Friends of Phil Spector's Murder Victim Outraged Over Upcoming HBO Movie
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Aug 2007: Phil Spector during his murder trial in Los Angeles, CA. (AP)
HBO's upcoming Phil Spector movie has sparked fury among friends of Lana Clarkson -- the B-grade movie actress Spector was convicted of killing in his Hollywood mansion in 2003 -- the New York Post reported Wednesday.
The Friends of Lana Clarkson (FOLC), a group led by Hollywood publicist Edward Lozzi, has accused "Phil Spector" writer David Mamet of being pro-Spector -- and it wants the movie's stars, Al Pacino and Helen Mirren, to voice their displeasure to Mamet over the movie's script.
"We're asking Helen Mirren and Al Pacino to do the right thing when reading the script ... and ask David Mamet to do something about it," Lozzi told the Post.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FOLC has not seen the "Phil Spector" screenplay, but is basing its attack on Mamet's quotes published in the Financial Times in June. "I don't think he's guilty," Mamet said of Spector. "I definitely think there is reasonable doubt."
"We're mad as hell, and we're not going to take it anymore," Lozzi said. "Phil Spector is like an old troll has-been who became famous because of the woman he murdered."
Lozzi, who was a close friend of Clarkson, fired off an angry letter to Mamet (who never responded) and also sent letters to Pacino (playing the eccentric, bewigged Spector) and Bette Midler, who played Spector defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden but dropped out of the movie last month, citing a herniated disc.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lozzi then sent a letter to Midler's replacement, Oscar winner Mirren, who has begun filming her role on Long Island.
"Mr. Mamet has publicly stated that he feels Phil Spector is innocent and should not be in prison," the letter reads in part. "Saying that, we fear that he will rewrite history and portray Lana Clarkson as responsible for her own death.
"That is not acceptable and if he does so, there will be consequences from us to the press ... and consequences at Emmy nomination time ... we will influence academy members."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Spector, the reclusive, gun-toting record producer famous for his '60s-era "Wall of Sound," was convicted of shooting the 40-year-old Clarkson in his California mansion in 2003. He claimed her death was "an accidental suicide" and that she "kissed the gun."
A 2007 mistrial led to Spector's second trial in 2009, when he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 19 years to life.
HBO said in a statement that it "has a long tradition of capturing real life events on film ... and we hope people will reserve judgment until they have seen the film."