Quentin Tarantino has created a true fictional universe based on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
After releasing the film in 2019, he published the novel of the same name and continued developing the main character, Rick Dalton. The film and television actor who experienced the decline of the western in the United States and then became a figure of the spaghetti western was played by Leonardo DiCaprio and now Tarantino announced his death.
On the Twitter of The Video Archives podcast, the director announced the death of this fictional character: "We regret the news of the death of actor Rick Dalton, known for his roles in the television hit Bounty Law and The Fireman Trilogy. Rick died peacefully in his home in Hawaii and is survived by his wife, Francesca. RIP Rick Dalton 1933-2023."
Rick's story
This character who witnessed the advent of hippieism, the birth of television, and the fall of Hollywood studios died at the age of 90. In the podcast, Tarantino made a kind of obituary in which he developed the most notable episodes of his life: "Something also happened to him at the end of the 60s: three hippies broke into his house, they were drugged and had a gun. His stunt double action basically broke the faces of two of them and Rick set the other one on fire with the flamethrower from The 14 Fists of McCluskey."
This fact refers to the attack by the Manson clan on Roman Polanski's house, which is also portrayed fictionally in the film. "After this, they invited him to the Republican Convention, because he became something of a poster child for 'Nixon's silent majority.' He was a lifelong Democrat, but he went and got elected. Rick was very happy that he appreciated it," he added about Dalton's life.
The book that is coming
Meanwhile, Tarantino is working on a book about the fictional actor's filmography: The Films Of Rick Dalton. In conversation with Empire, he spoke about the possibility of publishing this work: "I think there is a limited audience for the book, but for everyone who likes Rick and is interested in him and his career, this book carries the alternative history of Hollywood towards a bitter end."
