TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/073189/07318900.005

Text File | 1992-09-23 | 7.8 KB | 156 lines

                                                                                BEHAVIOR, Page 43

A Fatal Obsession with the Stars


An actress's murder points to growing problem of disturbed fans


    Neighbors said the slight, bookish-looking man with curly
brown hair had been wandering the streets of Los Angeles'
prosperous Fairfax district for hours. He stopped residents,
pulled a picture of a young woman out of a large manila
envelope, and asked if they had seen her around. Eventually he
learned her address. On Tuesday morning last week, say police,
he waited outside her apartment for nearly four hours. Finally
he apparently rang her bell. When she answered the door, he
allegedly shot her dead.

    The victim was Rebecca Schaeffer, 21, a rising actress who
co-starred in the CBS series My Sister Sam and is featured in
the current movie Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly
Hills. Arrested for her murder in Tucson the next day was Robert
John Bardo, 19, a former fast-food restaurant worker.
Authorities describe him as "an obsessive fan of Miss
Schaeffer's."

    The words "obsessive fan" cause a premonitory chill among
celebrities these days. Increasingly they have seen that the
most fervent admirers can turn into crazed attackers. The
problem has become more evident since the beginning of the
decade, when Mark David Chapman killed John Lennon and John
Hinckley shot President Ronald Reagan in a bizarre bid for the
affection of actress Jodie Foster. There has been a rash of ugly
episodes, some murderous, some merely distressing:

    A 26-year-old woman was arrested earlier this year after
allegedly sending more than 5,000 threatening letters to actor
Michael J. Fox. The letters said that Fox and his new wife,
actress Tracy Pollan, would die if he did not divorce her. They
were signed "Your No. 1 Fan."

    A former mental patient showed up at Universal Studios last
December and allegedly shot and killed two unarmed guards after
they refused his demand to see actor Michael Landon.

    A crazed fan, convicted of knifing actress Theresa Saldana
in 1982, has repeatedly threatened to kill her when he gets out
of jail. Saldana has waged a public campaign to prevent the
man's release. Authorities recently stayed his parole, but it
is now scheduled for March.

    A 41-year-old former legal secretary who calls herself
Billie Jean Jackson was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in jail for
violating a court order to stay away from singer Michael
Jackson's Encino home and stop representing herself as his wife.

    Talk--show host David Letterman has had his Connecticut
home broken into four times and his sports car taken for a spin
by a 36-year-old woman who refers to herself as "Mrs.
Letterman."

    Since 1980, a 52-year-old farmer has been convicted eleven
times of harassing singer Anne Murray. He called her office 263
times in six months last year.

    Such star stalkers are only just beginning to be
understood. Most people are attracted by celebrities' aura of
glamour, power and wealth, but normal fans know their fantasies
are bounded by reality. Obsessed fans do not. Typically they are
young, between 20 and 34, and emotionally unbalanced. Unable to
forge relationships with the real people in their lives, they
imagine intimacy with a public figure. Actors, singers,
athletes, politicians -- any will serve their needs.

    The attachment is usually expressed as love. In a study
sponsored by the National Institute of Justice and released
this year, researchers analyzed 1,500 "inappropriate" letters
sent to dozens of Hollywood celebrities. Only 5% of the writers
cast themselves as enemies or would-be assassins. Others saw
themselves as business associates, friends or religious saviors.
But the rest acted like spouses or suitors. Says Park Dietz, a
forensic psychiatrist in Newport Beach, Calif., who directed the
project: "If you didn't know who the two people were, you would
think it was a normal love letter." About 15% of the writers
tried to approach the stars personally, usually at their homes.

    When obsessed fans turn violent, say experts, it is usually
not out of hatred but because their romantic fantasies cannot
be fulfilled. Celebrities with the sweetest images may be the
most vulnerable, perhaps because their seeming availability
makes the frustrated fan's disappointment more intense. Thus an
actress like Joan Collins who portrays bitchy characters may
inspire hate mail, but those who are seen as the girl next door,
like Schaeffer and Saldana, will attract fans who are
potentially more dangerous. Those who kill "may feel that they
are going to be united in heaven, or that the person is being
taken over by devils and that they're going to save them from
a worse punishment," explains Janet Warren, a professor of
behavioral medicine at the University of Virginia, who worked
on the Justice study.

    Celebrities, sometimes deliberately, sometimes unwittingly,
encourage overinvolvement by their fans. A sort of perverse
symbiosis exists between star and votary. Many celebrities lack
sturdy egos and are looking for unqualified adoration. Others
think that their most emotional and devoted fans are integral
to their success and must be cultivated. Dietz deplores the
Hollywood routine of answering fan mail. And he is especially
critical of the practice of sending out autographed publicity
photos: "Sometimes mentally ill recipients interpret the signed
photograph as a personal communication confirming, for example,
that they are about to be married."

    Disturbed admirers may also get the wrong impression when
celebrities share their private lives. Some stars appear eager
to confide their most personal secrets in popular magazines, and
they allow cameras to roam freely in their homes -- even their
bedrooms -- on shows like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
"There's a tremendous need for caution and restraint," says
Theresa Saldana. But she and others argue that it is their
profession more than their publicity that exposes stars to the
public.

    Some celebrities invest a great deal of money to protect
themselves from their fans. Gavin de Becker, who operates a
100-client security service in Los Angeles, charges those who
request full-time protection an average of $225,000 a year. De
Becker provides the staffs and publicists of celebrities with
20 pointers to help them screen letters or calls. A direct
threat is not necessarily a good indicator of true danger, he
says. "`I'm going to kill you' is as common as a fan letter to
many of these people." But, he adds, "it becomes different if
someone says, `I've sold my house, and I'm coming to get you.'"
De Becker and his staff of 31 are currently keeping tabs on
5,400 people who may pose a safety hazard to his clients; about
half are considered serious threats.

    Warning signs of obsession are usually evident long before
fans attack. Overardent admirers talk incessantly about their
idols. They watch their films again and again or play their
recordings over and over. They neglect responsibilities at home,
school or work. Sometimes they devote an entire room to a
celebrity, filling it with photographs and clippings, making it
a sort of shrine. "Families should take this seriously," warns
Dietz, "but they usually don't." The next step in the compulsion
often involves travel, according to De Becker, first in a random
pattern, then with a purpose: to follow the object of their
desires.

    The alleged killer of Rebecca Schaeffer appears to fit the
profile to a remarkable degree. He kept a video collection of
episodes of her television show. He proudly displayed an
autographed publicity photo of the actress, and he sent her "an
affectionate letter" a year ago. He called her agency several
times. Sadly, no one discerned in time the pattern of a fatal
obsession.