Anton LaVey: The Showman Who Founded Satanism

The founder of modern Satanism despised rock music, advocated strict law and order, and died in a Catholic hospital. This episode separates the self-made myth from the factual reality of Anton LaVey, born Howard Stanton Levy, a lifelong entertainer who treated philosophy and religion like a grand carnival act.A gifted keyboardist who played lounges and bars, LaVey fabricated a sensational backstory of circus lion taming and psychic police work, then physicalized his brand in 1960s San Francisco. He founded the Church of Satan in 1966 and codified a synthesized philosophy into the Satanic Bible, becoming a master of media spectacle.Investigators found no evidence for his circus, Marilyn Monroe, or police claims, and even his daughter called the stories fictionHis shaved-head persona closely echoed a cult-leader character from a 1966 episode of The Wild Wild WestHis philosophy borrowed heavily from Nietzsche, Ayn Rand, and social Darwinism, wrapped in occult aestheticsAn FBI interview in 1980 recorded him calling his own followers fanatics and admitting his interest was largely monetaryHe died in 1997 at age 67 of pulmonary edema in St. Mary's Medical Center, a Catholic hospital, and spoke no dramatic last words