Snap showing MJ enjoying a gig with Tatum O'Neil in blissful anonymity resurfaces

The London News.Net
Friday 10th July, 2009

London, July 10 : An incredible picture of a 24-year-old Michael Jackson, apparently enjoying a concert with then beaming young actress Tatum O'Neil in blissful anonymity, has resurfaced.

The snap was taken in 1982, when Tatum was just 18.

A now 45-year-old Tatum says that the picture documents one of the many "crazy nights" she shared with Jackson.

"We were going to a Kool And The Gang concert, but Michael didn't want to be spotted," the Mirror quoted her as having told her friends.

"He got a special effects guy to help. We had an amazing night. No one recognised us, but we did get some strange looks as he appeared so much older than me," she added.

A Jackson insider believes that the get-up - put together by Oscar-winning special effects artist Rick Baker, well known for working on the Thriller video - might have cost thousands of dollars.

"Michael loved it. He thought it was so much fun. Rick created this beard and did some work on Michael's lips. He also gave him make-up to make his skin darker," the source added.

According to background information in the newspaper report, Jackson and Tatum, who won an Oscar aged 12 for her part in Paper Moon, got together in 1977 in California, and they partied at the Playboy mansion and shared a hot tub in swimming costumes the very next day.

The paper says that their relationship grew as they spent hours on the phone.

Tatum said: "He was a huge star but it seemed he barely even dated and knew little about life. He once came to my house and asked to come upstairs because he'd never been in a girl's bedroom. He sat on the bed and we kissed very briefly, but it was all very awkward."

Jackson and Tatum split shortly after this photo, and the former went on to date another former child star, Brooke Shields.

Have your say on this story