7, 8,” she said. This was because she was short for her age, standing only 3 feet, 8 inches when she turned 10. Her father would continue to work even as his daughter star began to rise. Leaving Maria to develop quite a bond with her. Judith and her mother got along great. They were close and spent all of their time together. Between commercial shoots and her new television roles, Judith got to spend a lot of time with her mom, reading books and telling jokes. Maria even taught her daughter Hungarian so they would have their own secret language to speak when they were out in public. In 1984 she would play a role in a made for tv mini series called Fatal Vision playing Kimberly the daughter of Jeffrey Macdonald. Fatal Vision is True crime miniseries focused on Captain and Physician Jeffrey R. MacDonald. and the February 17, 1970 murders of his wife and their two children at their home on Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In 1979, MacDonald was convicted of all three murders and sentenced to life in prison. By 1985 Judith was not a star just yet, but her estimated $100,000-a-year income helped buy a modest, 3-bedroom house in the West Hills area in 1985. Behind the success and smiles, Judith was hiding a dark secret. The young child had been going through a horrible time at home. Her father, Jozsef, was not what he appeared to be. While Maria was doing her best to give her daughter the life she wanted, Jozsef was becoming increasingly abusive. As his daughter's fame grew, so did his rage. He seemed to become jealous of his child's ability to provide for their family as he had been having no luck bouncing from plumbing job to the next. He became paranoid and angry, blaming Judith for anything and everything. When they were outside of the house, he would act as though everything was fine, calling her "Little One" in a loving way. But when they returned home, he would scream at her and her mother, threatening their lives regularly. Ad Break I want to pause right here to tell you about podcoin. Are you liking Death and Hollywood what if i told you podcoin would pay you to listen to this podcast and others. All you have to do is download the free podcoin app available on android or apple. Then just find or import your favorite podcasts and start getting paid to listen. You can even use the promo code Hollywood and you'll get 300 podcoins just for signing up. You can use podcoins to get amazon and Starbucks gift cards or even donate it to charity. So remember to use code Hollywood when you sign up for your welcome bonus and get started today. The brooding enigma in the tragedy is Jozsef Barsi, 55, a plumber who was ashamed of his Hungarian accent, and who valued family so highly who has been quoted saying “If the family life is gone, then life is not worth living.” Yet by all accounts, he ruled his family forcefully, bludgeoning them not with fists, but with words. He seemed perpetually angry at his wife. Barsi told friends he had no mother or father, a much more stigmatizing defect in Hungary, where families stay together, than in this country. When they fought, she would use it against him, calling him a bastard. Barsi would alternate his threats in these arguments, sometimes saying he would kill his wife, other times saying he would kill himself and Judith and leave Maria alive “to suffer.” Their neighbors started to notice the issues, with one reporting that they saw Maria hand Judith a new kite to play with, but then Jozsef grabbed it from her hands, yelling "you're going to break it!" at her. He allegedly looked at the neighbors and said "look at her! She's such a spoiled brat and doesn't want to share her new toy!" But instead of giving it back to her or just putting it away, he broke the kite into pieces in front of his daughter. Another family friend, who would give Judith home-made Hungarian sausage when she came to visit, said the girl spoke darkly of her home life. “I’m afraid to go home. My daddy is sad. My daddy is drunk every day, and I know he wants to kill my mother,” she would tell the couple. Jozsef's behavior continued to grow more and more erratic and aggressive. Though most of the abuse in the house was verbal, Maria Barsi filed a police report against her husband in December, 1986, accusing him of threatening over the last five years to kill her and of choking her and hitting her in the face. Police found no visible injuries and the wife eventually declined to prosecute. In 1987 she would voice the role of Ducky in Land Before Time. Her "Yep, yep, yep," is still remembered to this day by everyone who liked me watched that movie when they were a kid growing up in the nineties. Insert audio of yep, yep, yep Then later in 1987 Jozeph’s seemingly unphased with his earlier close call with police continued the abuse. When Judith was cast in Jaws: The Revenge, in the Bahamas, Maria was scheduled to go with her to the shoot. Before they left, Jozsef held a knife to his daughter's throat and said "if you decide not to come back, I will cut your throat." Her father was upset by his daughter’s departure, but refused an airline ticket to visit her. When the filming was over, the mother and daughter visited Maria's brother Weldon in Flushing, New York, where Judith talked to her father on the phone. “Remember what I told you before you left,” he said, referring to the knife incident, according to Weldon. The girl “was terrified. She cried” and dashed off to the bedroom. The mother and daughter cut short their visit and returned to California. She came back, but her stress levels rose. According to her agent, when she came back Judith would begin pulling out her eyelashes as a coping mechanism. The threats continued, and Jozsef even, according to his friend Peter Kivlen "told me 500 times he was going to kill his wife. I'd try to calm him down. I'd tell him, “If you kill her, what will happen to your little one?'" But Jozsef would just say "I got to kill her too." It didn't take long after this incident for everything