Samson De Brier

Samson De Brier (March 18, 1899 – April 1, 1995) was an actor and occultist, best known for hosting a popular Hollywood salon during the fifties and sixties, and for appearing in Kenneth Anger's 1954 underground film Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome.

Born in China, De Brier grew up in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In 1922, while visiting Hollywood, he was given a bit part in the silent film Salomé. He also visited Paris as a teenager, and claimed to have met André Gide and Gertrude Stein, among others. He later claimed to have been a lover of Gide, but this has not been substantiated.

De Brier moved to Los Angeles in 1941. In the fifties he began hosting a regular salon at his Barton Avenue home. It flourished for many years and was frequented by artists, writers, actors, filmmakers, and occultists. Visitors were attracted by De Brier's knowledge of the occult (he is said to have practiced witchcraft), his store of Hollywood lore, and his collections of movie memorabilia and objets d'art. Among those who attended De Brier's salon were author Anaïs Nin, filmmakers Kenneth Anger and Curtis Harrington, actors Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper, and occultists Jack Parsons, Marjorie Cameron and Anton LaVey.

In 1954 De Brier played several roles, including the principal role, in Anger's Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, which was filmed at his home. Harrington, Nin and Cameron also appeared in the film.

He died in Los Angeles, California.[1] His papers are housed at the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the University of Southern California Libraries.