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Phil Hartman: Blackmail, an Attempted Presidential Assassination, and a Murder-Suicide

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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 & Nash. He did those things as a card-carrying member of the peace and love movement. A movement that was infamously disrupted by the Manson family, a ragtag group of hippies gone evil that just so happened to include one of his former friends from high school. A friend who would later attempt to assassinate an American president. A friend who helped steer sunny California into an age of darkness. A darkness that, for Phil Hartman, led to secrets, blackmail, guns, and ultimately, a murder-suicide.