to come crashing down. But unlike other celebrated cases where witnesses turn their backs on abuse, neighbors, relatives, and industry people who knew about the threats in the Barsi household tried to help. One neighbor offered Maria Barsi refuge in her own home. But she refused. Judith, now 10 years old, broke down at an audition for All Dogs Go To Heaven and someone thought to call children's services. Maria brought her daughter to a child psychologist who was able to identify signs of severe physical and emotional abuse, and an investigation was launched. Maria was able to convince the case worker to drop the investigation after assuring them that she would be filing for divorce and had a plan of action. Maria Barsi’s “plan of action” involved moving to a Panorama City apartment, which she rented in May. She would spend her days there with her daughter, then return home at night. “The woman had started, she had gotten an apartment,” said the case worker “But she had not taken that child and moved into that apartment. Can we force that woman to do that?” Hansen Judith's agent urged her to make a final break from her husband, but she kept hesitating, saying in June that she wanted to stay in the neighborhood for Judith’s birthday. Then in July, she said she didn’t want to lose her home. Instead she tried to force Jozsef out. Maria told her neighbors that she planned on cashing the tax rebate that Judith was supposed to receive, and that $12,000 would be a good start for their new life. But they never got the chance. The anger and jealousy he felt for his child and wife erupted on Monday, July 25th, 1988, just one week after Maria had told the neighbors she was about to leave. Judith was seen riding her bike on the street earlier in the day, but that night Jozsef walked into his daughter's room and shot her in her head. When Maria ran to the room to see what had happened, he shot her as well, leaving her body in the hallway. That day Judith missed an appointment at Hanna Barbera Productions. Judith's agent phoned the Barsi house on Tuesday to find out what happened to cause the no show. Joe Barsi told the agent that a big car had already picked up Judith and Mariah and that he planned to leave the home for good and had only stuck around to say goodbye to his little girl. After speaking with the agent, he poured gasoline over the bodies, and lit them on fire. He then went into the garage and shot himself in the head. Eunice Daly, the neighbor, remembered hearing the sound of the final gunshot and then seeing the smoke rise above the house said "he's done it. He's killed them and set a fire in the house." Firefighters were called to the gruesome scene, and it leaves you wondering how this could happen. As for what set her husband off, an investigator said he might have discovered his wife’s plan to move out. He also might have found that she was planning a divorce, or that his daughter was seeing a psychologist. Maria’s brother offered up a different explanation. His marriage was disintegrating. So he killed her and his daughter just like he had threatened to so many times. I think it was a final act of possession. If I can’t have them, nobody’s going to have them. Death left a bitter debt. Not only had a father killed the people he professed to love most, but what troubled officials who deal with child abuse is that the social service system had failed to prevent a calamity it had been warned about. The LA Times reported that there were questions raised against Child Protective Services, because the investigation should never have been called off. The commission was asked to review their client file for the first time and they were "not pleased" with how the department handled the case. Helen Kleinerg a member of the watchdog Commission for Children's Services was upset that the CPS closed the case, as it wasn't solved yet. "From my point of view, the child was the client," not the mother." She believed that even though the mother claimed to be making the effort to fix it, they should have been monitoring them more closely to prevent this from happening. Judith and her mother were both buried together in unmarked graves shortly after their deaths. Jozsef was buried in an unknown location, likely away from his family. It was 16 years after their passing that the public decided to donate to get them each a proper headstone, giving Judith and Maria the burial they deserved. Judith's headstone features the words Our concrete angel and under the quote from her favorite movie she ever made, Land Before Time, that her character Ducky was known for. Judith was taken from from everyone way to early in her and it was hard for me to even write some of this episode as i grew up with her voice not knowing this had even happened. I hope she knows all the lives she touched and that she will be missed by so many. Yep! Yep! Yep! If you liked this story please hit subscribe and leave a 5 star review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen. If you really liked this story and want to help us grow please share this story with just one friend. You can join the conversation by following us on social media. If you would like to support the show by being a producer you can paypal [email protected] and you'll be listed in the credits of the next show! Sources used for this episode are included in the show notes on the website. But include wiki, an article for mamamia by Clare Stephens, an LA times article by John Johnson, and a LA ties article by Sherri Barber.
