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.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Notorious celebrity: Amy Fisher

The press called her the "Long Island Lolita." When she was but sweet 17,she shot her older lover's wife, wounding her badly.

Fisher had met Joey Buttafuocco when she took her car to his body shop. The two began an affair while she was a 16-year-old high school student.

According to her own account of her childhood, her early years were sexually abusive.

Still in her teens, Fisher went to work for an "escort service," continuing her affair with Buttafuocco. When he refused to leave his wife, she attempted suicide. Later, according to Fisher's account, Buttafuocco told her she should shoot his wife, Mary Jo. In 1992, Fisher did so.

Mary Jo Buttafuocco recovered from her headwound and fingered Amy Fisher as the shooter. Fisher pled not guilty, but her lawyer arranged a plea agreement. Fisher served seven years of her sentence.

In 1993, Buttafuocco was convicted of statutory rape and served six months.
He moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. He was caught in a sting operation for having solicited sex with what turned out to be an undercover officer. He also got into trouble for insurance fraud.

Fisher, remarkably, got a job as a columnist for the Long Island Press and also wrote a book about her life. Her columnist career ended in 2005, but in 2008, she became a commentator on truTV.

Thereafter, she became a stripper and pornography performer. She is shown below in a 2008 photo with her husband Lou Bellera.

No comments:

Post a Comment