‘Twilight’ Peril Wasn’t Explained, Father Says

The father of a 6-year-old girl killed in the filming of the “Twilight Zone” movie tearfully testified Tuesday that film director John Landis never told him that his daughter would be working near explosives or beneath a hovering helicopter.

Mark Chen also testified that associate producer George Folsey promised that he would take care of his daughter, Renee, and another child killed on the set “like they were his own children.”

But Folsey did not tell Chen that his daughter would be appearing in a Vietnam War scene under potentially dangerous circumstances and without a required work permit, Chen said at the involuntary manslaughter trial of Landis, Folsey and three associates.

Seen as an Experience

Chen said he and his wife agreed to let their daughter appear in “Twilight Zone: The Movie” because “we felt it would be a very fine experience for her and when she grew up, you know, she would have a lot of memories.”

Last week, the mother of Myca Dinh Lee, 7, the other child killed on the set on July 23, 1982, also testified that Folsey promised to take care of her son but failed to warn her that the boy would be working near special-effects explosives or a helicopter.

Chen testified that he was at the movie location the day before the two children and veteran actor Vic Morrow were killed when a helicopter, crippled by a special-effects explosion, crashed onto them.

Chen said he watched as Landis shot the scene with the two children without the use of explosives or a helicopter, but he failed to complete it.

He said Folsey then tried to persuade the parents to let their children be taken back to the location the next day unaccompanied by adults. It was during the next day’s shooting that powerful explosives and a helicopter were used by Landis.

Chen testified that his daughter was recruited to work on the film for $500 by his brother, Peter Chen, who was an associate of psychiatrist Harold Schuman, the husband of “Twilight Zone” production secretary Donna Schuman.

Driven to Location

Chen said that on July 16, 1982, a movie studio driver took him, his daughter, the Lee child and his mother to the movie location, where they met Folsey, who explained how the scene would be filmed but did not tell them that the scene would involve special-effects explosives or a helicopter.

Later that evening, Chen said, Folsey introduced him to Landis, who also failed to mention explosives or a helicopter.

Landis looked at the two children and said, “ ‘That’s good, that’s fine,’ ” Chen said, and the two youngsters were hired.

The parents were also introduced to Morrow, then taken back to their Pasadena homes.

On July 21, 1982, the parents and the two children were taken to another film location in rural northern Los Angeles County.

They arrived on location at about 8 p.m., he said, but by midnight the children had still not been filmed.

Several Hours of Rest

Chen testified that Folsey told him to be patient. He said the parents and children were taken to a trailer where they ate and rested for several hours before the youngsters were called to be made up and put into costume.

At that point in his testimony, Chen started sobbing and Superior Court Judge Roger Boren called a short recess.

When he resumed his testimony a few minutes later, Chen testified that Landis began filming the scene with the youngsters in it, but had to keep reshooting it because “the children were giggling and were too noisy.”

Chen said Folsey told him that the scene could not be completed that evening, “but we would like you to come back again. It will be very simple. Actually the parents don’t have to be there.”

The Lee woman agreed to those conditions and never again saw her son alive. Chen, however, testified that he told Folsey that someone would have to accompany his daughter back to the site. He was not asked who accompanied the child.