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The year is 2012. Marvel Studios is well on its way to taking over cinema viewers imaginations with the release of The Avengers. Christian Bale retires the Cowl in The Dark Knight Rises. Channing Tatum drove women crazy, my wife included in Magic Mike. Jennifer Lawrence became the highest grossing action heroine of all time starring in The Hunger Games. She then starred opposite Bradley Cooper in an unlikely love story, complicated by loss and mental illness in Silver Linings Playbook. The consequences of possible untreated mental illness can be very serious. Today we look at the story of Johnny Lewis and his spiral downwards. Im Justin Harvey and you're listening to Death and Hollywood Johnny’s mother began taking her son on auditions when he was just six years old. He was cast in his first role at seven, a bit part in an escalator safety video featuring a rapping cartoon raccoon. He worked in commercials, including a Pizza Hut spot, and his bright smile and solid acting chops scored him appearances on 7th Heaven, Malcolm in the Middle, and Drake & Josh. At 18, with money in his pocket, Lewis left his parents’ home in the Valley and moved to Hollywood, where he lived with other actors in what was widely known in the entertainment industry as the “Wilton Hilton.” “It was the frat row of young Hollywood.” In the mid-2000s, Lewis began dating a fledgling pop singer named Katy Perry. A few years before she would kiss a girl and take the world by storm. Scrawny but tough. His body chiseled but not bulking. Blonde hair on piercing blue eyes with a joker like smile. The looks of the next leading man. It all perfectly counterbalanced Perry’s teenybopper image. The romance would be short-lived but potent—at least for Perry. Two songs off her Teenage Dream album, “The One That Got Away” and “Circle the Drain,” are rumored to be partly about Lewis. The actor’s choice of roles was eclectic. After The O.C. and other TV shows, Lewis appeared in a one-off play and such indie fare as 2007’s Palo Alto, CA, in which he played an awkward teenager. He was loved by everybody. He merged with different groups really easily. He fit in everywhere. Everywhere except the show that made him famous. In 2008 he’d land that role playing an ex military man who lost a testicle while serving in Iraq affectionately known as half-sac on the hit show Sons of Anarchy. After just two seasons as Half-Sack Lewis became restless and asked to be written out of the show. “Johnny wasn’t happy,” said series creator Sutter in a 2009 interview about Lewis’s departure. “Creatively he really wanted out of his contract.” An interview with his father would reveal that Johnny thought the show was getting too violent and as an artist that wasn't the message he wanted to send. After leaving Sons, Lewis would never return to television. Instead he appeared in a couple of low-budget features and some short films, though he was more interested in living off his Sons money while he finished writing his first novel, about a young musical genius making his way in San Francisco. In early 2009 Johnny would move into the Red Suite Writers Villa. The house at 3605 Lowry Road was luxurious yet homey, with exposed-wood beams and rustic antique furniture. Spanish style tile floors matched the walls, which were painted a warm red, yellow, and cream. The centerpiece of the house was a staircase inlaid with ceramic tiles leading to one of five guest rooms, some with majestic views of the San Gabriel Mountains. Catherine Davis, who was known by most of her tenants as just “Miss Cathy,” was a Texan who had moved to California in 1950. She attended UCLA and worked in various publishing jobs before marrying James H. Davis. By the 1980s, she was divorced, and her daughter, the writer Margaret Leslie Davis, was grown up. So Miss Cathy took on a real estate career, using her beautiful empty nest as a temporary base camp for her well-funded clients as they hunted for houses. Over time her home evolved into one of those idyllic, distinctly L.A. arrangements: an extended bed-and-breakfast for up-and-coming performers, directors, and of course, writers. It was Davis, a lively woman with short gray hair and a sparkling wit, who clinched the deal. Val Kilmer, Parker Posey, Paula Poundstone, and Chris Parnell all lived at the villa when they were on the rise, enjoying the company of the good-natured landlady. If a pitch or audition went poorly, Miss Cathy would be there with open arms and homemade tamales. Her house was also an emotional refuge for many celebrities. Thomas Jane moved into the villa after a tough breakup with a live-in girlfriend in 2001. Through word of mouth Davis’s reputation in the upscale Hollywood community grew. When someone moved out there was always another star on the rise waiting to take their place at the villa. The rent was steep, between $1,650 and $3,000 a month for one bedroom with a sitting area and private bath. There were common areas, including a living room, a large flagstone patio, and manicured grounds, as well as a shared kitchen. It was always filled with successful people who were very ambitious. Thats same year Lewis learned that his new girlfriend, actress Diane Marshall-Green, was pregnant. Even though not romantically involved the couple settled into into an Hollywood apartment to raise their child together. On April 6, 2010, Marshall-Green gave birth to a girl, Culla May. The arrangement, however, didn’t work, and Lewis moved out. He soon found himself embroiled in what would be a long and painful custody battle, one that he would eventually lose. Then In late October 2011, Lewis loses control of his Triumph motorcycle near Twentynine Palms. At the hospital the staff checked him for signs of a concussion, but he was allowed to leave after tests came back negative. His father however, noticed that his son’s behavior was becoming erratic and bizarre. Had the accident shaken something loose in his brain? he wondered. The elder Lewis scheduled two more MRI appointments which Johnny refused. His friends also reported his behavior changing after the accident. Fast forward a bit to the morning of January 3, 2012, Lewis is lounging in the Northridge condo he had bought for his parents, watching his mother cook them breakfast. Wearing pajama bottoms and a T-shirt, He told his mom he was going to take a stroll through the neighborhood. As he walked past a neighboring unit, he thought he heard cries of distress