Celebrity Butterfly Effect

Doris Day

Last night I was talking with my Mum about some of the odd searches that lead people to my blog. For instance, ever since I put up a photo of a man wearing sock suspenders, not a day goes by without someone finding my blog by searching for old men’s socks, men’s sock suspenders, or 1950’s men’s socks etc. I never thought that item would be such a  popular search term. Yesterday the odd search term we fixated on was ‘Doris Day slutty’. We laughed a bit because Doris Day’s image was anything but slutty. Then my Mum wondered if she was still alive. So I checked Wikipedia, and yes, she is very much alive at 88 years of age. As I was reading her entry, it mentioned she had a son at the age of 17. He was her only child and his name was Terry Melcher. That name was ringing a major bell with me, so clicked on his name and realized why.

Terry Melcher and his, then, girlfriend, Candice Bergen

Terry Melcher was a well-known record producer for bands including the Byrds and The Beach Boys… but that’s not why he was familiar to me. In 1968, he was introduced by Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys to an aspiring musician by the name of Charles Manson.

Charles Manson

Melcher was living at 10050 Cielo Drive with his girlfriend Candice Bergen at this time. He befriended Manson and had plans to produce Manson’s songs as well as film a documentary about him and the Manson ‘family’. Melcher later decided against both projects and severed all ties with Manson, a decision which angered Manson. Fortuitously, Melcher and Bergen moved from their house on Cielo Drive shortly after this incident. Unfortunately, the house was then rented to Roman Polanski and his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate. There is some speculation to this day as to whether or not Melcher was the intended victim that fateful night, or perhaps the murders were a way of sending a message to Melcher.

Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate

After reading all of this, my Mum and I went back to the fact that Doris Day had a son at the age of 17. “So I guess she was a little slutty,” joked Mum. This began a game of Celebrity Butterfly Effect.

If Doris Day had kept her legs closed in her teens (no judgement), she would not have given birth to Terry Melcher, who would not have been introduced to, given hope to and subsequently rejected Charles Manson, setting Manson on a path that culminated in his ordering a murderous rampage in Benedict Canyon that night (though it’s likely something would have eventually set him off). Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate would have become parents, would possibly still be married and Polanski would likely still be living and working in America , having never been arrested for sexual abuse of a minor (though the tone of his films might have been slightly less dark).

Celebrity Butterfly Effect, a new game created by windupmyskirt (and her Mum), fun for all ages. Soon to be sweeping the nation.