- George Spahn
Infobox person
name=George Spahn
birth_place=Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania
birth_date=birth date|1889|02|11
death_date=dda|1974|09|22|1889|02|11
death_place=Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California
spouse=Martha GreenholtsGeorge Spahn (
February 11 ,1889 –September 22 ,1974 ) was a rancher who once owned theSpahn Ranch nearChatsworth, Los Angeles, California , USA. Spahn (as did previous ownerWilliam S. Hart ) rented the ranch to the movie industry to film Westerns. At the ranch, he housedCharles Manson and his followers. The 1969 murders of actressSharon Tate and six others by Manson and his devotees were hatched at the Spahn Ranch. Manson persuaded Spahn to permit "the Family" to live at his ranch. Spahn nicknamed all the Manson girls—Squeaky, Sadie Mae, Ouisch, etc. Spahn died September 22, 1974.His name is associated with a grisly set of murders, due to his tolerance of the Manson group's stay on his property. According to Manson Family member Paul Watkins, notorious Mansonite
Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme got her nickname because of the sound she made when Spahn ran his hand up her thigh. [Watkins, Paul with Guillermo Soledad, "My Life with Charles Manson", Bantam Books, 1979. ISBN 0-553-12788-8. Page 40.] Family member Charles Watson has written that his own nickname, "Tex," was given to him by Spahn, who recognized his Texas accent. [Watson, Tex as told to Chaplain Ray (Ray Hoekstra), "Will You Die for Me?", Cross Roads Publications, Inc., 1978. [http://www.aboundinglove.org/sensational/wydfm/wydfm-007.php Chapter 7.] ]George lived five years after the murders. He was married to a woman named Martha Greenholts, and lived in
North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California , USA. He was eventually admitted to the Sherwood Convalescent Hospital inVan Nuys, Los Angeles, California , USA, where he died on September 22, 1974, at the age of 85. He was buried in Eternal Valley Memorial Park.The Spahn ranch burned in 1970, and is desolate today. In 2005, fires in Simi Valley tore through the ranch.
References
External links
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