coming from within and decided to break in. But the place was empty. Not long after, two men arrived and asked him to leave the property. For some reason Lewis went after them with an empty Perrier bottle, hitting them both in the head. A struggle started and the fight spilled out onto the patio. Johnny bit one of the men on the arm while attempting to get away from the scene. The two men overpowered him and detained him until the police arrived. Lewis would claim he was acting in self-defense. Police were not sold and charged him with trespassing, burglary, and assault with a deadly weapon, and he was sent to the Twin Towers jail. Three days later his behavior landed him in the psychiatric ward as a 5150 This is the code for involuntary confinement. He remained there for 72 hours. After a total of eight days behind bars, his father bailed him out and Lewis returned to his parents’ house in Northridge. He was a physical and mental wreck. His face was puffy, and he sported two black eyes. He acted completely withdrawn not letting anyone near him for multiple days. The next few weeks were a flurry of self-destructive activity, including slashing his wrists in a suicide attempt. A network of family and friends kept a close eye on him. By the end of January, Lewis seemed more stable, and his father decided to let him live on his own in Santa Monica. Trouble quickly found Johnny though. On February 10 he was arrested for sucker punching a man outside a yogurt shop. He was released on $20,000 bail. Days later he walked fully clothed into the ocean in Santa Monica and had to be hospitalized for hypothermia. On February 18th he was arrested again, this time for trying to break into a woman’s apartment in Santa Monica claiming he thought it was a friends house. Again he was released on bail. At his next court appearance. Lewis’s lawyer was working to allow Lewis to swap jail time for a stay in a treatment center claiming Johnny was addicted to marijuana. On May 23, 2012, after two months in lockup, Lewis was transported to Ridge-view Ranch in the foothills of Altadena. With an activities list that includes yoga, meditation, and art therapy, Ridgeview calls itself a dual diagnosis facility, treating residents for psychosis and substance abuse. His family believed his staying there was better than being in jail. At Ridgeview Lewis’s claims of being “addicted to marijuana” didn’t fly with the trained counselors and fellow addicts, so Lewis switched and pretended to be addicted to alcohol he would say ‘that demon rum, man, it possessed me!’ At that point he said they started to believe him.” Despite the far fetched diagnosis and treatment for a disease he didn’t believe he had, Lewis’s mental state began to improve after a few months. In one of his journal entries, from July 2012, Lewis wrote, “Felt more whole today…more complete, like parts of myself had been stolen in my sleep and scattered all over the world and now they’ve begun to return…. I’m more determined than ever now. I’ll face what I am. I’ll face what I was.” What he was facing was serious time for the Northridge bottle assault. His lawyer sought a plea deal. Lewis would spend an entire year at Ridgeview in lieu of jail. But Lewis confident his case would be thrown out, It was self-defense! he claimed. He fired his lawyer, defiantly acting as his own attorney, which Judge Cynthia Ulfig allowed. Lewis thought he would spend a few days in jail, then resume his normal life. No more curfews and mandatory group sessions at Ridge-view; he would be free. Instead he was sentenced to a year in jail and hauled back to Twin Towers. But because of the county’s overcrowded jails, Lewis’s sentence was drastically reduced. He spent a total of six weeks in jail before being released on September 21. The night he got out, he checked into the Los Feliz Hotel in Atwater Village. The following Sunday his father helped him shop for new clothes before driving him to the Valley to pick up his Triumph motorcycle. Lewis asked his father to contact the Writers Villa to see if there was a space available. Since his son wasn’t agreeable to returning to Ridgeview, his father believed the quiet and peaceful surroundings of the villa would be the next best thing. I mean this is a place he was familiar with, it's quiet and filled with good people. Cathy Davis agreed and made sure his old room would be ready and waiting for him. On Monday Lewis moved into his room on the second floor of the villa. On wednesday September 26th 2012 he would knock on of the neighbors door. “Hi, I’m John, your new neighbor.” If Dan Blackburn wasn’t completely stunned to see the unkempt young man with intense blue eyes introducing himself at his doorstep, it was only because the former newsman had just spent a good 15 minutes tracking his movements from his living room window. Wearing nothing but jeans and red shoes, Blackburn’s visitor had been pacing up and down the pavement of the corner of the Los Feliz Hills. He was lean and muscular with shaggy blond hair. His bare torso was slick with sweat. “Nice to meet you, John,” Blackburn replied, trying to figure out the man's motives. The two men stood across from each other in Blackburn’s doorway before John who Blackburn would later learn was the actor Johnny Lewis suddenly walked away and Blackburn returned to his morning routine. About 30 minutes after meeting Lewis at his door, Blackburn heard his wife, Gloria, nervously calling for him. He rushed outside to find Lewis on top of a housepainter that was painting the first floor of the Blackburn house, pummeling him with his fists. The worker’s face was covered in blood. Specks of it were landing on the actor’s body. Blackburn rushed over and pulled Lewis off the painter, grabbing him by the shoulder and yelling at him to stop. In one movement Lewis jumped to his feet and struck Blackburn right to the face knocking the 70 year old man to the ground. Lewis’s expression was flat and he seemed to have superhuman strength. He didn’t even flinch