Charles Manson is dead, and everyone who’s never carved a swastika into their forehead is relieved. Bryan Cranston would appear to be among them, despite his initial reaction to the news — the former Walter White says he “shuddered” when he heard of the cult leader’s death, as it reminded him of an encounter he had with Manson not long before the Tate-LaBianca murders.
“Hearing Charles Manson is dead, I shuddered,” Cranston tweeted. “I was within his grasp just one year before he committed brutal murder in 1969. Luck was with me when a cousin and I went horseback riding at the Span [sic] Ranch, and saw the little man with crazy eyes whom the other hippies called Charlie.” The actor didn’t elaborate on his story, but the Spahn Ranch is where the Manson Family lived before and during their infamous killings in August 1969.
Cranston, now 61, would have been 12 or 13 at the time. Though he doesn’t seem to have been in any immediate danger, it’s clear that the memory has always stuck with him.
Hearing Charles Manson is dead, I shuddered. I was within his grasp just one year before he committed brutal murder in 1969. Luck was with me when a cousin and I went horseback riding at the Span Ranch, and saw the little man with crazy eyes whom the other hippies called Charlie.
— Bryan Cranston (@BryanCranston) November 20, 2017
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
