HOLLYWOODLAND
The mysterious death of Brittany Murphy. David Lynch and the real-life brutal murder that inspired Twin Peaks. Steve McQueen’s brush with Charles Manson. The three conspiracies surrounding Marilyn Monroe’s death. The indecent arrest of John Waters. Dennis Hopper’s easy riding and excessive 70s Hollywood. Woody Harrelson’s Dad’s connection to the JFK assassination. The obsessive murder of Dorothy Stratten. Bill Murray’s bust. Chris Farley burning out too soon. Al Pacino’s armed robbery. The serial killer and Gianni Versace. Heath Ledger’s overdose. If it’s a story that meets up at the corner of Hollywood and True...
Episodes
Alex Rocco: A Mob Murder, a Boston Gang War, and Leaving Winter Hill for the Corleones
Organized crime. A brutal assault that kicked off a gang war. Car bombs. The brazen assassination of a mob boss in broad daylight. These things all happened in Francis Ford Coppola’s groundbreaking film The Godfather – but first they happen…
Bonus Episode: Harrison Ford, Weapons, and Top 10 Westerns
This week in the Wrap Party, Zeth and Jake talk about music and movie recommendations related to Harrison Ford, plus Zach Cregger’s new movie Weapons, great Westerns, stacks of books to be read, and more. Join the party and get in touch wit…
Harrison Ford: Smashing Bottles, Slinging Weed, and Partying with the Stones
If someone had told Harrison Ford the odds early on, about his chances of making it as an actor in Hollywood, he may have given up. But he wasn’t an odds kinda guy. He was a guy who did what he had to do to make it. Sometimes that meant swi…
Dark Horse Westerns, Bad Moms, and Joan Crawford
This week in the Wrap Party, Zeth and Jake are talking about digging up some crazy, unexpected stories about Joan Crawford, plus music and movie recommendations inspired by the Hollywood icon, and suggest starting a support group for those …
Joan Crawford: Stag Films, Dead Presidents, and No Wire Hangers
Joan Crawford once threatened the director of the FBI when she wanted an old stag film destroyed. She accepted an Oscar that wasn’t hers for the sole purpose to get revenge on her co-star. She wrote her daughter out of her will, before she …
Bonus Episode: The Greatest Movies of the 21st Century and the Greatest Comeback Stories
This week in the Wrap Party, Zeth and Jake are talking about the New York Times’ list of the 100 greatest movies of the 21st century (so far), the greatest Hollywood comeback stories, and recommendations for music and movies inspired by thi…
Robert Downey Jr.: Running on Empty, Rock Bottom, and Ironclad Resolve
The man who would be Iron Man was once an unreliable and uninsurable actor who lived many years at the bottom in a haze of drugs and alcohol. His transformation into the highest-paid actor in Hollywood is truly one of the most remarkable st…
Bonus Episode: Jayne Mansfield, Robert Downey Jr., Myth Busting, and Dates with the Devil
This week in the Wrap Party, Zeth and Jake are talking about the kinds of roles that Robert Downey Jr. doesn’t take on anymore, plus they share some of their music and movie recommendations inspired by this week’s episode subject, Jayne Man…
Jayne Mansfield: Nude Scenes, Satan’s Slave, and a Gruesome Death
Whether she was filming Hollywood’s first major nude scenes, or posing against a backdrop of Satanic skulls and pentagrams, Jayne Mansfield lived for exhibitionism. As a leading sexpot of the 1950s, Jayne was a genius, a bombshell, and a mo…
Bonus Episode: The Next Brando, Hearts of Darkness, and Memories of Madonna
This week in the Wrap Party, Zeth and Jake are talking about the legacy of Marlon Brando, cinematic descents into the jungle, and your recommendations for sweaty summer movies and classic movie soundtracks. Next week, get ready for our epi…
Marlon Brando: A Fake Kidnapping Gone Wrong, Jungle Madness, and a Dead Boyfriend
Marlon Brando once broke a paparazzo’s jaw with one punch. He hired private investigators to find his son when a fake kidnapping went horribly wrong. He nearly sank an already doomed film shoot all by himself when he arrived in the Philippi…
Bonus Episode - RIP Michael Madsen, Written out of Hollywood History, and the Greatest Movie Soundtracks
This week in the Wrap Party, Zeth and Jake are talking about the great Michael Madsen, who recently passed away at the age of 67, as well as debating what is the greatest movie soundtrack of all time, and their music and movie recommendatio…