when Blackburn stood up and threw a punch to his temple. Blackburn then swung a chair from the deck onto Lewis, which stunned him enough that Blackburn, his wife, and the painter were able to escape into the house. As they tried to shut the front door, Lewis stuck his arm through the opening, as if in a scene from your favorite slasher movie. The three put all their weight into the door, slamming it repeatedly against Johnny's arm until he finally slithers away. The group barricade themselves inside and called the police. From a window Blackburn saw Lewis leap over the 3 foot high fence around the deck and then jump to the wooden fence surrounding the Writers’ Villa next door, his feet never seeming to touch the ground. He scaled the fence and disappeared into the villa. “He was like a low-key Spider-Man,” says Blackburn. As the police pulled up to the Writers’ Villa, they spot Johnny Lewis in the middle of the driveway, lying faceup and appearing lifeless. Looking at the villa, they saw the patio and roof, which rose about 15 feet above the ground. They noted that Lewis’s left eye socket was caved in. His skull was smashed just to the left of center. It appeared as though he had plunged from either the second floor or the roof and died instantly. Inside, the scene was even more gruesome. Walking upstairs from the first floor, which was pristine, investigators stepped over broken glass before entering a large bedroom in the southwest corner. They would discover this to be Lewis’s room. There they found a rusty hammer with traces of blood on it. Following the path of destruction to the attached bathroom, they discover the body of a dead cat in the shower covered in blood and its skull bashed in. Across the hall from Lewis’s room they find the master bedroom, Cathy Davis’s room. They see blood on her bed frame, wall, table, and chair. On the floor next to the bed they find her body. The blunt-force trauma to her head “fractured her entire skull and obliterated the left side of her face, leaving her brain exposed,” wrote Coroner’s Office medical examiner Kelli Blanchard in her report. “Brain and tissue matter seen on the floor around her. Her face is covered in blood. Her nose is split down the middle and her upper jaw is split open.” There were also four small puncture wounds on her left cheek, presumably from a mechanical pencil found beside the body. The official report, released two months later, revealed that Davis had been killed by blunt-force trauma to the head. Investigators believe that just minutes after he had introduced himself to Blackburn, Johnny went back to the villa and confronted Davis in her room. No one knows what fueled his rage, but one rumor floated among Davis’s friends was that he had gone to the fuse box and turned off the electricity the night before the attack. Davis had confronted him and given him a stern talking to and warned to never do that again. Whatever the reason if there is one the results were unimaginable. Lewis is believed to have punched Davis several times, then tried to strangle her with his bare hands. It was unclear from the injuries whether he had used the hammer found in his room on Davis, but the force of his beatings were so severe that the detectives believe Lewis may have stomped on Davis’s skull. He then killed her cat and left it in the shower. Moments later, the detectives believe, Lewis went outside where he was observed attacking the housepainter by the Blackburns. After that confrontation. He then ascended to either the upper patio or the roof. It’s not possible to tell whether he jumped or slipped. His death was officially ruled an accident, not a suicide. As the news broke, a theory quickly emerged on the Internet: Lewis had been on “bath salts,” the use of bath salts had made headlines in that spring. The snortable and injectable powder was reportedly the catalyst for a handful of grisly attacks around the country, including one by the notorious 31-year-old Florida “cannibal,” who was shot by police while biting and eating the face of another man in the middle of a busy street. The New York Daily News also threw out the possibility of another designer drug called “Smiles”—a psychedelic ingested as a pill, powder, or mixed with chocolate that had been linked to a series of suicides and overdoses. Johnny's friends and family disputed these rumors. While some Hollywood stars are known for taking drugs in excess Johnny was known more for being intoxicating vs being intoxicated. The family and the public would get some answers and possibly even more questions with Lewis’s toxicology report. The report which came back two months after the incident, indicated that there were no drugs or alcohol in his system. No bath salts, meth, or cocaine—or his prescribed antipsychotic medication. The toxicology report was a disappointment to many who thought this had to be the reason for Johnny's actions. If it wasn’t drugs, what drove Johnny Lewis to murder? Those who were once close to Lewis expressed their grief. Us Weekly reported that Katy Perry was “devastated,” and that her best friend, actress Shannon Woodward, tweeted: “Johnny Lewis, I love you deeply and madly and always. My heart is broken in a million little pieces.” She then added: “Johnny Lewis was one of my best friends. He was very, very ill. His actions were a despicable result of that. It was not who he was.” Among the 140-character condolences, one connection flatly admitted he wasn’t surprised by Lewis’s homicidal frenzy: his former boss, Kurt Sutter. His tweet read, “I wish I could say that I was shocked by the events last night, but I was not.” But like any actor who manages to get some screen time, Johnny Lewis will remain forever. Take his performance in Criminal Minds, which you can find on YouTube. In a ratty gray T-shirt, with his hair disheveled and sporting a wispy beard creeping across his square cut jawline, the 25-year-old is playing a serial killer who’s just been caught. FBI special agent Rossi wants some answers: