Charles Manson (1934- )
infamous and widely sensationalized
criminal of the
late 1960s. Manson was born illegitimately to a teenage prostitute and spent a large majority of his
life behind
bars. In the
late 1960s he had a
following who lived communally on a ranch in
California, practicing free
love and taking
drugs. Manson desired to be famous in the music
business, but had not
succeeded. Although reports vary, he chose several important people in or connected to the
business as
targets and in 1969 ordered a handful of his followers to kill them. His followers brutally murdered numerous people, including actress Sharon Tate (the wife of famous horror movie
producer Roman Polanski), Abigail Folger (a twenty-five year
old heiress to the Folger coffee fortune) and her
producer boyfriend, and Jay Sebring, hairstylist to several of the
rich and famous. Shortly
following this, Manson and several of his followers murdered two more victims, to prove how powerful he (Manson) was. The murders were also to bring about a
war known as "Helter Skelter" in which black people would
rise up, killing all white people,
bar a few such as Manson's "family." Manson would then become their
leader. Manson was finally caught, found guilty and imprisoned for
life.