Sharon Stone: Basic Instincts, Baring It All, and the Butcher of Montreal
In a single year, Sharon Stone was nominated for awards for both Best Actress and Worst Actress – for the same role. She launched a million sexual awakenings with one quick display in Basic Instinct. Her performance in that film was so vivi…
Bonus Episode - Separating the Art from the Artist, Heist Movies, and Directors in Exile
This week in the Wrap Party, Zeth and Jake are talking about Roman Polanski and separating the art from the artist, handing out fresh music and movie recommendations, and responding to your voicemails, texts, emails, and DMs. Next week, get…
Roman Polanski: Nazis, Murder, and Life on the Lam
As a child, Roman Polanski escaped from a Krakow ghetto on the day the Nazis took his father to a concentration camp. As a new filmmaker, he became the toast of young Hollywood with his 1968 horror masterpiece, Rosemary’s Baby. But after th…
Bonus Episode - Gnarly L.A. Stories, Gnarly L.A. Gangsters, Porn Stars, and Washed-Up Protagonists
This week in the Wrap Party, Zeth and Jake are talking about John Holmes, Boogie Nights, commercials from the ‘80s and ‘90s, Gen X, the difference between Eddie and the Hot Rods and Eddie and the Cruisers, summer playlists, and washed-up pr…
John Holmes: Big Units, Freebase Briefcases, Four on the Floor, and the Wonderland Murders
John Holmes unexpectedly found fame in the 1970s with a freakishly large appendage that proved a gateway into the burgeoning adult entertainment industry. He appeared in over 2,000 porn films and is alleged to have slept with over 14,000 wo…
Bonus Episode - Immortality and Invincibility at the Movies, and Posthumous Performances
On this week in the Wrap Party, Zeth and Jake are talking about becoming immortal on the big screen, discussing music and movie recommendations inspired by the late, great Bruce Lee, and responding to your messages about everything from Wil…
Bruce Lee: Fists of Fury, the Death Touch, Murder Suspect #1, and Hollywood’s Ultimate Outsider
Bruce Lee got into so much trouble as a kid in Hong Kong that his parents banished him to the place of his birth: America. There he found all kinds of new trouble to get into. He upset kung fu traditionalists with his revolutionary style of…
Bonus Episode – Triple Threats, Mobbed Up Producers, and Post Prison Movies
On this week in the Wrap Party, Zeth and Jake are talking about entertainers who simultaneously dominate the small screen, the big screen, and the airwaves, as well as responding to your messages about everything from Jack Nicholson’s wild …
John Belushi: Punk Rock Riots, Chicago Street Brawls, and Missions from God
John Belushi may have been one of the funniest comedians of his generation, but he wasn’t just a funny guy. He was a rock star. He partied with the Stones, fronted a world-class band of R&B legends, and was responsible for a punk rock riot …
Bonus Episode – Join Us in the Wrap Party
Welcome to the Wrap Party, the weekly bonus episode of the HOLLYWOODLAND podcast hosted by longtime Double Elvis writer and editor Zeth Lundy, along with HOLLYWOODLAND's host, Jake Brennan. This week we're talking about crimes of the centur…
Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle: Underground Brothels, Hush Money, Bootlegged Booze, and the Making of Hollywood’s Greatest Scandal
A century ago, at the birth of movie superstardom, silent film star Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was at the center of a scandal that rocked Hollywood to its core. He was accused of a murderous sex crime so depraved that it turned the nation not …
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson: A Teenage Jewel Thief, a Heel Turn Betrayal, and Raising the People’s Eyebrow
Long before he raised the People’s Eyebrow, dropped the People’s Elbow, and laid the smackdown on the candyass world of Hollywood, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson ran a jewelry theft ring in Waikiki. He and his peers worked the posh shopping dist…
Jack Nicholson: Hidden Drugs, Road Rage, and a Shocking Crime
In some of Hollywood’s best-loved movies, Jack Nicholson played jokers, sailors, inmates – even the Devil himself. But he never played by the rules. He allegedly mooned a crowd of thousands at a basketball game. His bedroom kinks were laid …
Will Smith: Fist Fights, Jail Cells, and the Slap Heard Round the World
