The star stalkers
By LISA FAYE KAPLAN, Gannett News Service
Eight years ago, Mark David Chapman quit his job in Hawaii, flew halfway across the world to New York City, then fired five hollow-point bullets into John Lennon.
The Beatles “changed the world as we know it,” Chap-man later said about killing Lennon. “And I changed them.”
When John Hinckley shot President Reagan in 1981, his real goal was to capture the attention and affection of actress Jodie Foster.
“Jodie, I would abandon this idea of getting Reagan in a second if I could only win your heart.” Hinckley wrote in a letter scribbled shortly before the attack. “By sacrificing my freedom and possibly my life, I hope to change your mind about me.”
A demented fan slashed and left for dead “Raging Bull” actress Theresa Saldana, who miraculously survived. A man wanted for five murders in Louisiana showed up on Olivia Newton-John’s doorstep in Malibu. And a female admirer reportedly harassed Robert Redford to the point where he had to obtain a court order to keep her away.
The ardor of celebrity stalkers is fueled by mental illness. And the objects of their deluded affections are not only the world-famous, but virtually anybody in the public eye.
“Everybody who is in any kind of media will have some kind of approach or encounter that is inappropriate,” said Gavin de Becker, who owns a personal security company in Los Angeles and is considered the pre-eminent authority on celebrity stalkers. “You don’t hear this from the snake oil salesman who says you can be a star. It is the underside of the American dream.”
Stalkers are “all kinds of people where the lines between reality and imaginary social worlds are somewhat skewed,” de Becker said. “For lots of people who focus on a public figure, that focus is the only anchor that holds their lives together.”
The goals of a stalker are as different as the myriad delusions that plague a troubled mind. Through a close association with a celebrity, the stalker may try to right a wrong or make public some special information. He may want to announce to the world he is the Messiah or deliver a message from outer space. The stalker may see the celebrity as a hostage and see himself as the savior.
De Becker, who would not name his clients but said they include 60 of the most famous people in the world, is currently keeping track of some 2,900 stalkers. And although an exact profile of the typical stalker is impossible to draw, statistics point to some common traits.
According to de Becker, the stalker most often is a single white male, between 28 and 32 years old, with an excessive interest in television and movies.
More stalkers cluster in California than anywhere else, de Becker said, because the entertainment industry is centered in Los Angeles and ce-lebrities are thought to live there. New York City, because its population is so large, is second on the list of most popular places to stalk.