Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: A Novel

366 Pages·2021·1.918 MB·English

by  Quentin Tarantino

RICK DALTON—Once he had his own
TV series, but now Rick’s a washed-
up villain-of-theweek drowning his
sorrows in whiskey sours. Will a
phone call from Rome save his fate
or seal it?
CLIFF BOOTH—Rick’s stunt double,
and the most infamous man on any
movie set because he’s the only one
there who might have gotten away
with murder. . . .
SHARON TATE—She left Texas to
chase a movie-star dream and found
it. Sharon’s salad days are now
spent on Cielo Drive, high in the
Hollywood Hills.
CHARLES MANSON—The ex-con’s
got a bunch of zonked-out hippies
thinking he’s their spiritual leader,
but he’d trade it all to be a rock ’n’
roll star.
HOLLYWOOD 1969—
YOU SHOULDA BEEN THERE
COLUMBIA PICTURES PRESENTS
A FILM BY QUENTIN TARANTINO
LEONARDO DICAPRIO BRAD
PITT
MARGOT ROBBIE
IN
ONCE UPON A TIME
IN HOLLYWOOD
MARGARET QUALLEY TIMOTHY
OLYPHANT
JULIA BUTTERS DAKOTA
FANNING BRUCE DERN
AND
AL PACINO
TECHNICOLOR ®
PRODUCED BY
DAVID HEYMAN SHANNON
MCINTOSH
QUENTIN TARANTINO
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY
QUENTIN TARANTINO

Dedication
This book is dedicated to My Wife
DANIELLA
and My Son LEO
Thanks for creating a happy home from which to write in.
ALSO
To all the actor Old Timers who told me tremendous stories
about Hollywood in this period.
And it’s because of them that you hold this book in your
hands now.
Bruce Dern * David Carradine * Burt Reynolds Robert Blake *
Michael Parks * Robert Forster and
especially Kurt Russell
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One: “Call Me Marvin”
Chapter Two: “I Am Curious (Cliff)”
Chapter Three: Cielo Drive
Chapter Four: Brandy, You’re a Fine Girl
Chapter Five: Pussycat’s Kreepy Krawl
Chapter Six: “Hollywood or Bust”
Chapter Seven: “Good Morgan, Boss Angeles!”
Chapter Eight: Lancer
Chapter Nine: “Think Less Hippie, More Hells Angels”
Chapter Ten: Misadventure
Chapter Eleven: The Twinkie Truck
Chapter Twelve: “You Can Call Me Mirabella”
Chapter Thirteen: “The Sweet Body of Deborah”
Chapter Fourteen: “The Wrecking Crew”
Chapter Fifteen: “You’re a Natural-Born Edmund”
Chapter Sixteen: James Stacy
Chapter Seventeen: The Medal of Valor
Chapter Eighteen: The Name Ain’t Jughead
Chapter Nineteen: “My Friends Call Me Pussycat”
Chapter Twenty: Sexy Evil Hamlet
Chapter Twenty-One: Lady of the House
Chapter Twenty-Two: Aldo Ray
Chapter Twenty-Three: Drinker’s Hall of Fame
Chapter Twenty-Four: Nebraska Jim
Chapter Twenty-Five: The Last Chapter
Acknowledgments
Copyright
About the Publisher
Chapter One
“Call Me Marvin”
The buzzer on Marvin Schwarz’s desk Dictaphone makes a
noise. The William Morris agent’s finger holds the lever
down on the box. “Is that my ten-thirty you’re buzzing me
about, Miss Himmelsteen?”
“Yes it is, Mr. Schwarz,” his secretary’s voice pipes out of
the tiny speaker. “Mr. Dalton is waiting outside.”
Marvin pushes down the lever again. “I’m ready when
you are, Miss Himmelsteen.”
When the door to Marvin’s office opens, his young
secretary, Miss Himmelsteen, steps in first. She’s a twenty-
one-year-old woman of the hippie persuasion. She sports a
white miniskirt that shows off her long tan legs and wears
her long brown hair in Pocahontas-style pigtails that hang
down each side of her head. The handsome forty-two-year-
old actor Rick Dalton, and his de rigueur glistening wet
brown pompadour, follow behind her.
Marvin’s smile grows wide as he stands up from the chair
behind his desk. Miss Himmelsteen tries to do the
introductions, but Marvin cuts her off. “Miss Himmelsteen,
since I just finished watching a Rick Dalton fuckin’ film
festival, no need to introduce this man to me.” Marvin
crosses the distance between them, sticking out his hand
for the cowboy actor to shake. “Put ’er there, Rick.”