This one is far from an exclusive but the show biz angle lured me in. I’m quite sure I first heard of Ronald Pellar (1930-2013) a.k.a Dr. Dante a.k.a. Ronald Dante a.k.a. Mr. Hypnotist as the seventh and last husband of Lana Turner — a story that sounds so much like her late film The Big Cube (1969) that one has to wonder if she was trying to live out its weird premise. Pellar was a publicity hound, though — we would have heard about him someplace, somehow, eventually.
Pellar was a fabulist, a teller of tales, so his own accounts of his early years are most unreliable. He had told Turner he had grown up in Singapore, yet informed a reporter that he had grown up in Malaysia, where his parents were murdered by some sort of insurgents. There are records, however, showing that he was actually born and raised in Chicago. By one of his accounts, he wound up in the Windy City to be cared for in an orphanage, but that he quickly left and became a street urchin, eventually working out a hustle where he sold cheap watches as stolen expensive ones. This last sounds entirely plausible. He also later claimed to have a degree in psychology and to have attended several institutions of higher learning. Naturally, he had not.
What is verifiable is that by the early 1960s, Pellar, or Dante, was performing his hypnotism act in nightclubs all over the country. (Surely he borrowed his handle from the famous stage magician.) There are specific references to Pellar in Dallas in 1963. H’m, a somewhat loaded time and place, wouldn’t you say? Did he perform at the nightclub of a man named Mr. Jack Ruby? Haha, now I’m just being irresponsible. But Dante did get some media attention there by claiming that people were shooting at him. On one occasion the claim was that the shooters were Frank Sinatra’s henchmen, sent there to rub him out or scare him so that he would stop dating Nancy (who was also advertised in performing in his New Year’s Eve show). There are photos of Dante with people like Buddy Hackett, Liberace, George Hamilton, Barbara Stanwyck, Jerry Lewis, Tom Jones, Sammy Davis Jr, and Johnny Carson. He used the Carson pic in an ad and was sued by the latter for its implication that they were associated in any way. Dante is said to have countersued for a billion dollars. I’m sure whatever judge was assigned the case simply loved all this nonsense.
The marriage to Turner was brief obviously as she got wise to his lies, and he kept pilfering her jewelry. They separated, but he was the one who sued for divorce — on the grounds of extreme cruelty. Clearly, he was a very charming guy, hence Turner falling for him, and his success in his shady line of livelihood. As with many stage hypnotists, he graduated to “hypnotherapy” lectures and associations with pseudo-religious metaphysical institutes. In 1974 he was arrested by police in San Diego for attempting to put out a hit on a rival hypnotist named Michael Dean. And while that is preposterous and crazy, it might might seem less so when you realize what kind of money was at stake.
In 1986 Dante made the Guinness Book of World Records for receiving $3 million for conducting one of his seminars, the highest lecture fee in history until that time. By this time, he was driving around in a Rolls Royce and had yachts and mansions, His many revenue streams came from such things as “Perm-a-Derm” (a permanent make-up that was tattooed to your face), and Columbia State University, a diploma mill that bestowed phony doctorates. He was convicted of mail fraud, fled to Mexico on his yacht, and had contempt charges added to his sentence. He was caught while attempting to re-enter the U.S. and did hard time. Amazingly he resumed his illegal mail order scam while still in prison.
By the 21st century Pellar was reportedly living in a trailer park. But he did participate in the 2010 documentary short Mr. Hypnotism, in which you can see him sling the bullshit by the bushel full. Quite naturally he brags about his misdeeds, and seems to have no guilt or recognition that he did anything wrong.
A little recommendation: if, in some upcoming election you are offered a candidate who seems even a little bit reminiscent of this man, please don’t vote for him!
Anyway, there’s tons of great stuff about Dr. Dante on the internet, so if you want to get lost in a very thick jungle, I refer you now to:
(Travalanche) 
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