Discussion for House of Hammer docuseries
Click to viewDiscovery's three episode docuseries The House of Hammer (about Armie Hammer and his family) premiered on September 2. If you have read the previous ONTD posts like the Vanity Fair article or his aunt Casey's book about their family, you won't learn a ton of new information from this series (the family's history with Watergate/being pardoned by Bush, Prince Charles wanting to make Armand the godfather to Prince William, the murder of a friend, the mistress who was forced to legally change her name and wear disguises, Dru's father claiming that Armie's Jewish great-grandfather became a Christian on his deathbed, drug fueled orgies, the drama over the will, and the sex throne are all addressed again).
Casey Hammer, Courtney Vucekovich, and Paige Lorenze were among those interviewed for the series. Effie was approached to participate but she declined. The directors used Instagram screenshots and footage from her 2021 press conference. She said that in doing do, they have exploited her trauma.
A new source who was interviewed was an anonymous male identified as a "coworker" of Armie's. He said that although what he experienced was nothing compared to what these women went through, the controlling and manipulative attitude he saw from Armie was similar. In one example, he said Armie's friend was flying into LA to visit. Armie instructed the coworker to go to the airport to pick up this friend, which was fine, but he wanted him to hold up a sign that said "f****t." When the coworker was clearly uncomfortable about this, he said Armie asked everyone present to vote on whether he should fire the coworker for not obeying.
An abbreviated family tree:
Julius Hammer (1874 - 1948) - a Russian immigrant from Odessa who founded the U.S. Communist Party. He had a company called Allied Drug and Chemical which he used to smuggle goods to Soviet Russia. He was a doctor who performed an abortion on the wife of a former tsarist diplomat in 1919. She died six days later and he was charged with first-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to three years in Sing Sing.
Armand Hammer (1898-1990) - son of Julius, named after the arm and hammer used in Soviet Russia iconography. While his father was in prison, Armand and his brother Viktor took over Allied Drug and Chemical. Their first big success was selling a ginger extract that legally contained high levels of alcohol during Prohibition. Armand moved to Russia to oversee his father's business there, married a Russian actress, and had a son named Julian. Used his third wife's money to invest in Occidental Petroleum. Buddies with Leonid Brezhnev. In 1971, he bought Knoedler, the oldest art gallery in America. Tried to buy the Arm & Hammer brand.
Julian Hammer (1929-1996) - son of Armand. On his 26th birthday, he shot and killed his old roommate over a decade old $200 gambling debt. He claimed self-defense and no charges were filed. Received $500k when his father died in 1990. He resented his father so much that after Armand's death, he turned over a ton of Armand's personal papers and recordings to journalist Edward Jay Epstein who then wrote Dossier: The Secret History of Armand Hammer in 1996.
Michael Hammer (1955- ) - son of Julian, worked at Occidental. Married Dru and became Christian. Inherited the bulk of Armand's estate. According to his sister Casey, Michael was taking things out of Armand's house only hours after Armand died (the house belonged to Armand's third wife and ownership reverted to her niece upon Armand's death). Since Armand's death, Michael has donated money to Oral Roberts University and other Christian organizations. In 2011, the Knoedler art gallery (which he inherited from his grandfather Armand) closed suddenly. The next day, the gallery was sued for selling fake paintings. According to the additional lawsuits that have been filed since then, the con of selling forged paintings began in 1994 and totaled over $70 million (including a fake Jackson Pollock that they sold for $17 million). In 2017, he married his second wife Misty, who he described as a spa "healer" (according to the internet, she is currently 48 and he is 66).
Casey Hammer (1960- ) - daughter of Julian, sister of Michael. Received $250k when Armand died. Wrote exposé book about her family called Surviving My Birthright.
Armie Hammer (1986- ) - son of Michael.
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