About this Blog

"In the future everybody will be world-famous for 15 minutes." So said the bleached-out, late lamented artist Andy Warhol. Having lived and worked in New York City, Warhol came to fully grasp the hold celebrity has on us. In this very famous sentence, he meant to point out that in a culture fixated on fame, many people will suddenly flash brightly onto the public screen, then--poof--will just as quickly disappear from public view--like shooting stars. Other individuals derive their celebrity from one stellar accomplishment (one hit song, one iconic role, etc.) that they never again match.

This blog is devoted to the one part of our celebrity culture that no one has written much about: temporary/one-shot celebrities.

The pace of modern life has quickened, and now we hear people speaking of someone's 15 seconds of fame. These "celebrities with a lower-case c" who will appear in this blog sometimes come to us from the world of entertainment, sometimes from the world of news. All are fascinating.

The need of our communications media for a continual stream of new material assures that we will have no end of colorful people who go quickly, where celebrity is concerned, from zero to hero (or villain) and back to zero. Now you see 'em, now you don't. What a crazy world, eh?

Temporary celebrities coming from the world of entertainment include one-hit recording artists; TV and movie icons who, although they might have had a great many accomplishments in their career, are remembered for one big role; standouts of reality TV; sports figures remembered for one remarkable accomplishment; and people whose celebrity came from one big role in a commercial or print ad.

News-based temporary celebrities come in many forms: mass/serial killers, other murderers of special note, sex-crime offenders, disgraced figures of government/military/business/media/religion, spies/traitors, hoaxers, femmes/hommes fatale, heroes, whistle blowers, inventors/innovators, and victims.

Celebrity Blogsburg will consider each category in turn.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Murderers: Scott Lee Peterson

Scott Lee Peterson of Modesto, CA, gained his celebrity infamy in 2003 when he was arrested and charged with murdering his pregnant wife, Laci.

The beautiful young woman had been reported missing on Christmas Eve, 2002. In April 2003, the body of a male fetus washed ashore in San Francisco Bay. The following day, Laci's remains washed up nearby.

Scott Peterson's philandering had come to light in the meantime. His most recent fling was with massage therapist Amber Frey,, who gave damaging testimony against him. He was convicted of murder and received the death sentence.

Peterson's case is on appeal at this writing in November 2009.

1 comment:

  1. Scott Peterson's philandering had come to light in the meantime. His most recent fling was with massage therapist Amber Frey,, who gave damaging testimony against him. He was convicted of murder and received the death sentence.

    Frey had no testimony to offer about any crime. She merely admitted she had offered him sex on 4 occasions and he had accepted. The state spent $11 million to convict him, a necessary expenditure since they never found any actual evidence of his guilt.

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