the list of 9 for october 3, 2005:
NINE CELEBRITIES WHOSE CAREERS WERE IMPROVED BY MURDER
As a follow-up to the previous list, here I'm focusing on famous people whose careerssignificantly improved as a result of a homicide. These aren't people who have necessary killedanybody themselves. But it's safe to say that, were it not for the planned death of another person,none of the following would be as successful as they are. I'm excluding world leaders for the mostpart; far too many had inherited their jobs in this particular manner from their less fortunatepredecessors.
- Truman Capote. Though already a celebrated author and bonvivant in the 1950's, it was his interest in a notorious murder case in Kansas that led to hismasterpiece In Cold Blood, which made him millions and became the archetype for the "truecrime" book.
- Hilary Swank. If it weren't for the tragic murder ofBrandon Teena (born Teena Brandon), the then-24-year-old Swank would never have landed the role inBoys Don't Cry, a drama about Teena's life and death, as the film itself would never haveexisted. The underemployed Swank would probably have continued her trend of minor gueststarring spots on TV shows, instead of collecting two Academy Awards and earning seven-figuresalaries in major Hollywood features.
- Kate Winslet. On the opposite side of the coin, unknownteenage actress Winslet was cast as Juliet Hulme, who with her friend Pauline Parker committed oneof New Zealand's most notorious murders, in Peter Jackson's 1994 film Heavenly Creatures.Hard to say if Winslet would have ever found stardom had she not borne a striking resemblance toHulme. It's also hard to say whether the real Juliet Hulme would have become successful murdermystery author Anne Perry had she not had her own, shall we say, "firsthand experience" withhomicide. Or, for that matter, if Peter Jackson would have been hired to make the Lord of theRings trilogy had he not proven his artistic mettle first with this film. Naturally, Winslet'sHeavenly costar Melanie Lynskey also owes her acting career to the murder of Honora Rieperback in 1954.
- John Walsh. Before the unsolved murder of his six-year-oldson Adam in 1981, Walsh was a hotel marketer. Afterwards, he channeled his grief into a TV movie,a political lobby, and above all a lucrative, long-running stint as host of the series "America'sMost Wanted." Though his work has probably helped solve and prevent numerous crimes, it'suncomfortable to consider that this man's considerable fame and fortune stems from the horribledeath of his little boy.
- Otto Frank. Though noted teenage diarist Anne Frank diedof typhus, for the sake of this list we will say that, starving to death in a Nazi camp, she wasessentially murdered. After her diary was published, seemingly everybody who knew her even inpassing made money off her notoriety, but it was Anne's father, Otto, the lone survivor of theFrank family, who by default owned the diary and controlled its publication. It was never anon-profit enterprise. How much money Otto personally saw from the sales of the book (over 31million copies since 1947), or from the theatrical and cinematic adaptations of same, isn't known,but it's reputed to have been in the tens of millions. The question I haven't been able to find ananswer for, though, is this: Who's been profiting from the diary since Otto's death in 1980?
- Clarence Darrow. The most famous attorney in Americanhistory, Darrow made his name due in no small part to his defense of Leopold and Loeb while they wereon trial in 1924 for the murder of young Bobby Franks. Darrow was already an established figure atthat point, but the trial - in which he saved his clients from the electric chair - made him alegend.
- The Pope. Whether you're talking about Benedict XVI orJohn Paul II or Pius VI or Clement XI or whoever, these 265 men all owe their enormouswealth, power, prestige and influence to the long-ago murder of a poor carpenter's son named Jesus.
- Brigham Young. While we're on the subject of religiousfigures, let's note that the onetime head of the Mormon church - and eponym to the well-regardeduniversity - became leader of the church after founder Joseph Smith was murdered by a mob inIllinois. He brought the Mormons to Utah and the rest is Latter Day history.
- Richard Nixon. It's hard to come up with a pick for whobenefited most from the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Lyndon Johnson got the job, AristotleOnassis got the girl, Fidel Castro got left alone, and everybody from Don DeLillo to Oliver Stonegot a lot of money for sharing their theories about what really happened on November 22,1963. But I'll pick longtime Kennedy foe Richard Nixon for enjoying the spoils here. Defeated byKennedy in 1960, he rose from the ashes of humiliation and ruin to take the presidency in 1968after Johnson decided not to run again.
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