The most horrible thing you've heard all day.

Last night I watched Hello Dolly!, the 1969 film adaptation of the Broadway musical. It stars Barbra Streisand and has a special place in my heart because I was in this play in high school. When I realized it was available on instant Netflix, I decided to spend my Sunday night knitting and reminiscing.

As I watched, I was struck by the amazing, downright acrobatic talents of the dancers. I mean they are doing flips, no-handed cartwheels, incredibly impressive feats. And one actor in particular (who had a small part with not a lot of lines - Barnaby) was the best of them all.

<-- This guy. Danny Lockin. Ever heard of him? Probably not. AND HERE'S WHY. As I was exploring the cast list on IMDB, I noticed that next to Danny's name it said 1943-1977, which meant he only lived to be about 34, which is a shame because of how obviously awesome he was. Figuring he died of cancer or some sort of a freak accident, I explored his bio further. After describing Danny's childhood and career, the last line of his bio states, "The life of this wonderful and multi-talented man was tragically cut short when he was brutally murdered in 1977."

BRUTALLY MURDERED?! My skin crawled and I screamed out loud when I read that. What happened? Who would, and why would, and how? I investigated further. Apparently one day in August of '77, Danny's mom drove him to a taping of The Gong Show, a sort of talent show that he and another guy were competing in together. Clearly, they danced for their talent, and ended up tying for first place. After the show, Danny's mother was going to drive him home, but he wanted to go celebrate the win with his dancing partner, so his mom went on home without him.

So Danny and his bud stopped at a nearby bar and while there met this dude named Charles Leslie Hopkins. Later that night, back at his apartment, Charles called the cops, reporting a robbery. When the cops got there they found Danny's lifeless body, stabbed ONE HUNDRED TIMES with various stabbing instruments. Charles was charged with Danny's murder because in the apartment, police found a porno mag with pictures of torture/sex orgies which prosecutors later said was used as a script for Danny's brutal murder.

But hold on a minute. It seems like a closed case, right? Well. Because of a delayed trial, and an ill-timed U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limited the use of evidence at a crime scene without a search warrant, Charles ended up doing only TWO YEARS IN JAIL. He lived jail-free for decades and then died at age 63 from a heart attack.

Prior to Danny's murder, he was teaching dance, writing a play, and recording an album. I mean think of all the things he could have done with his life. He could have been on GLEE, for frick's sake! You know, in a cute little episode starring people from Broadway's past. Instead, he rests in a cemetery in Orange County. TEARS. :( So unfair. So horrible. So unfathomable. So tragic.