Why? He asks Lewis’s character, Why do you feel compelled to kill? “Why? I have no idea why,” says Lewis with an ashen grimace. “I see a guy walking down the street with a stupid look on his face, and I just want to bash him over the head with a bottle. To me, that’s normal. It’s weird to me that no one else feels that way. It’s all I think about. I can’t stop.” I don't know why Johnny Lewis committed this unthinkable act but maybe life truly imitates art. If you liked this story please hit subscribe and leave a 5 star review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen. If you really liked this story and want to help us grow please share this story with just one friend. You can join the conversation by following us on social media. If you would like to support the show by being a producer you can paypal [email protected] and you'll be listed in the credits of the next show! Phil Hartman
The year is 1998. A year of Box Office blockbusters and an even bigger year for cult classics. Tom Hanks showed off his versatility starring in the romantic comedy You’ve Got Mail and Steven Spielberg's Critically acclaimed Saving Private Ryan in the same year. Edward Norton turned in a bone chilling performance in the controversial film American History X. Jeff Bridges would come to embody the Dude in The Big Lebowski and My momma says Adam Sandler brought the character of Bobby Boucher to life in the comedy classic Waterboy. While Sandler a Saturday Night Live great was reaching the upper echelons of success. We would lose another famous SNL cast member. This is the story of Phil Hartman and how love, drugs, and success would end up costing him his life. Im Justin Harvey and You are Listening to Death and Hollywood. Phil Hartman found his calling when he stumbled upon a comedy troupe called The groundlings in 1975. The groundlings were and independant improv group now world renowned. They’ve helped shape many comedy show writers and countless stars within the comedy world. and met fellow comedian Paul Ruebens . He helped Paul develop the character Pee-wee Herman and co-wrote Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. This gave him the chance to appear on Pee-wee’s playhouse as Captain Carl. The success of that show opened new doors for Hartman and after a fallout out over creative differences he would venture out on his own. In 1986 he auditioned for Saturday Night Live. He once told a reporter he wanted to do SNL because it would give him the box office credibility to write his own movies. Whether that was his intention or not he would become a loved member of the cast and stay on at SNL for 8 seasons as it were. He would become known as “The Glue” in the writing rooms and backstages of SNL, some say Adam Sandler gave him this moniker others say it was Jan Hooks one of Hartman’s frequent collaborators. Lorne Michaels the shows creator would explain the nickname saying Hartman held the show together. He would help anyone and everyone on the set, rewrite skits, run lines all without asking for anything in return. Maybe that’s why he was often considered a “regular guy” among the Hollywood egos that dominated the ensemble cast of the 90s. A talented imitator and impressionist, he voiced over 70 characters during his run at SNL including president Bill Clinton. This impression became wildly popular for Hartman and made him household name across America. Everyone who knew him remembers him fondly, the persistent nice guy, kind of shy and timid but his energy would come alive when it was time for his game face. If you watch his roles you'll notice he loved to be the villain. To drop the nice guy persona and become some annoying, vexing ,hated character and man could he do it. In the critically panned Jingle all the way he played the supporting role to Arnold and Sinbad. His character Ted was one of my favorite representations of his style. The perfect single father that neighborhood wives fawned over, literally throwing themselves at him. Ted acting like what’s all this fuss about men are supposed to be this way, helping drive that narrative that he’s clearly more capable than their husband or ex-husbands. All the while the character is trying to slide into Arnolds marriage and drive wedges into it at every opening as he pines over Arnold's wife. Outwardly nice, caring and empathetic but showing the viewers what he really was. Conniving, sneaky and calculated. If you haven't seen “Jingle All the Way” I can't say go to the bargain bin and walmart right now and dig. What i can say is if you do the digging and can ignore the bad acting of the two main stars, the bad direction, the obvious plot and holes within you will find a shining Phil Hartman performance in there. When reviewing his personal life, one can’t help but wonder if most of Hartman’s life was an imitation. In 1993 he told People magazine as a child he didn’t make waves, that even as an adult he had that people pleasing - middle child mentality. While this seemed to do his career well his personal life suffered. Married briefly in 1970 then again for barely 3 years in 1982. Lisa Stain his second wife would say Hartman would disappear emotionally, like his body’s there but he’s in his own world. His passivity would make you crazy. If you called him on it he’d tell you this is who I am, this is how it's going to be. This reclusiveness, this pacifist attitude, this easy-going persona would continue to strain his relationships. In 1986 Hartman meets a young woman named Brynn on a blind date. She was working at the time as a Catalina swimsuit model and aspiring actress. A Leggy blonde bombshell tanned with those bright California highlights. The moment Hartman seen her he knew she was a babe, a dream girl, something he had never had before. A year later they were wed, Some of Hartman’s oldest friends from his earlier comedy troupe were vocal about their concerns and it costed them Phil’s friendship for many years. This marriage was a successful one for the most part especially