Who was Lana Clarkson? B-movie actress with big dreams was tragically shot dead by music bigshot Phil Spector
Music producer Phil Spector died on January 17, 2021, from Covid complications. The 81-year-old had created a name for himself by revolutionizing the music industry with his 'Wall of Sound' method and for producing The Beatles' hit 'Let It Be'. As obituaries started pouring in after his demise, all achievements were written and applauded. But Spector's legacy is incomplete without the mention of the tragic death [and murder] of Lana Clarkson.
Who was Lana Clarkson?
In the early 80s, Clarkson was a struggling actress with minor roles in film and television including a small appearance in 'Scarface' behind Michelle Pfeiffer. By 1983, she started getting more projects in several sword-and-sorcery films starting with 1983's 'Deathstalker'. The actress wowed audiences in her role of a female warrior - producer Roger Corman had made a heady mix of action and nudity - and two years later bagged Corman's 'Barbarian Queen'.
Then in 1987 came 'Amazon Women on the Moon', and soon afterward followed 'Barbarian Queen's sequel, 'Barbarian Queen II: The Empress Strikes Back'. By 1996, after she had worked on 'The Haunting of Morella' and 'Vice Girls', Clarkson's work in the B movie sci-fi genre inspired a massive cult following.
But that is not enough to sustain oneself in the scary world of Hollywood. The early 1990s saw her career consisting of small roles in a handful of films and occasional TV parts as she approached her thirties. Money was difficult to come by and she made a living by appearing in numerous advertising campaigns, including Nike, Mercedes and US retail chain Kmart. She also started operating her own website on which she sold autographed DVDs of her films and communicated directly with her fans on her own message board.
But the actress had dreams bigger than what B-grade films would offer. Her publicist friend Edward Lozzi had told Vanity Fair writer Dominic Dunne that Clarkson had been working on a stand-up comedy act that he had witnessed.
In 2001, while living in Venice, California for the last several years, Clarkson developed, wrote, produced, and directed a showcase reel titled 'Lana Unleashed'. Finally, to make ends meet, she took a part-time side job in early January 2003 at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, California.
Spector shot her dead
Lana Clarkson was 40-years-old in 2003 when music producer bigshot Phil Spector shot her dead at his castle-like California mansion on February 3, 2003.
At the time, she was working as a VIP hostess at Hollywood’s House of Blues and had met Spector shortly before she was killed. In the early hours of that morning, she left in Spector's limousine to go to his mansion. About an hour later, the driver heard a gunshot. The 9-1-1 call from Spector's home, made by his driver, Adriano de Souza, quotes Spector as saying, "I think I've killed someone".
Spector was convicted of second-degree murder five years later. After the first trial in 2007 ended in a deadlock with ten jurors out of 12 favored conviction, another trial in 2009, he was sentenced to 19 years to life. Spector had told Esquire in July 2003 that Clarkson's death was an "accidental suicide" and that she "kissed the gun". The courts also found him guilty of using a firearm in the commission of a crime, which added four years to the sentence.
Spector's history with guns
The prosecution at the time had revealed that Spector had previously pulled a gun on four women. In each case, he had been under the influence of alcohol and "was romantically interested in the woman, but grew angry after the woman spurned him," adding that on each occasion, he pointed a gun at the woman to prevent her from walking out.
