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| Ed Wood fans know John "Bunny" Breckinridge from Plan 9. |
John Cabell "Bunny" Breckinridge (1903-1996) only ever appeared in one movie, but sometimes, one is all it takes. As the haughty, aloof alien ruler in Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957), Breckinridge is simply unforgettable, almost too good to be true. He is not just a flamboyantly gay man, but like the kind of over-the-top caricature of a gay man that you might see in a comedy sketch. And at the same time, his careful diction and quasi-regal manner suggest that he is a gentleman of considerable wealth and breeding. He gives off unmistakable "old money" vibes.
For decades, viewers have watched Plan 9 and wondered how Bunny Breckinridge could possibly be real and how he could have ever wound up in such a low-budget science-fiction film. And while he's only a fleeting presence in Rudolph Grey's book Nightmare of Ecstasy (1992), he's a major character in the movie that resulted from it: Tim Burton's Ed Wood (1994), where he was portrayed by Saturday Night Live's Bill Murray. (My favorite Bunny line from that film: "Nix on the nelly without losing the naivete.")
I've long planned to explore the fascinating, complicated life of Mr. Breckinridge, but I've just never had enough time. It's a little intimidating to know that author Rod Woodard (some handle, huh?) has released a two-volume biography of the man. But recently, reader Chuck Harter sent me a passel of vintage newspaper clippings about Bunny that detail the actor's various legal problems. Let's go through some of them together and see what we can glean about this John Cabell Breckinridge.
First up is an article from The Los Angeles Times, August 7, 1958:
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| Bunny is arrested on "morals charges" in 1958. |
Wow. That's a lot to process in just a few short paragraphs.
In a way, I'm impressed that The Los Angeles Times reported this story in such a matter-of-fact, dispassionate way. Given the shocking nature of the charges and the fact that the arrestee was from such a prominent and powerful family, there must have been a temptation to editorialize or sensationalize. The article refers to Bunny as a "San Francisco millionaire" but does not specify the source of his wealth. The writer also mentions Bunny's much-publicized intention to undergo a sex change but does not dwell upon this detail.
What we learn is that Bunny Breckinridge and his three much younger "companions" are accused of molesting two adolescent boys in "several California resort cities and Las Vegas." We also learn that Bunny had "a record of arrests on morals charges," but back then, simply being an out-and-proud homosexual or even cross-dressing might be reason enough for the police to harass you. That's part of what Glen or Glenda (1953) is about.
By the way, I'm sure that Rear Admiral J.R. Defrees, USN would have been thrilled to have his picture printed right next to this headline. What could be a more dignified sendoff?
Up next is an article from The San Francisco Examiner, August 15, 1958:
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| More details about Bunny's 1958 arrest. |
"Three weeks in the Hollywood motel." Hmmmm.
Look, I'm trying to keep an open mind about this case, but that phrase sets off alarm bells. Three weeks is an awfully long time to be at a motel with a man who is not your parent or legal guardian. Not to excuse Bunny Breckinridge, but I have to wonder about the judgment of the boys' mother, leaving her son in this man's care while she traipsed off to Lake Tahoe. This article de-ages Bunny by a year (55 to 54) and does specify where his money comes from, i.e. the Comstock Lode fortune. The article also editorializes just a bit, calling Mr. Breckinridge "eccentric."
Let's move on to an article from The Santa Maria Times, November 25, 1958:
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| "Get me Giesler!" |
For the most part, this article reiterates what we already knew about the case, but it adds some intriguing details about Bunny's legal strategy. First, he has retained the services of the legendary Jerry Giesler, the attorney who represented such high-profile defendants as Marilyn Monroe, Errol Flynn, and Charlie Chaplin. For years, "Get me Giesler!" was the mantra of every star in a sticky legal situation. But even Jerry's era was coming to an end; the high-powered lawyer would be dead by 1962. It looks like Giesler's strategy in this troubling case was to plead insanity.
Next up is a piece from The Sacramento Bee, May 5, 1959:
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| Was Bunny Breckinridge a "sexual sadist"? |
By the time of this article, a lot had happened in Bunny's case. First of all, he'd been convicted on "10 counts of sex perversion and crimes against children." That bodes ill for his future. Also convicted were two of Bunny's "companions," Cecil Mahaffey and Thomas Jordan. In the earlier articles, Bunny had three codefendants, but one of them, Ross Wilson, seems to have been exonerated somewhere along the line. At any rate, the articles stop mentioning him.
Bunny also seems to have switched counsel, with Burton J. Goldstein replacing Jerry Giesler. Goldstein, like Giesler, was pursuing an insanity angle in defending Bunny. What's interesting to me is that the district attorney, Arthur Alarcon, also seemed to think Bunny Breckinridge was mentally ill, saying he suffered from "mental abnormalities." By the way, keep in mind that all of this is happening well after Bunny filmed his scenes for Plan 9 from Outer Space. While Plan 9 is sometimes referred to as a 1959 film, it originally premiered in 1957.
Our next article is from The Escondido Times-Advocate, May 9, 1959:
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| Bunny was deemed "dangerous to himself and society" in 1959. |
Well, the legal strategy worked, if you consider being committed a success. The wealthy heir was found "innocent by reason of insanity" and sent to a state hospital. It beats prison, since an inmate like Bunny Breckinridge would certainly have encountered tremendous problems if incarcerated with the general population. His charges would have attracted a great deal of negative attention among his fellow prisoners, and his considerable wealth would have made him an easy target for extortionists. One can hardly imagine Mr. Breckinridge defending himself in the rec yard, the cafeteria, or the shower room.
I notice that all these articles come from West Coast papers, which makes me wonder if the Breckinridge case was even newsworthy in the rest of the country. Today, it's the kind of story that the internet would devour. The Escondido Times-Advocate is the first of these papers to mention that Bunny is descended from a former Vice President of the United States, but it's also the first to misspell his name in the headline.
The final article that Chuck Harter sent me comes from the February 10, 1960 edition of The San Francisco Examiner:
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| This article mention's Bunny's "tangled affairs." |
Unlike the previous articles, this one focuses on Bunny's daughter, Solange, and only obliquely hints at Bunny's myriad legal troubles. Yes, even though John Breckinridge was obviously, stunningly homosexual, he was married from 1927 to 1929 to a woman and even fathered a daughter with her. Bunny's short-lived bride was the daughter of a French count whom he met while working as a drag entertainer in Paris! The movie Ed Wood briefly hints at this aspect of Breckinridge's past when Bill Murray comments: "When I headlined in Paris, audiences always loved it when I sparkled!" Judging from this article, Solange's personal life was nearly as convoluted and scandal-plagued as her father's. I've read through it a few times and can't make sense of who's who.
I hope you've enjoyed this look at John "Bunny" Breckinridge. As superficial as this blog post was, I hope it intrigued you enough that you'll want to delve further into the man's colorful, perhaps disturbing life. At any rate, it will give you some context for understanding the way Bunny behaves in Plan 9 from Outer Space. Thanks, Chuck, for sending me this material.