The last two episodes of Celebrity Crime Files on TV One that featured writer Donald Goines and actor Merlin Santana are fitting in what led to Merlin and Donald’s demise was basically the same thing at work, in that their sense of self was a bit skewed. And the way it manifested itself was different but destructive in both cases.

Merlin and Donald as children

Ironically Merlin’s mother saw acting for her son as a way to keep from the violence on the streets of New York City. Displaying a natural gift he had accumulated some impressive credits by the age of 16. But in many cases when a actor starts working from a young age and that’s the only thing he knows how to do, it does not end well when he tries to adjust once the jobs stop coming, which is what happened to Merlin.

For Donald born in Detroit, who had parents that were successful business owners and a mother that was always mistaken for being White a insecurity over being relentlessly teased about his appearance (light skin and eyes) the feeling of never Black enough drove him to a pain filled life of drug addiction and crime. The first incident highlighting the need to prove he was “down” was when he forged his sister’s birth certificate to join the military at the age of 15 and eventually was shipped to Korea for the war.

Donald and his family

After a stint on Moesha, the highlight of Merlin’s career by far was the Stave Harvey show. Playing Romeo Santana he enjoyed job security for a couple of years. Having a regular role on a TV show allowed the perks of skipping the line at clubs, hanging out with Black Hollywood and trying to launch a rap music career.

For Donald after returning from Korea and bringing with him heroin addiction, he tried his hand at various things which included being a armed robber (which sent him to the pen) hustling people and most notoriously being a pimp. He couldn’t even work that hustle right due to another pimp weaseling in and stealing his women.

Donald as a pimp

It was during one of his stints in the pen that he found something he could do quite well, which is writing. After reading a book by Iceberg Slim, Donald decided that he to could write about his experiences on the streets. He got rejected by every publishing house except for the one that represented Iceberg Slim. After signing the contract (it was obvious it was one that benefited the publisher) Donald started cranking out book after book.

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