Charles Manson

Charles Milles Manson was a real-world cult leader, murder architect and musician who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 12th, 1934. He was born the son of Walker Henderson Scott, Sr. and Kathleen Manson-Bower-Cavender. His surname was taken from Kathleen's first husband, Eugene Manson, who was not Charles' biological father.

Biography
Charles Manson grew up as a career criminal but his future notoriety began to develop when he became part of the hippie scene in Southern California in the late 1960s.

Charles Manson began cultivating a group of followers which he dubbed the "family"; most of whom were young women who hailed from broken homes, or were runaways, go-go dancers or turned to a life of prostitution. Manson found these young girls easy to manipulate and before long, they became loyal and obedient followers, willing to do anything and everything that Manson asked.

The Manson family were nomadic for the most part, earning money and goods by panhandling and the offering of sexual favors. They eventually took up residence at the Spahn Ranch, owned by George Spahn, which had been used for filming Western movies in the 1950s.

Charles Manson presented his mission statement to his followers, which he called "Helter Skelter", so-named after a pop song by the Beatles. He believed that the Beatles had used their music to "speak to him", and put together a plan in which they would murder members of the white elite, and blame it on black people in order to incite a global race war. He believed that the blacks would overthrow the white regime, but would be unsuitable to govern themselves, at which point Manson and his family would rise to guide them into the new world. Crazy, huh?

The first phase of Manson's Helter Skelter mission took place on the night of August 8th, 1969. While Manson remained at Spahn Ranch, he sent his followers, Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Tex Watson to 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon in Los Angeles. This was the home of Polish film director Roman Polanski and his young wife, the actress Sharon Tate, who was 8½ months pregnant with Polanski's child. The family members broke into the home and brutally murdered Sharon Tate, as well as house guests Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring, Steve Parent, and Wojciech Frykowski.

The following night on August 9th, the Manson family members broke into the home of supermarket owners Leno and Rosemary LaBianca and murdered them. Patricia Krenwinkel wrote the words "Death to Pigs", "Rise", and "Healter Skelter" [sic] on the refrigerator door in Leno LaBianca's blood.

A massive investigation into the slayings was conducted and eventually, Charles Manson and his followers were arrested. Manson was admitted to state prison from Los Angeles County on April 22nd, 1971, for seven counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder for the Tate/LaBianca murders.

Manson was given a death sentence, but when the death penalty was ruled unconstitutional in 1972, he was re-sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. His original death sentence was modified to life on February 2nd, 1977. Manson spent the majority of his prison sentence in protective housing in Corcoran State Prison. Forty-eight years after the Tate/LaBianca murders, Charles Manson died at a hospital on November 19th, 2017 as a result of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest. He died seven days after his 83rd birthday.

Notes & Trivia

 * Charles Manson is known for having a swastika tattooed upon his forehead.


 * Actor Steve Railsback portrayed Charles Manson in the 1976 biopic Helter Skelter.


 * Actor Ben Mellish portrayed Charles Manson in the 2018 fictionalized account of the Tate/LaBianca murders titled The Haunting of Sharon Tate.


 * Actor Damon Herriman played Charles Manson in the 2018 period drama Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by director Quentin Tarantino.


 * Charles Manson was referenced in the "Devil's Night" episode of American Horror Story, which was part of the season five storyline, "Hotel".


 * Actor Evan Peters played a fantasy version of Manson in the mind of Kai Anderson in the "Charles (Manson) in Charge" episode of American Horror Story in 2017, which was part of the "Cult" storyline. The episode aired just ten days before Charles Manson's death.

Appearances

 * American Horror Story: Devil's Night
 * American Horror Story: Charles (Manson) in Charge