Once Upon A Time In Hollywood: 7 Real People Rick Dalton & Cliff Booth Were Based On

Star of 77 Sunset Strip, Byrnes was another pompadour-haired inspiration for Dalton. He played Gerald Lloyd “Kookie” Kookson, a character who starts off as a wise-cracking parking lot attendant before eventually becoming a focused partner in a private eye firm. A heartthrob of the late '50s, Byrnes was a familiar face on TV around that time, guest-starring on shows like Colt .45, Sugarfoot, The Virginian, and Alias Smith and Jones.

Sadly, Byrnes passed away in January 2020 at the age of 87. Deadline did an interview with Tarantino in the aftermath of Byrnes' passing in which they asked the director about Byrnes influence on the character of Rick Dalton. Specifically, they wanted to know if Byrnes had seen the movie or told Tarantino his opinion on it.

This didn't receive a direct answer from Tarantino, which we can only assume means that Byrnes never got in touch if he had indeed seen the film before he died. Byrnes was among the actors DiCaprio studied when preparing for the role.