Charles Manson
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Charles Manson was born Charles Milles Maddox on November 12, 1934, in Cincinnati, Ohio.[1]
Key facts and history
Manson's mother, Ada Kathleen Maddox, was 16 years old at his birth and married William Eugene Manson before the birth.[1] His biological father was likely Colonel Walker Henderson Scott Sr., who had a local reputation as a con artist.[2] Manson was placed in the Gibault School for Boys in Terre Haute, Indiana, at age 13.[3] While incarcerated at McNeil Island, he took guitar lessons from Alvin "Creepy" Karpis and participated in hypnosis sessions with future actor Danny Trejo.[4]
Manson established a base for his followers at the Spahn Ranch in August 1968.[5] Manson's initial recorded criminal act was the 1948 theft of food from an Indianapolis grocery store.[6] According to Manson's own account, while at the Indiana Boys School, a staff member allegedly encouraged other students to rape him.[7] Manson wed Rosalie Jean Willis, a hospital waitress, in January 1955.[8]
What the cited sources add
A Guardian profile of Dennis Wilson notes that the entire Manson Family lived with Wilson for much of 1968, and that the relationship cost Wilson around $100,000 in money, cars, clothes, food and penicillin shots.[9] The same source states that Wilson described Manson as "the Wizard" and a "friend of mine who says he is God and the Devil" in an interview for Rave magazine.[9] The A&E article also states that Manson claimed the other boys raped him at the Indiana Boys School.[10] A Weekly View article notes that Manson's mother was an alcoholic who he described as a prostitute who once "sold" him to a barmaid for a pitcher of beer.[11]
The same article states that psychiatrists described Manson as a "slick" but "sensitive" boy in 1954.[11] An A&E article notes that Manson's mother was imprisoned for several years when he was not yet nine.[10] A source reports that authorities considered Manson so thoroughly institutionalized that upon his 1967 release he requested permission from the warden to remain.[12]
References
- Wikipedia, "Charles Manson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Official birth certificate of Charles Milles Manson", State of Ohio Department of Health: Division of Vital Statistics, Mar 31, 2025; Bugliosi Gentry 1974, p. 136–137; Reitwiesner, "Ancestry of Charles Manson", wargs.com; "Official birth certificate of Charles Milles Manson", State of Ohio Department of Health: Division of Vital Statistics, Mar 31, 2025 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles Manson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Charles Manson", Internet Accuracy Project; Smith, "Mother Tells Life of Manson as Boy", Los Angeles Times, January 26, 1971 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles Manson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Guinn 2013, p. 23 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles Manson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Short Bits 2 – Charles Manson and the Beach Boys", Lost in the Grooves, February 2026; Shuster, "Danny Trejo Says Charles Manson Once Hypnotized Him in Jail", Mediaite, July 7, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles Manson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Meares, "The Story of the Abandoned Movie Ranch Where the Manson Family Launched Helter Skelter", Curbed Los Angeles, Oct 22, 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles Manson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mitchell, "Retro Indy: Charles Manson, mass murderer and cult leader, spent time in Indiana", The Indianapolis Star, January 14, 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles Manson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Charles Manson – Diane Sawyer Interview. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles Manson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bugliosi Gentry 1974, p. 136–137 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Webb, "A profile of Dennis Wilson: the lonely one", The Guardian, December 14, 2003. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
- O'Neill, "What Was Charles Manson's Life Like Before He Formed 'The Family' Cult?", A&E, June 25, 2019. facts only, no text reused. aetv.com
- Hunter, "Charles Manson – Hoosier Juvenile Dilenquent", The Weekly View, January 22, 2015. facts only, no text reused. weeklyview.net
- Serratore, "The True Story of the Manson Family", July 25, 2019. facts only, no text reused. smithsonianmag.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Charles Manson (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Charles Manson (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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