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Woman In Spector Trial Says Liquor Changed Him

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Nov 4, 2008 2:57 pm US/Pacific

Woman In Spector Trial Says Liquor Changed Him

LOS ANGELES (AP) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: Phil Spector, music producer, listens during opening statements in his murder trial, Los Angeles, California.
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A woman who testified to being menaced by Phil Spector with guns said today she dated the legendary music producer for four years and saw liquor transform him from "charming" and "fabulous" into "a demon."

Dorothy Melvin has been comedian Joan Rivers' manager for decades. She gave jurors in Los Angeles insights into the entertainment world she and Spector inhabited in the 1990s and said that while his behavior was sometimes strange it came with the territory.

She said his use of foul language was typical of the business, and as she recalled it, "in those days I used it too."

As for Spector, who sat across the courtroom at the counsel table, she said, "You know Phil. He's a charmer. Outside of these maniacal episodes, he's a charming man. He's fabulous. But when he's drinking, he loses it and becomes a demon."

She said she enjoyed his company and found him "brilliant beyond belief."

Melvin said she tolerated Spector's sometimes odd behavior.

Again quoting the witness in Spector's murder retrial, "For sure he's different but that's what makes him a genius."