Charles Whitman

He'd gone to the then-new University of Austin Film School, and he'd actually...

One of his inspirations for the movie was that he was there on the 1st of August 1966 when Charles Whitman, the Texas Tower sniper, opened fire on random people from the university's clock tower, killing 14 people.

The cast were mostly unknown actors from central Texas, and it had been filmed in and around Round Rock, which is a town just outside of Austin, mostly at a real 1900s farmhouse.

Yeah, and Ollie, you say it was a sensation in its first year after it did finally open more widely.

But in 1966 was the University of Texas shooting, and that may be a school shooting that not a lot of people are aware of.

The shooter, Charles Whitman, killed 14 people from a clock tower at the University of Texas at Austin on August 1st, 1966.

Kind of one of the first known cases of a mass shooting on a school campus.

And that was 60 years ago, this month, actually.

I just remember it

being the same day Charles Whitman, he climbed to the top of the University of Texas Tower and started shooting strangers.

And you was with her? Sure was.

You see, the thing is, I didn't hear any of the shots.

It's like a perfect example is the thing that went on with me years ago.

Remember the Charles Whitman shooting where he's the first one of the first mass shooters went up on the tower at the University of Texas and started shooting students.

I was very traumatized by that.

And I've said two things about it.

And then he's like, well, I've got to make it in Hollywood because these movies weren't as well received as they should have been.

yeah john you nailed it again so he did the deadly tower where he's the charles whitman the guy who shot people from the tower then he played elvis the tv movie where he's like oh you know just full-on overshare yeah so just pre-proved then he did use cars where he's just a cad he's a very Now, I do love used cars.

That's a wild world.

Yeah, and he's incredible.

In the late 50s and during the 60s, the era of Vietnam, John Kennedy was assassinated by a sniper.

Charles Whitman was a particularly successful sniper at the University of Texas in 1966.

It was a period of time of a lot of violence, a lot of violence that didn't make any sense.

So you have to wonder about the impact of some of the events of that period and what role they played in him and his decision to ultimately become a serial sniper.

In the late 50s and during the 60s, the era of Vietnam, John Kennedy was assassinated by a sniper.

Charles Whitman was a particularly successful sniper at the University of Texas in 1966.

It was a period of time of a lot of violence, a lot of violence that didn't make any sense.

So you have to wonder about the impact of some of the events of that period and what role they played in him and his decision to ultimately become a serial sniper.

...

they also reference the Texas sniper, Charles Whitman.

Yeah.

Uh, this is from the Tucson Citizen.

Yeah.

And later, when my son went to University of Texas, he stayed at the same apartment complex that Charlie Whitman lived in.

[laughs] Oh, God.

And Kinky told me, "Your boy's the next one."