In 1989, shortly after winning his first Grammy Award at just 20 years old, Will Smith was arrested and charged with assault after a brawl at a popular Philadelphia radio station left one man nearly blind. It almost ended his career just as…
Tim Allen: Cocaine in Kalamazoo, Life in Prison, and Flipping for the Feds
Before he was headed to infinity and beyond, Tim Allen was headed to life in prison for a low-level drug deal in Michigan. This is the story about how his first career ended in a life-changing bust, and what he had to do in order to survive…
Presenting You Must Remember This: Frank Capra
Today we’re bringing you an incredible episode from You Must Remember This about director Frank Capra. The director of It’s a Wonderful Life, who won five Oscars in the 1930s for films that embodied the pre-World War II notion of American e…
Phil Hartman: Blackmail, an Attempted Presidential Assassination, and a Murder-Suicide
Before he was deemed “the Glue” by his castmates at Saturday Night Live, Phil Hartman worked as a rock ‘n roll roadie and a graphic designer. He created album covers for the bands Poco and America, as well as the logo for Crosby, Stills & N…
Robin Williams: A Manic Mind at Breakneck Speed, an Addiction to Laughter, and the Devil’s Dandruff
Robin Williams’ manic mind moved at such a breakneck speed that cocaine had the opposite effect than it had on most other people: it slowed him down. Robin’s primary addiction, however, wasn’t cocaine. He was addicted to the dopamine rush o…
Sharon Tate Pt 2: Rape, Drugs, and Murdering New Hollywood
Sharon Tate’s entanglement with Charles Manson and her husband, filmmaker Roman Polanski, as well as her involvement in some of the long-rumored hedonistic events at her home on Cielo Drive put her at the center of a counter-narrative that …
Sharon Tate Pt 1: Wild Parties and Dangerous Company
Sharon Tate was a sophisticated beauty who literally stopped traffic when she walked down the street. She began her movie career when America was becoming sexually liberated, and despite the ease with which she was made a sex symbol, she as…
David Lynch: A Brutal Murder, a Corrupt Small Town, and the Secret Origins of Twin Peaks
In 1908, a girl was brutally murdered in a small town in upstate New York. The town was seemingly idyllic, but beneath the surface, it was crawling with prostitution, orgies, deceit, and corruption. It was fueled by a political machine so p…
John Waters: Subversion, Shock, and the Ultimate Outsider
The films of John Waters were so nasty, so shocking ,and so subversive that shock author William Burroughs called him "The Pope of Trash." But from his beginnings in X-rated art films to cult classics like Hairspray and Crybaby, John Waters…
Introducing: HOLLYWOODLAND…
…the Hollywood and true crime spinoff from the award winning music and true crime podcast, DISGRACELAND, and the newest expansion from the folks at Double Elvis.The most dramatic non-fiction stories ever heard come from the world of entert…
James Dean: A Death Foretold, a Gruesome Publicity Stunt, and a Haunted Car
James Dean died in a high speed car crash at the age of 24, but his legend lives on. Fan clubs held monthly memorial services and wrote movie studios begging for relics of their patron saint. Professional illusionists swore they could resur…
Charlie Sheen: Tiger Blood, Porn Stars, and the High-Priest Vatican Assassin Warlock
Not one but two of Charlie Sheen’s Mercedes were found crashed into a ravine off Mulholland Drive on separate occasions. By that point, he was working on running his career off the road for a second or third time, in a haze of alcohol, coca…
Danny Trejo: A Prison Riot, the Gas Chamber, and Becoming Fear
Danny Trejo holds the record for most on-screen deaths by an actor. His go-to role is the bad guy – the baddest guy. The guy you do not mess with. And for the first 25 years of his life, he was that guy for real. He led a life of violence a…
Drew Barrymore: Curses, Corpses, and a Coked-Up Child Star in the Club
Drew Barrymore spent her childhood charming audiences on movie screens and cramming cocaine up her nose at the most exclusive clubs in the country. Her breakout role as Gertie in E.T.: The Extraterrestrial rocketed her to such far-reaching …
Sean Penn: A Prison Escape, The Night Stalker, and Madonna’s True Blue Bad Boy
In the summer of 1985, Sean Penn’s marriage to preeminent material girl Madonna was an epochal moment for ‘80s-era Hollywood. The bad boy from Bad Boys and the boy-toy pop superstar blissfully brought together the worlds of movies and music…