to the outside world. A beautiful model a charming funny man on his way up. Brynn would become a mother to two children Sean and Birgen with Hartman. Staying home more and more, pursuing acting less and less. She was said to be a devoted mother. Always hanging out with the kids, driving them around, she wasn’t a mother trapped by motherhood. This as said was the outside view, just underneath the surface was an iceberg waiting for the right moment to sink the ship. Since a young age Brynn always seemed to be searching for herself. Changing her names multiple times and moving to California to pursue her modeling career. She had always wanted more from her life maybe she thought marriage to Hartman might aid in achieving that goal. Brynn’s self-doubt and insecurities started showing through very early on from the days in the small Manhattan apartment her and Hartman shared in his first years on SNL. She told friends she often felt excluded or isolated in Hartmans world. Brynn would grow to resent her husband's career as hers never took off. Small bit roles here and there probably because of who her husband was, well at least that’s how she probably seen it. She underwent plastic surgery multiple times, some even suggested by Hartman a former nanny said. This couldn’t have been good for the mental health of a woman that’s unsure of her place in the shadow of her husband. Drugs, alcohol and already existing mental issues of insecurities drove her to act out sometimes publicly. She would have temper tantrums or overreact to small things. In one notable example Phil’s ex-wife sent him a congratulatory letter when his son was born. Brynn responded with a 4-page letter of warnings and threats including a death threat. Strain the ex-wife then called Phil and asked him if he knew who he was married to. He responded you should have seen the letter she wanted to send. Hartman would shrug these instances off with his casual demeanor. That same casual demeanor he was known for, loved for, praised for in his professional life but seemed lost on Brynn. She received the withdrawn Hartman the one his ex wife spoke about. The man who didn't want to deal with conflict. The man that figured if he’d plug his ears the problem wasn't there. As years went by frustration and jealousy would be the verbs that could be used when peering in the Hartman House. Cocaine and alcohol were regularly used by Brynn in excess and Hartmans typical head in the sand technique wouldn't work anymore. Brynn spent some time in rehab off and on. During this time He also decided to leave SNL. He was already lending voices to The Simpsons at the time and fans loved his Troy McClure voice. In 1995 he became one of the stars of The NBC sitcom News Radio. Many cast members of this time have spoken about Phil and Brynn’s relationship. News Radio while critically acclaimed had poor viewership. It featured a great cast besides Hartman including Dave Foley Hartman, Andy Dick and since your listening to me on a podcast a guy you've probably heard of Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan has talked about being close with Hartman multiple times on his podcast and others. He has told stories of the relationship. That Brynn was a mess by this time with or without the drugs. She would publicly talk shit about Phil. He's said it's it opened is eyes to the dangers of bad relationships. If you believe the rumors, Andy Dick one of Hartman’s castmates on newsradio did cocaine with Brynn at a New years eve party in 1997 that started Brynn down what would turn out to be a deadly combination of cocaine, alcohol and zoloft. A Combination that is said to have major complications such as psychotic breaks. A combination that would come to head at the Hartman house in the wee hours of the morning on May 28th 1998. Days leading up to that fateful night seen an erratic Brynn, the mix of antidepressants and cocaine caused violent outbursts and even led their housekeeper to quit that week. On May 27th, Brynn had went to dinner with a friend Christine Zander a producer for the NBC sitcom 3rd rock from the sun. Brynn had a couple of cosmos over a few hours and was reportedly in good spirits when she left. Upon arriving back home its believed Hartman and her began fighting over her drug use. Eventually the fight followed the normal pattern. Brynn screaming then Hartman telling her if she continues to use drugs he's done the relationship will be over. To complete the cycle Hartman ended the fight by going to sleep and in the morning she'd be calmed down and all would be well. Instead what happened is Brynn started drinking and drinking heavily. Crying, thinking about her life, thinking of her failures, thinking of her toxic relationship and if it was even worth saving. According to Police that reconstructed the crime scene the most likely scenario goes like this. In the few hours after Phil has went to sleep, his right leg bent and laid atop the sheet his left arm extended where his wife would lay. Brynn creeps into the master bathroom, there on a shelf. The lockbox where they keep their firearms and ammo. She retrieves a Smith and Wesson .38 and loads it. She walks to the edge of the bed standing next to her husband, possibly still crying arms shaking. She lifts the gun to its in line with her husband and fires. A second and third shot follow. One strikes Phil in the right side of his neck, another goes through his forearm and into his chest. A third shot and the most damaging is fired at point blank range enters just above the bridge of Phil’s nose passing through his skull and resting. The death was quick hopefully instantaneous. Hartman being the man he is appears to be smiling almost as if his pleasant dreams went unspoiled. An hour so later probably after more alcohol and more cocaine Brynn phones her longtime friend Ron Douglas who lives nearby. She tells him Phil isnt home and she doesn't want to be alone. He tells her it's late and she can't leave the kids alone when she talks about coming to