HAT SQUAD - UNFORTUNATELY REMEMBERING MANSON

STEVE RAILSBACK
as

CHARLES MANSON

Charles Manson was an unlikely figure to evolve into the personification of evil. A few inches over five feet, he was a petty criminal and small-time hustler. And his followers bore little resemblance to the stereotypical image of hardened killers. Most were in their early twenties, middle-class white kids, hippies and runaways who fell under his charismatic sway.

But in the summer of 1969, Manson masterminded a string of bizarre murders in Los Angeles that both horrified and fascinated the nation and signified to many the symbolic end of the 1960s and the idealism and naiveté the decade represented.

Considered one of the most infamous criminals of the 20th century, Manson died of natural causes at a Kern County Hospital at 8:13 p.m Sunday, according to Vicky Waters, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He was 83.

Sentenced to death for the crime, Manson escaped execution when the state Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional at the time. He spent decades behind bars, an unrepentant and incorrigible inmate who’d been cited for behavioral issues more than 100 times.
- Miles Corvin

Los Angeles Times

So the piece of slime is finally dead, but I don't think the fascination with his hypnotic evil will ever abate in the Television Universe.  You can expect even more depictions of his crimes than those posted here in two years when the fiftieth anniversary comes round.

One day, Manson will be inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame as a Multidimensional.  And I'm thinking it should happen during the month of October when it does.  But I'm in no hurry to have him soiling the carpeting in my little corner of Toobworld.  I have friends online who have called for his name never to be mentioned again.  I understand that; at the same time, my maintenance of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame is a form of History, silly as you may see it, and you should never bury History.  

Remember the old adage: Those who forget History are doomed to get an F on the final.

As it stands now, here is the IMDb list of actors who have played Charlie Manson on television.  One which is missing is Bob Odenkirk on 'The Ben Stiller Show'.  You can find it on YouTube, in which he plays Manson as a Lassie stand-in. 

I grabbed the list for this post even though I'm not ready to induct him because the IMDb is going to rid themselves of the character pages which have been a boon to me and my fellow televisiologists.

At any rate, here are the portrayals of Charles Manson, spread across the greater TV universe.  Steve Railsback was the first and perhaps the most memorable depiction.  But I'm not sure who should be the Charles Manson of Earth Prime-Time.  No established fictional characters in the main Toobworld ever interacted with Manson - thankfully.  As to who would be the "face" of Manson in the Hall, I think Gethin Anthony, due to the amount of appearances he has logged in as this psycho.....

GETHIN ANTHONY
as
CHARLES MANSON

"Deadly Possessions" 
    - Bela Lugosi's Mirror and Charles Manson's TV (2016) 
Played by Darrell Chumley

"American Horror Story" 
    - Great Again (2017) 
    - Charles (Manson) in Charge (2017) 

Played by Evan Peters

"National Enquirer Investigates"
    - Charles Manson (2017) 

Played by Chris Ploetz

"Autopsy: The Last Hours Of"
    - Dennis Wilson (2017) 

Played by Lewis Poll

"Mysteries of the Outdoors"
    - Death Valley (2016)

Played by Terral Altom

"Aquarius"
26 episodes    

Played by Gethin Anthony

"The Special Without Brett Davis"
    - Mike Love & Mercy (2016)

Played by Alyssa Stonoha

"Murder Made Me Famous"
    - Charles Manson (2016) 

Played by David Burkhart

Manson's Lost Girls (2016) 

Played by Jeff Ward

"Aquarius: The Summer of Love" 

4 episodes

Played by Gethin Anthony 

"Saturday Night Live"
    - Cameron Diaz/Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars (2014) 

Played by Taran Killam
    - Courteney Cox/Dave Matthews Band (1995) 

Played by Adam Sandler

"Mysteries at the Museum"
    - Squeaky Fromme, Hodag, Typhoid Mary (2013) 

Played by Peter Endrigian

Manson (2009)
Played by Adam Kenneth Wilson

Will You Kill for Me? Charles Manson and His Followers (2008)

Played by Charlie Davidson / Nic Weinfeld (as Young Charles Manson)

Helter Skelter (2004)

Played by Jeremy Davies

"The Beach Boys: An American Family"
    - Episode #1.2 (2000) 

Played by Erik Passoja

"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno"
    - Episode #7.106 (1999) 

Played by James DeAngelo
    - Troy Aikman/Natalie Portman/Green Day (1996) 

Played by James DeAngelo

"South Park"
    - Merry Christmas Charlie Manson! (1998) 

Played by Trey Parker

Summer Dreams: The Story of the Beach Boys (1990) 

Played by Michael Reid MacKay

Helter Skelter (1976) 

Played by Steve Railsback

BCnU!