Famecrawler
Cynthia Martinez, Samantha Horton, and the True Story Behind The Client List
The Client List premiered on Lifetime last night to largely rave reviews, largely thanks to its mind-bending premise. It gets even more intriguing when you realize that the story — starring Jennifer Love Hewitt as Samantha Horton, a mother who turns to prostitution to pay the bills — is based on an actual living, breathing prostitute mom. So who is the real-life Samantha Horton? Most likely Cynthia Martinez, a woman whose tragic fall has more than a few parallels to plot of The Client List.
Both the fictional Horton and the real Martinez lived and plied their trade in Texas. Both also tried to hide their prostitution activity by calling it “massage.” And both put their kids first. As Martinez told the press, she moved to Dallas’ tony University Park neighborhood because, “my main motivation was a good education without having to pay private school prices. I know they want more desirable people. But this is what they are going to get until my kids graduate from high school.”
The big difference between Horton and Martinez? While Hewitt’s Horton was a “massage parlor” employee, Martinez owner her own “massage” business, run out of her home. Martinez denied that her parlor, which wasn’t properly licensed, doled out anything but massages. She was, however, charged with prostitution.
What’s next for cable TV? We’ve got mom selling marijuana on Weeds, mom turning tricks on The Client List, and dad cooking crack on Breaking Bad. Is anything left?
[UPDATE: Thanks, commenters! It looks as if it is Crystal Burchett's story. Due to Hewitt owning the rights, that has been harder to find out than usual. Amazing that there are TWO Texas prostitute/masseuse moms, doing it for their families, eh?]
PHOTO: mylifetime.com
Related Posts :
Go Back To Famecrawler
11 Comments
Veronica commented on Jul 20 10 at 2:57 pmI don’t know who Cynthia Martinez was, but this is not a story based on her. This is about Crystal Burchett from Odessa, Texas and the Healing Touch Massage Parlor. Happened right around 2003-2004.
Bridgette W commented on Jul 21 10 at 2:28 amThe woman who the movie is based on is Crystal Ann Burchett from Odessa,Texas, who was 23… Information from the first article link is from the Associated Press
http://www.baylorfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68957
or this site
http://www.spider-topihitam.com/back-yard-blog-youve-got-the-healing-touch.html
Also I made a mistake earlier by using the characters name from the movie Samantha Horton…
I am sure it is hard to find information online because of legal reasons… I really do not think Cynthia Martinez is who the story was based on…
Bridgette W commented on Jul 21 10 at 2:35 amhttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1181771/posts
here is another article, it is not based on Cynthia Martinez
Bridgette W commented on Jul 21 10 at 2:38 am
Bridgette W commented on Jul 21 10 at 2:42 amhttp://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=20424
This article from CBS news states that Jennifer Love Hewitt’s company bought the rights to the story, so that is another reason why it is probably hard to find the real persons name…
Corbi commented on Jul 21 10 at 9:14 amIt is based on crystal burchett! duh…do some research! Odessa, Texas…they even refer to it during the movie….The ladies in the salon refer to it happening in Odessa…DUH
cynthia commented on Jul 23 10 at 1:16 pmim cynthia and my mom named my middle name after pamela anderson
vsheehan commented on Jul 25 10 at 2:07 amI just read the Texas Monthly article and I think its sad Cynthia couldn’t find a job after it all happened. While the men on the whole seemed to do just fine. I wonder what happened to her?
http://www.texasmonthly.com/2005-01-01/feature5-1.php
Tina commented on Jul 27 10 at 2:21 pmI just found this transcript about crystal talking with CNN, you have to scroll down the page it is a little past half way and her name appears as someone talking.
http://quiz.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0505/24/acd.01.html
*scoff* commented on Jul 29 10 at 6:18 pmLook around you. Really, look around you and see. Thousands of women, normal women, are in the sex industry- men too. They have families too. They go to church too. They’re on the PTA too! I was a call girl living with my parents, paying my way through school, and helping my disabled niece. Open your eyes, people. This happens more than you think!!!
mollie commented on Aug 08 10 at 6:19 pmhe makes meth on breaking bad. get your facts right.
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Christopher Rogers 
Monica Bielanko 
Shana Aborn 
Joanna Mazewski 
Sunny Chanel 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
11