Ronald Pellar

Ronald Pellar (February 5, 1930 – June 1, 2013) was an American hypnotist and fraudster who performed under the stage names Ronald Dante and Dr. Dante and who was briefly married to actress Lana Turner. He was convicted of or pleaded guilty to several criminal offenses, including mail fraud in connection with his operation of the diploma mill Columbia State University and attempted murder for trying to contract for the murder of another hypnotist and entertainer. As of 2006, he had been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for 20 years for having been paid the highest-ever lecture fee. He was known by as many as 40 aliases, including Phil Harris, Earl Clevenger, and Bonnie Ritchie.

Early life Pellar gave different accounts of his age and personal history. In a 2006 interview, Pellar said he was born in 1920; In 1985 he was reported to be 57 years old, indicating a birth date in 1927 or 1928. In 2003 he was reported to be 73 years old and in 2004 he was reported to be 74 years old, He was using the name Ronald Dante and working as a hypnotist in Los Angeles nightclubs as of May 1969, when he became the seventh and last husband of actress Lana Turner. Pellar had six other marriages. He fled before the last day of his trial, For that guilty plea he received a sentence of eight months in prison and was ordered to pay restitution of $45,835 and forfeit a $1.5 million yacht. For the charges he faced, he could have been sentenced to up to 45 years in federal prison and fined as much as $2.25 million.

Pellar is the subject of a 2010 short documentary film Mr. Hypnotism by Bradley Beesley and NPR reporter Jennifer Sharpe.