Family Defends Memory of Slain Actress

Jan. 27, 2005 -- -- Early on Feb. 3, 2003, a beautiful actress was found fatally shot in the face at the Los Angeles mansion of legendary record producer Phil Spector.

Lana Clarkson, 40, had a very steady and quite successful career in Hollywood.

She had appeared in hit shows like "Three's Company," "The Jeffersons," "The A-Team," "Knight Rider" and "Night Court." Low-budget film director Roger Corman even built a series of movies around her called "Barbarian Queen."

But shortly after Clarkson's death, her family began hearing media reports in which she was referred to as a "B-movie actress" who was "struggling" in her career. A woman who spoke to ABC News from inside the gate at Spector's mansion described Clarkson as "washed up."

Crime writer Carlton Smith, who recently wrote a book on the case, "Reckless: Millionaire Record Producer Phil Spector and the Violent Death of Lana Clarkson," said, "There are a lot of people in this town who like to look for the worst in people."

Clarkson's relatives are dismayed. They have broken their silence for the first time since her death to defend her reputation.

"I'd like Mr. Spector to tell the truth. I'd like him to tell everyone what happened," Donna Clarkson, Lana's mother, said in an exclusive interview with ABC News' "Primetime Live."

Spector is expected to go on trial for murder later this year. He was charged in November 2003, but the complaint did not specify whether prosecutors will seek a first- or second-degree murder conviction. He has been free on $1 million bail.

In an interview with Esquire magazine shortly after Clarkson's death, Spector said the actress drunkenly "kissed the gun" and killed herself. But Fawn Clarkson, Lana's sister, said the notion was "preposterous."

"I've known my sister my whole life and there's no way she committed suicide. She was going to take me to go see the movie 'Chicago,'" Fawn said. "That's ridiculous."

Donna Clarkson, Lana's mother, told ABC News' John Quiñones: "My answer to 'Did she kill herself?' is 'Of course not.' "