Small Sacrifices
Encyclopedia
Small Sacrifices is a 1989 made-for-TV
movie based on the best-selling true crime book by Ann Rule
of the same name. The film is about Diane Downs
and the murder and attempted murder of her three children. It stars Farrah Fawcett
, Ryan O'Neal
, Gordon Clapp
, John Shea
and Emily Perkins
. The film premiered on ABC
on 12 November 1989.
, Oregon
with a gunshot wound to her arm. She claimed that an unknown assailant attempted to carjack
her and shot her three children: Karen, 8 (real name Christie Ann); Shauna, 7 (Cheryl Lynn); and Robby, 3 (Stephen Daniel). Shauna was dead on arrival at the hospital. Eldest daughter Karen was badly injured, but survived suffering a temporary loss of speech due to a stroke after the shooting, but recovered sufficiently to serve as a witness in court against her mother. Diane's son was paralyzed from the chest down. Downs was eventually tried and convicted of murder, attempted murder, and assault.
The film shows that Downs started a romance with a man, but he discontinued the relationship as he did not want children. Downs planned to kill her children to be free to pursue this relationship.
Diane Downs is sentenced to life in prison, and her two surviving children are adopted by the prosecutor Frank Joziak and his wife Lola (the real life couple were named Fred and Joanne Hugi). The children are depicted being reunited with their mother for the first time, fifteen years after the shooting. In reality the children have not seen their mother since the shooting, with the exception of the surviving daughter's court appearance.
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
movie based on the best-selling true crime book by Ann Rule
Ann Rule
Ann Rule is an American true crime writer.-Personal life:Ann Rule was born on October 22, 1935 in Lowell, Michigan to Chester R. "Stack" Stackhouse and Sophie Hansen. Her mother was a school teacher, specializing in developmentally disabled children and her father was a basketball, football and...
of the same name. The film is about Diane Downs
Diane Downs
Elizabeth Diane Frederickson Downs is an American convicted murderer. She shot her three children, killing one, and then told police a stranger had attempted to carjack her and had shot the children. After her conviction in 1984, she was sentenced to life in prison.Downs briefly escaped in 1987...
and the murder and attempted murder of her three children. It stars Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Fawcett was an American actress and artist. A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she first appeared as private investigator Jill Munroe in the first season of the television series Charlie's Angels, in 1976...
, Ryan O'Neal
Ryan O'Neal
Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal , better known as Ryan O'Neal, is an American actor best known for his appearances in the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place and for his roles in such films as Paper Moon , Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon , A Bridge Too Far , and Love Story , for which he received...
, Gordon Clapp
Gordon Clapp
Gordon Clapp is an American actor, best known for portraying the role of Det. Greg Medavoy for all 12 seasons on the television series NYPD Blue, winning an Emmy Award in 1998.-Early and personal life:...
, John Shea
John Shea
John Victor Shea III is an American actor and director who has starred on stage, television and in film. He is best known for his role as Lex Luthor in the 1990s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and also starred in the short lived 1990s TV series WIOU as Hank Zaret...
and Emily Perkins
Emily Perkins
Emily Jean Perkins is a Canadian actress, known best for her co-starring role as Brigitte Fitzgerald in the movie Ginger Snaps and its two sequels, Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed and Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning. Since the late 1980s she has appeared in various films and television series.-Life...
. The film premiered on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
on 12 November 1989.
Plot
On 19 May 1983 at approximately 10:48 p.m, Downs (portrayed by Fawcett) drove to McKenzie-Willamette Hospital in SpringfieldSpringfield, Oregon
Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Separated from Eugene to the west, mainly by Interstate 5, Springfield is the second-most populous city in the metropolitan area...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
with a gunshot wound to her arm. She claimed that an unknown assailant attempted to carjack
Carjacking
Carjacking is a form of hijacking, where the crime is of stealing a motor vehicle and so also armed assault when the vehicle is occupied. Historically, such as in the rash of semi-trailer truck hijackings during the 1960s, the general term hijacking was used for that type of vehicle abduction,...
her and shot her three children: Karen, 8 (real name Christie Ann); Shauna, 7 (Cheryl Lynn); and Robby, 3 (Stephen Daniel). Shauna was dead on arrival at the hospital. Eldest daughter Karen was badly injured, but survived suffering a temporary loss of speech due to a stroke after the shooting, but recovered sufficiently to serve as a witness in court against her mother. Diane's son was paralyzed from the chest down. Downs was eventually tried and convicted of murder, attempted murder, and assault.
The film shows that Downs started a romance with a man, but he discontinued the relationship as he did not want children. Downs planned to kill her children to be free to pursue this relationship.
Diane Downs is sentenced to life in prison, and her two surviving children are adopted by the prosecutor Frank Joziak and his wife Lola (the real life couple were named Fred and Joanne Hugi). The children are depicted being reunited with their mother for the first time, fifteen years after the shooting. In reality the children have not seen their mother since the shooting, with the exception of the surviving daughter's court appearance.
Differences from book
Downs' children Christie, Cheryl and Danny were renamed Karen, Shauna and Robbie for the film. The prosecutor and his wife who later adopted Christie and Danny were also renamed.Cast
- Farrah FawcettFarrah FawcettFarrah Fawcett was an American actress and artist. A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she first appeared as private investigator Jill Munroe in the first season of the television series Charlie's Angels, in 1976...
as Diane DownsDiane DownsElizabeth Diane Frederickson Downs is an American convicted murderer. She shot her three children, killing one, and then told police a stranger had attempted to carjack her and had shot the children. After her conviction in 1984, she was sentenced to life in prison.Downs briefly escaped in 1987... - Ryan O'NealRyan O'NealCharles Patrick Ryan O'Neal , better known as Ryan O'Neal, is an American actor best known for his appearances in the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place and for his roles in such films as Paper Moon , Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon , A Bridge Too Far , and Love Story , for which he received...
as Lew Lewiston - Gordon ClappGordon ClappGordon Clapp is an American actor, best known for portraying the role of Det. Greg Medavoy for all 12 seasons on the television series NYPD Blue, winning an Emmy Award in 1998.-Early and personal life:...
as Detective Doug Welch - John SheaJohn SheaJohn Victor Shea III is an American actor and director who has starred on stage, television and in film. He is best known for his role as Lex Luthor in the 1990s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and also starred in the short lived 1990s TV series WIOU as Hank Zaret...
as Frank Joziak - Garry Chalk as Boyd Paul Downs
- Emily PerkinsEmily PerkinsEmily Jean Perkins is a Canadian actress, known best for her co-starring role as Brigitte Fitzgerald in the movie Ginger Snaps and its two sequels, Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed and Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning. Since the late 1980s she has appeared in various films and television series.-Life...
as Karen Downs - Ken James as Daryl Chapman
- Sean McCannSean McCann (actor)Sean McCann is one of Canada's most successful character actors and has been in the business for over 40 years. Winner of the prestigious Earle Grey Award for his lifetime achievement in television, Sean McCann has appeared in over 150 movies, television shows and plays.- Notable roles and awards...
as Russell Wells - Lynne Cormack as Lola Joziak
- Maxine MillerMaxine MillerMaxine Miller is a Canadian actress who first appeared in the first three seasons of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. In the 1980s, she voiced True Heart Bear in The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation and appeared on the animated series My Pet Monster.More recently, she guest starred in Showtime's...
as Diane's mother - Vicki Wauchope as Shauna Downs