Five Rod Taylor Connections to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (there are no spoilers in this)

1) The relationship between actor Rick Dalton (Leo di Caprio) and his stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) has parallels to Rod’s super close relationship with stuntman Fred Hakim. Rod met Hakim when the latter was a grip on the set of Do Not Disturb. The two hit it off and Hakim spent the next decade as Rod’s general assistant/stuntman/stand in/driver/whatever… like Cliff was for Rick. Rod was single at the time and Fred and his wife Dolores moved in with the actor for a period. Hakim was credited as an assistant on three productions where Rod was producer: Chuka, Bearcats and Partisan. Hakim died in a car crash in Yugoslavia during the making of Partisan. Taylor subsequently employed stuntman Terry Wilson as an assistant - Terry accompanied Rod to Australia to make The Picture Show Man - but, like Rick, needed him less once he got married, in Rod’s case to Carol Kikumura in 1980.
2) A clip from Partisan aka Hell River is briefly in OUATIH, as part of talking about Rick Dalton’s films. The film was made after 1969 but is passed off as a pre 1969 movie. I recognise how nerdy it is of me to recognise that.
3) The 14 Fists of McCluskey is a fictional World War II/action-adventure film in the OUATIH universe starring Van Johnson, Rod Taylor, Sal Mineo and Rick Dalton
4) Rod Taylor was actually a bigger star than Rick Dalton through the sixties, even though Rod’s TV series (Hong Kong) only lasted one season while Rick’s (Bounty Law) lasted four. This was mainly due to two reasons: Rod was cast in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, and had a strong relationship with major studios, notably MGM and Fox, who cast him in A-grade films through the sixties. However by the early seventies, Rod was making films in Europe, like Rick.
5) A story told me by the late Bill Kerr… He was discussing the Sharon Tate murders with Dudley Moore who mentioned his then wife Suzy Kendall was in town that night. Kendall was making Darker Than Amber with Rod Taylor. Kerr asked Moore was ever worried if his wife was in danger that night. Moore said no as “she was f*cking Rod Taylor”. I have no proof whatsoever this was true.