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American Morning

Bakley Murder Latest of Hollywood Death Scandals

Aired May 15, 2001 - 09:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Police in Los Angeles are tight-lipped about their investigation into the killing of actor Robert Blake's wife. They had no comment on reports that the gun used to kill Bonny Lee Bakley had been found.

But for now, this case remains a Hollywood mystery in a town with a long history of celebrity scandals. More on that now from CNN's Sherri Sylvester.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHERRI SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The murder of Robert Blake's wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, may be the latest chapter of Hollywood Babylon, but even before the pictures were talking, the public and the press were buzzing about celebrity scandals.

PETER BART, EDITOR, "DAILY VARIETY": This is a very celebrity- oriented culture, so when someone messes up, it's fascinating.

SYLVESTER: Fascinating back in 1921, when Virginia Rappe was raped and later died following a wild party. Silent film star Fatty Arbuckle was charged and tried three times for her death. He was acquitted, but his career was over. His headlines were quickly replaced.

DALE OLSON, CELEBRITY PUBLICIST: There was another huge scandal which never, ever got solved and that was child star Mary Miles Minter and the director William Desmond Taylor.

SYLVESTER: Taylor was found shot to death in his Hollywood bungalow. The evidence included a handkerchief embroidered with the letter "M." The director had affairs with both Mary Miles Minter and Mabel Normand. Both were ruined by the scandal -- still unsolved: the murder of screen siren Thelma Todd in 1935.

OLSON: She was known as a party girl. She was known as a drinker. She was insatiable.

SYLVESTER: She was known as "Hot Toddy." Lana Turner was "The Sweater Girl." Turner's sexy image and mobster boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato, made for a shocking story line in 1958 when her daughter killed Lana's lover. The case was ruled justifiable homicide.

Actor Sal Mineo, nicknamed "The Switchblade Kid," was stabbed to death; his killer found three years later. A killer has yet to be convicted for the murder of TV star Bob Crane. Crane was found beaten to death and strangled with an electrical cord in 1978. As with so many others, bizarre details about Crane's life came out in the investigation.

BART: Television has a tremendous appetite to get beneath what's obvious about celebs, you know. And that's what the tabloid game is.

SYLVESTER: The drug overdoses of Marilyn Monroe and John Belushi brought these pictures. Television delivered indelible images of the O.J. Simpson case -- later of Phil Hartman's murder.

And now pictures of Robert Blake -- Dale Olson was Blake's publicist for 25 years. He does not know about this current crisis, but is fond of the actor.

OLSON: Robert Blake is one of my favorite people in the business. He's unpredictable. He has been loyal, humanistic, sensitive, despite the exterior that he presents.

SYLVESTER: And Hollywood history has shown that celebrities are often much more complex than the characters they play on the screen.

Sherri Sylvester, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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