Columnist Friend Of Sharon Tate Tries To Kill Self
November 1, 1969
Los Angeles Times
By Jerry Cohen
Times Staff Writer
A Hollywood gossip columnist questioned extensively during the Sharon Tate
murder investigation tried to kill himself early Friday with an overdose of
drugs.
Steven A. Bryant, 30, an intimate of Miss Tate and her director husband Roman
Polanski, was found near death in his West Hollywood apartment after telephoning
a friend in Las Vegas to say he had poisoned himself.
Brandt, a columnist for Photoplay Magazine and a member of the drug-oriented
international jet set that revolved around Miss Tate and Polanski, remained
unconscious and in "very critical" condition Friday afternoon at County-USC
Medical Center.
The prognosis for his recovery was "poor."
Police Waited Outside
Police homicide detectives waited outside his hospital door hoping to
question him if he recovers.
Tate case investigators were alerted immediately after sheriff's deputies
broke down the door of his exclusive three-story town-house apartment at 1260 N.
Kings Road and found him unconscious.
A suicide note was found in the dwelling. Officers declined to disclose the
contents other than to say that when he had written it he was "despondent."
"Brandt is not a suspects," LAPD homicide Captain Hugh Brown said, "he was in
New York City at the time of the murders. "
But Brandt, slight, pale and long haired, was questioned repeatedly by
detectives upon his return from the East the day after the August 9 mass murder
at the Polanski rented Benedict Canyon Estate.
He supplied voluminous information about the movie couple's exotic circle of
friends and described drug usage among their associates.
He also offered his own theory about the slaughter of Miss Tate and four
other persons:
"I think it was someone they brought in who turned homicidal under something
like LSD. A person who is suicidal tries to commit suicide under LSD; a person
who is homicidal may turn homicidal. I believe that's what happened."
West Hollywood Deputies sped to Brandt's apartment after he telephoned Gene
Grainer, Secretary to singer Eddie Fisher, at Caesars Palace, where the
entertainer is performing.
He said he dosed with enough drugs to kill him.
Miss Grainer refused to reveal the substance of the conversation. Asked if he
had mentioned the Tate case, she said: "I can't comment."
After receiving the telephone call, she immediately got in touch with Fisher.
The singer, also a friend of Brandt, called Los Angeles authorities.
Sheriff's Sergeant Bill Farrington said Fisher related that Brandt had asked
Miss Grainer to "tell Eddie" he had poisoned himself.
Deputies found in the apartment an empty bottle of a drug called Tylenol, and
acetaminophen, which is an analgesic often used to treat arthritis and
rheumatism. The note, addressed to his parents in New York, lay on the coffee
table.
According to Nancy Anderson, West Coast editor of Photoplay, Brandt Thursday
night dined with actor Vince Edwards and his wife and they described him
unusually "chipper". She herself talked to him for the first time Thursday since
his recent return from a New York visit and she said Brandt, normally dour,
appeared in good spirits. She said she believed, however, that he had been ill
in health.
