Bonnie Lee Bakley - Celebrity Obsession

Celebrity Obsession

Bakley had a history of pursuing celebrities. Her friends and relatives described her as "celebrity-obsessed." Tapes of Bakley's phone conversations reveal that she was starstruck and determined to marry someone famous. "Being around celebrities," she once said, "it makes you feel better than other people."

In 1990, she moved to Memphis and began pursuing singer Jerry Lee Lewis. Bakley eventually did meet Lewis and even became close friends with Lewis' sister Linda Gail Lewis. In 1993, Bakley claimed that the daughter she gave birth to, Jeri Lee, was Lewis' child. However, DNA tests later disproved her claim. After Jeri Lee's birth, Bakley decided to relocate to California. She left Jeri Lee with her first husband to raise, but continued to financially support the child.

While in California, Bakley pursued other celebrities including Dean Martin, Frankie Valli (Bakley claimed they dated when she was a teenager. Valli denied the claim), and Gary Busey. In 1991, Bakley became interested in Christian Brando. Christian, the eldest son of Academy Award-winning actor Marlon Brando and actress Anna Kashfi, became a media fixture when he was tried for the murder of his half sister's boyfriend Dag Drollet. Brando pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to ten years in prison. While he was in prison, Bakley began writing him and sending photos. After his release in 1996, Brando and Bakley began a romantic relationship. In 1999, Bakley discovered she was pregnant and initially thought that Brando was the child's father. In June 2000, she gave birth to her fourth child, a daughter she named Christian Shannon Brando.