Yahrtzeit! Albert Dekker 1968

Not a new story,
but one that certainly bears repeating......



Albert Dekker, successful character actor was
found Sunday, May 5th, 1968 in the bathtub of his
North Normandie apartment in Hollywood.























"The 6 feet 3 inch, 240-pound Dekker was kneeling nude in the bathtub, a dirty hypodermic needle sticking out of each arm. A hangman's noose was around his neck but not tight enough to have strangled him. A scarf was tied over his eyes and something like a horse's bit was in his mouth. Fashioned from a rubber ball and metal wire, the bit had chain "reins" that were tightly tied behind his head. Two leather thongs were stretched between the leather belts that girded his neck and chest. A third belt, around his waist, was tied with a rope that stretched to his ankles, where it had been tied in some kind of lumber hitch. The end of the rope, which continued up his side, wrapped around his wrist several times and was held in Dekker's hand. Both wrists were clasped by a set of handcuffs. Written in lipstick, above two hypodermic punctures on his right buttock, was the word "whip" and drawings of the sun. Sun rays had also been drawn around his nipples. "Make me suck" was written on his thorax and "slave" and "cocksucker" on his chest. On his lower abdomen was drawn a vagina. He had apparently been dead since Friday and his awkward position had colored his lower body a deep blood purple. "This one has everything but a vampire bite," remarked a deputy coroner."




The last time he had been seen was on Thursday evening when he and his fiance, Geraldine Saunders attended the opening of Zero Mostel's new play, The Latent Heterosexual.



With a busy career, Dekker had appeared in over 100 motion pictures, most notably as the mad scientist who reduces humans to doll size in Dr.Cyclops. Gentlemen's Agreement, Suddenly Last Summer and Strange Cargo are just a few of his credits. He also had a prolific career on Broadway. The red scare of the fifties claimed him as a victim and he didn't work in film for many years, but found refuge on television. His final film appearance was in Peckinpah's, The Wild Bunch.
Many theories circulated as to what had truly happened in that bathroom at 1731 Normandie. Was it a suicide? A staged murder? Geraldine said he had large amounts of cash on hand, that he'd been in the process of purchasing a house in Encino Hills. She claimed he'd had $70,000, but no money was ever found. Dekker had chosen to rent this apartment because a friend managed the building. The "friend" vanished after Dekker's death. Amongst all the theories, it was famed LA coroner Thomas Noguchi that claimed Dekker was a victim of autoerotic asphyxia.



His death was ruled an accident.



This video was shot in Dekker's apartment.