Who was Lana Clarkson? All to know about Phil Spector’s murder victim from Homicide: Los Angeles

The first episode, Hunting Phil Spector, of Homicide: Los Angeles centers around the second-degree murder of an American actress Lana Jean Clarkson. Lana was 40 years old when she was murdered by recording producer Phil Spector on February 3, 2003, at his house.

Lana Clarkson was born on April 5, 1962, in Long Beach, California, U.S. She was an actress and a fashion model. Her career took a turn in 1980 when she got major roles in many films and television shows. In her acting career, she played roles in over 50 film and television shows.

After Lana’s death, Phil Spector was convicted of second-degree murder with a sentence of 19 years imprisonment on April 13, 2009. It took over six years to bring Lana Clarkson's murderer to justice. In 2012, Lana’s mother Donna Clarkson filed a civil lawsuit against Phil and his insurance company for the murder of her daughter. The information about the settlement of this case was kept private.

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Who was Lana Jean Clarkson shown in Homicide: Los Angeles?

Lana Jean Clarkson was born in Long Beach, California. She was born to James M. Clarkson and Donna Clarkson who lived in Sonoma County. Lana had two siblings, a brother named Jessee J. Clarkson, and a sister named Fawn.

Lana did her initial schooling at Cloverdale High School followed by Pacific Union College when the family was living in North California. At the end of 1978, Clarksons shifted to Southern California and settled in San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles.

After returning to Los Angeles with her family, Lana started working towards her acting career. In the early 1980s, Lana made her screen debut with her first minor role Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). She played the role of Mrs. Vargas in the movie.

Lana is best known for her roles in films produced by Roger Corman, including the 1983 film Deathstalker, in which she played the role of Kaira, followed by Amethea in Barbarian Queen (1985), Alpha Beta in Amazon Women on the Moon (1987), and Princess Athalia in Barbarian Queen II: The Empress Strikes Back (1990).

Lana Clarkson (Image via Netflix)

Lana has also appeared in television shows such as Marilyn in Knight Rider (1984), Angela in The Love Boat (1986), and Dr. Sarah Bellum, also known as Mindbender, in Black Scorpion (2001).

She also did modeling for the commercials of Mercedes-Benz, Nike, and Mattel, traveling around the United States of America and Europe for her modeling photo shoots.

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What happened in Hunting Phil Spector in Homicide: Los Angeles?

The first episode, Hunting Phil Spector of Homicide: Los Angeles is based on the murder case of actress Lana Jean Clarkson. In 2003, Lana was shot dead by recording producer Phil Spector at the age of 40.

The episode followed Alan Jackson, the former deputy district attorney of Los Angeles, as he described the complete case from the beginning. Jackson highlighted how cases related to celebrities pan out differently from ordinary citizen's cases, and how such cases are the most common in LA.

As shown in Homicide: Los Angeles, Phil, and Lana left House of Blues in his Limousine and went to Phil’s mansion Pyrenees Castle. It was after some time that Phil’s driver heard the sound of a gunshot from inside as Phil killed Lana.

He was convicted after more than five years of Lana’s death. During the trials in these five years, many other women blamed Phil for pulling a gun on them for various reasons.

Phil Spector died on January 16, 2021, at the age of 81 while serving his 19 years imprisonment.

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Fans of true crime documentaries can watch Homicide: Los Angeles on Netflix.