his house. He tells her take some aspirin and go back to sleep irritated about the late call he attempts to do the same. 20 minutes later Douglas hear his doorbell being rand over and over followed by by bamging in between on the door. He answers the door for a disheveled brynn. She's wearing a long sleeve pullover, pajama bottoms argyle socks with nos shoes. She clutches her purse as he opens the door. He catches the heavy odor of alcohol on her breath. Shes fucked up- He can tell Douglas is angry- she can tell. Don't yell at me brynn says i get enough of that at home. She stumbles into the house tries to sit on the sofa but misses and slides to the floor. Crying she utters something about killing Phil. Douglas thinks an hysterical statement, assuming just another fight besides she's clearly fucked up. She appears to be nodding off so Douglas chastises her again, You smell like a damned brewery. Brynn complains of a stomach ache, worried she might be overdosing douglas stops her from falling asleep. She runs to his bathroom and douglas can hear her hurling and it's like this for a bit start to fall asleep, woken up then off to the bathroom to vomit. During one of these wake ups she rummages through her purse and a the .38 tumbles out onto the floor. Douglas is taken back ( is there truth to her statement earlier?) what are you doing with this he says? Give it to me. She exclaims see I told you i killed Phil! He opens the weapon and spins its chamber. Thinking he's seen six rounds a sense of relief sets in and he puts the gun in a kitchen drawer. Remaining doubtful about the ramblings of the intoxicated friend on his living room floor. After 2 hours or so of back and forth Brynn finally appears sober enough to drive home but only agrees to do so if Douglas follows. It's a little before 6 am as the sun starts to rise not long now before her children awaken. She tells Douglas to grab the gun as he fetches is now being more awake he notices two empty chambers, His stomach drops maybe his friend didn't have it fully loaded in her drunken stupor or maybe she fired a couple warning shots. Douglas and Brynn pull onto encino avenue and Douglas brings the gun inside with him. Once inside he follows Brynn down the hallway to the master bedroom. He peers in and sees Phil’s motionless body. “Oh my god he’s dead!” Brynn screams “I told you i did - i told you did” she stutters “ I killed him I don't know why” Douglas frozen with horror with what he's seeing. Brynn panicking makes another call this time to her friends steve and marcy who live just three blocks away. Hearing Brynn say i killed Phil is all it took to get dressed and start rushing over. Douglas slumps into the hallway, There's a phone nearby he calls 911. Doug stutters through the dispatchers questions and informed them he still had the weapon in his hand and that phil had appeared to be dead and is told officers are on their way. While Douglas is on the phone Brynn slips into the bedroom and locks herself in. Douglas tries to get in but all he's really thinking about is getting the fuck out of her. He starts to leave but the door is deadbolted and he cant find a key. At 621 am in an emotionally shattered state Brynn calls her sister Kathy. She tells her sister Phil is dead Kathy responds what do you mean what happened. Brynn is sobbing and unable to speak. Kathy says calm down take a breath what happened. I don't brynn exclaims through the tears. I'm sick, I don't remember, Tell the kids i love them. Kathy says i know you love them. Brynns screaming and crying persist then she says i've got to go and hangs up. Brynns phone ring its the police. Brynn says come in Mam? Yes Is there someone in theirs that's been shot Yes How many people are in the house Crying Help me Brynn Hangs up Douglas grabs the Hartman son Sean from the bedroom they have to get the fuck out of ther. Sean knows where a key is he gets it and him and Douglas exit the house. Douglas hands sean over to the approaching lapd. Douglas gives the officers arriving a quick rundown and informs them that Brynn and 6 year old Brigen is still inside. ‘Several officers make their way into the west side of the house through the door left open by Douglas. Officer head down the hallway that leads to the bedroom taken positions along the hallway for entry. Load sobbing and screaming can be heard from the other side of the door. One of the responding officers hear a single gunshot around 638 am but is unsure of its source location. The response team then begins clearing the bedrooms with caution. Finding Birgen she is rushed out the house to safety. Once removed the police decide to use diversionary tactics to to remove Brynn with as little risk to her or officers as possible. Two officers exit the house and move around the side of the house facing a window looking in on the Hartmans bedroom. The curtains are drawn. “Los Angeles Police Department! Come out with your hand up” the lead officer Sergeant DAniel Carnahan shouts. Two maybe three more times … No answer from within. Using a garden brick one officer throws it through the glass while officers inside the house force entry into the bedroom. They find a gruesome scene, Hartman dead from 3 shots close range. Brynn laying next to him. Head slumped towards her husband. A hole in the headboard from a fatal .38 charter arms revolver still grasped in her right hand. Her finger still on the trigger. Phil and Brynn are both dead but nobody knows why yet. In accordance with the Hartman will Sean and Birgen would go to live with his Brynn’s sister in the midwest. Phil Hartman was cremated in Glendale California and his ashes spread over Santa Catalina Island. Hartman will always be remembered fondly. He was loved by the people he worked with and the millions of people who found joy in the characters he created. Maxim named Hartman the top SNL performer of all time. In 2012 Hartman was inducted into the Canadian walk of fame and in 2014 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. |