Creed Bratton’s mysterious background is typically revealed by one-off lines throughout The Office, and a couple of scenes indicate he may have been a Manson Family member before working at Dunder Mifflin. The Manson Family was a famous cult and commune that operated in the 1960s under the leadership of Charles Manson. The cult had over 50 members who lived together and habitually used intense drugs such as LSD, though eventually were involved in more extreme criminal activities such as the 1969 murder of actress Sharon Tate, which was, of course, recently part of the story of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
In The Office, Creed is the eldest employee at Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton Branch working as the quality assurance director. It’s unknown when exactly he acquired his position at Dunder Mifflin, but he mentions that one day he walked in acting like he worked there and has been employed ever since. Creed is notable in The Office for his poor memory, which he writes off as the product of the many drugs he took in the 1960s. By the time The Office closes in season 9, Creed’s criminal past catches up with him and he is arrested after faking his own death.
Creed is a fictionalized version of his real actor Creed Bratton, who was a member of the band The Grass Roots in the 1960s. The actor’s unusual past as a musician in the '60s is parodied in The Office by exaggerating the illicit activities and hippie-stoner stereotypes associated with that era. The Office tends to give Easter eggs of the real Creed’s former life to serve as hints for criminal activity, such as when Creed describes how all of his debt is put under the name “William Charles Schneider,” which happens to be the real Creed’s birth name. Creed gives several interviews in The Office that give him direct ties to the Manson Family and, paired with his character/real actor’s musical and hippie background, there is much evidence that fictional Creed was a member of the Manson Family at one point.
In The Office season 4 episode 2, Creed reveals in a talking head that he was involved in several cults both as a follower and a leader, having more fun as a follower but making more money as a leader. Considering The Manson Family was one of the most prolific cults of Creed’s youth, it’s not out of reach to assume this was one of the many cults he joined. To provide more evidence, Creed gives relationship advice to Andy and says it’s how he “got Squeaky Fromme. Just go right in and kiss her.” Squeaky Fromme was one of the most notable original Manson Family members, who was eventually arrested after an assassination attempt on U.S. President Gerald Ford. Fromme was loyal to Manson and the cult, so if she were to have hooked up with Creed it most likely would have meant that Creed Bratton had been a member of the “family.”
Aside from the explicit mentions of undisclosed cult membership and direct connections to members, Creed’s The Office background makes him the perfect Manson Family candidate. Creed mentions having stolen military-grade LSD, which may have helped provide the Manson Family with their drug of choice. Another connection is that both Creed’s real actor and character were in The Grass Roots, and Charles Manson was known for trying to connect with musicians of that era like The Beach Boys. Since Creed was in the music scene and known for recreationally taking drugs and living freely, The Office gave him the perfect backstory to fit him into the Manson Family cult.