Quirky Superstar Producer Phil Spector’s Trial Starts Jury Selection

By Mark Hoerrner

She was the quintessential 80’s television bit player: tall, blonde, attractive and landing roles on prime-time winners like "Knight Rider," "Happy Days," "CHiPs," "Hill Street Blues," and "Threes Company." She even had movie roles in classics like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" with then up-and-coming actor Sean Penn. She starred in Roger Corman’s "Barbarian Queen."

But the day Phil Spector found Lana Clarkson, she was working as a waitress in the VIP room. Her career was on the outs, though it had not always been so.

Clarkson was known as a resilient actress, one who worked almost constantly. She was tall, taller than many in her high school class and modeling came naturally to her. Finding a cosmopolitan life than many can only dream of, modeling and acting took the vivacious blonde all over the globe. She was a natural athlete, working out regularly and practicing yoga. She was an accomplished Western rider and had a natural aptitude for learning. She was fluent in Spanish and Italian.

Certainly, the wee hours of Feb. 3, 2003 would prove to be an odd moment in the Clarkson’s life as they would be the last she spent alive. A frantic 911 call from Spector at his Alhambra mansion would lead authorities to discover Clarkson with the back of her head blown off. She had apparently either put a gun to her mouth or had one put there and the shot killed her instantly.

Spector, whose flamboyant style and preoccupation with firearms made him one of the music scene’s more colorful characters, was the prime suspect. People like Spector are often given latitude and called eccentric because of their show business talent. Those with less star quality are often called insane and hauled off to prison. This time, Spector’s quirkiness may work against him.

Today saw the assembling of a pool of more than 300 potential jurors for a case that follows on a long history of entertainment industry catastrophe where names like O.J. Simpson and Robert Blake have made headlines. By April 9, attorneys will come smartly dressed to begin the pre-trial hearing and by April 16, the initial jury selection for the case will begin and opening arguments should begin by May.

In the meantime, Spector is out on a $1 million bail after a short stay in the California penal system. During his short incarceration, he was treated for medical issues and then returned to an Alhambra county facility.

The defense motive in the case is that Clarkson had reached a point in her life where she had no reason to go on. Certainly, anyone who’s seen pictures of Spector would understand that feeling if they found themselves lost in his castle-like mansion. But Clarkson’s friends and family describe the actress as anything but living in a state of despair.

In a statement prepared by the family, they characterized the actress as someone who "did her best to keep in shape in both body and mind by frequenting the gym and practicing yoga. She also took time to study, read, write, and attend classes for acting, producing, and script and play writing. This time of adversity [a time of recovery after an accident in which she broke both wrists] also strengthened and re-affirmed Lana's commitment to her spiritual beliefs, and true to character, she made a concerted effort to continue to do positive things for others."

Spector, however, tells a different tale, though two eyewitnesses who found the pair say that Spector was saying "I think I shot someone" as he lingered in a chemically-induced haze. He maintains that Clarkson "kissed the gun," as he told a reporter in an interview with Esquire magazine. On the testimony of a police officer, Spector stated that Clarkson was singing two of his hit songs, the Crystals' "Da Doo Ron Ron," and the Righteous Brothers' classic "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'."

Featured to testify if the pre-trial hearing gives the ok will several women who have had run-ins with Spector. Indeed, their testimony may be the most damning of all of the evidence against the 67-year-old producer. A photographer, Stephanie Jennings, met Spector in 1995 at a hotel in New York. She told the Grand Jury that Spector had invited her up to his suite and when she politely refused, he barred the door to her room and brandished a gun until she was able to summon police.

It’s clear that whatever happened that night will remain a mystery. Spector’s claims of innocence and star status may prove immoveable objects for the prosecution which, as of the last few star trials against players like Simpson and Michael Jackson, hasn’t had the best success rate.

The only thing we know for sure is that Clarkson leaves behind a legacy of friends and family who loved her and another tale of a show business star that went dim too early.