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An illegitimate and unplanned child, Manson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 12, 1934. Manson's teenage mother, Kathleen Maddox, drank too much, showed too much skin, and got into too much trouble. When she fell upon hard times she traded sex for money. Maddox never received any child support, and Charlie never really knew his father. The same goes for his mother, who left him with his religiously driven grandmother for days or weeks at a time. Manson tells the story of how he was separated from his mother; "Mom was in a café one afternoon with me on her lap. The waitress, a would-be mother without a child of her own, jokingly told my Mom she'd buy me from her. Mom replied, A pitcher of beer and he's yours. The waitress set up the beer; Mom stuck around long enough to finish it off, and left the place without me."" Manson was later found by his uncle, and then sent away to school as punishment for stealing. He was sent to a training school for boys after such criminal acts as armed robbery, and holding a razor blade to another boy's throat. In and out of jail for "pimping- and stealing checks, Manson was a misguided adult. He spent his "twenties- coning young women into giving him money and lying for him. Manson dedicated himself to a task, and then was usually successful in his innovative plans. He impregnated one of his cons and then drugged and raped her roommate. While on the run, Manson was apprehended, arrested, and thrown in jail where he looked to find himself. From behind bars Manson studied Scientology and Buddhism, and became very knowledgeable with both subject; he was very interested with religious philosophies. He also developed an obsession with the Beatles and his guitar. .
Against Manson's wishes, he was released from prison and unleashed upon the free world where he was able to blend in with his guitar into the hippie scene in San Francisco; where he found himself a group of nave and gullible followers.
