Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Moviemaking, Con Games, and Murder in Glitter City

In July 1991 Jon Emr, self-styled movie producer, and his son, Roger, were killed in a drive-by shooting in Culver City, Calif. Also in the car were Jon's mother, Renee, and his girlfriend, Sue Fellows. Renee identified the shooter as Robert Suggs, Jon's bodyguard. A few days before, Suggs had murdered Jon's father, Arthur, in Paradise Valley, Arizona. He had also killed his own girlfriend somewhere in the desert. Suggs's body and that of the girlfriend were found together in December 1992, and the police verdict was murder and suicide. But this book's appeal is not due to the true-crime case; rather, it is the portrait of marginal players and film-industry hangers-on. According to L.A. radio talk-show host Lurie, Emr realized that ``the access to Hollywood glamour could be used as a bear trap.'' He also saw that pretending a close association with famous names was the perfect lure, which he used to con the gullible and strip them of hundreds of thousands of dollars. (June)