Reminder: My Next Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia Case Is September 1

Posted on August 25, 2026 by lmharnisch

Reminder: Boxie and I will be doing a live Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case Tuesday, September 1, 2026, at 10 a.m. Pacific time on YouTube. The next Black Dahlia Book Club is Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at 10 a.m. Pacific time on YouTube.

In this session, I described an upcoming news article in a major East Coast paper about Michael Connelly’s Killer in the Code podcast.

I also posed hypothetical questions for the Killer in the Code panel, appearing Friday in a fundraiser for Cal State L.A.’s forensics program:

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + +)

Posted on August 24, 2026 by lmharnisch

Man in shirt and tie, with suspenders, has a pencil behind his ear.
For Monday, we have a mysterious fellow.

Note: After this I’m sending all the gorilla films to Mystery Movie Jail. Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia Book Club for August 2026

Posted on August 18, 2026 by lmharnisch

 

Welcome to the eighth session of the Black Dahlia Book Club!

I finally got tired of talking about George Hodel and Steve Hodel (at this point, I know Steve’s monologues from memory) so I decided to spend some time looking at portrayals of the murder and the investigation. I consider myself first and foremost a historian of the Black Dahlia case, and think it’s important to examine the source material in detail to emphasize the challenges of researching the murder of Elizabeth Short.

Next month: Black Dahlia Ask Me Anything, September 1 on YouTube.

Black Dahlia Book Club: The LAPD files in the Black Dahlia case, September 15 on YouTube.

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Black Dahlia: Ask Me Anything, August 2026

Posted on August 4, 2026 by lmharnisch

 

This is the Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case for August 2026. The Black
Dahlia Book Club will meet August 18, 2026.

The next Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case will be September 1, 2026.

In this session, I discussed: Continue reading →

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August 28, 1958: Intruder kills former actress

Posted on August 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

August 28, 1958: Edwin Jerome talks to police after the discovery of his wife's body.

August 28, 1958: Photo of Helene Jerome, found dead in her Hollywood home. Her hair is pulled back and she is wearing glasses. She is one of those cold cases that leave all kinds of unanswered questions even when the killer is finally caught, convicted and sent to prison. Nothing about it passes the sniff test.

We know her name was Helene Funk Jerome, born in New York on March 12, 1908, which makes her 50 at the time of the killing. She was living in a rear apartment at the Las Palmas Hotel, 1738 N. Las Palmas. That’s the one used in “Pretty Woman.”

She was supposedly a retired actress, but her credentials are rather vague. The Times said she was a graduate of either the Royal Dramatic Academy or the Royal Dramatic Society in London, so I’m guessing it was the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, which has no record of her — at least online.

Most of her career was spent on the stage in China, The Times said. She never made any movies and shouldn’t be confused with Helene Jerome Eddy, who died in 1990.

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Posted in #courts, @news, Cemeteries, Dodgers, Film, Forest Lawn, Front Pages, Hollywood, Hollywood Division, Homicide, LAPD, Sports | Leave a comment

August 28, 1947: Diamond Street Gang Member Takes Murder Rap ‘for the Gang’

Posted on August 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

Aug. 28, 1947, Los Angeles Times  

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

The origins of Latino gangs are not well-documented in The Times, but the case of Earl D. Bush, 911 Diamond St., appears to be the first mention of the Diamond Street Gang, which is still active and was among those targeted by Officer Rafael Perez during what became the Rampart scandal.

Bush was arrested May 31, 1947, along with John Vergara, 14, of 1034 Colton St.; Gabriel Gutierrez, 19, of 228 N. Fremont St.; and Julian Delgado (published as Del Gado), 15, 1016½ W. 1st St., all in the Temple-Beaudry area near the junction of the Harbor and Hollywood freeways.

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Voices — Christine Collins, August 28, 1932

Posted on August 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

Walter Collins in prison mug shot. No date. Facing forward and in profile, man in coat and tie. Walter Collins in an undated prison photo.

August 28, 1932: Christine Collins replies to the warden, saying that she is not yet ready to visit the grave of her husband, Walter, in the prison cemetery. She also says she is changing her name to Kathleen, “so as people will not be continually bringing up the terrible tragedy which I have experienced,” referring to the incident that inspired Clint Eastwood’s film Changeling.

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August 27,1958: Woman kills husband over singing, Reds win against Dodgers

Posted on August 27, 2026 by lmharnisch

August 27, 1958: Anne Benyon is questioned about the stabbing of her husband, Ben.

Was Benjamin John Beynon an abusive husband … or just a bad singer?

Ben, 46, and his wife of six years, Anne, lived at 1946 1/2 New England Ave., between Hoover and Vermont just south of Washington. For the last three years, Anne had been using a wheelchair, although The Times never explained why. Continue reading →

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August 27, 1947: I. Magnin Seeks Young Woman to Supervise Glove Department

Posted on August 27, 2026 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1947, Glove Department, I. Magnin

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August 27, 1907: Undertaker Sent Home as Minister Survives Suicide Attempt

Posted on August 27, 2026 by lmharnisch



Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Manhattan Beach
Aug. 27, 1907

Retired Episcopal minister the Rev. John Jewett, 83, wanted to die, so while staying with his son-in-law, J.D. Porter, he slit his throat with a razor.

The undertaker was called, but when he arrived with his hearse, Jewett was still alive, although death was imminent. The undertaker went back to his funeral home to wait.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood News and Gossip by Louella Parsons, August 26, 1944

Posted on August 26, 2026 by lmharnisch

Aug. 26, 1944, Comics

August 26, 1944

When William Bendix was broke and didn’t have a nickel to his name, his father-in-law, Henry Stafanotty, loaned him money to support his wife and child. Bill isn’t the kind who forgets and now he has opened a hardware shop for his wife’s father in Newark and is calling it “The Wake.” That’s in honor of “Wake Island,” which put Bill in the movie limelight.

VIRGO: Put today in your happy medium column. Approach agreeably and without fuss the good and the bad tasks. No volcanic promotion ideas, just down-to-earth dependability.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer via Fultonhistory.com.

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August 26, 1907: Save Those Redwoods

Posted on August 26, 2026 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Aug. 26, 1907
Santa Rosa, Calif.

Elected officials addressed a large rally devoted to saving the 800-acre Armstrong Grove, named after lumber baron J.B. Armstrong, who decided to save the stand of soaring redwoods rather than clearing it.

“Armstrong Grove contains the finest and largest redwood timber in California,” The Times said. “For years it has been a great attraction to tourists and is one of the features of the Russian River section.

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August 25, 1948: Stars Pick Their Biggest Movie Turkeys; Lizabeth Scott Calls ‘Dead Reckoning’ Her Worst Film

Posted on August 25, 2026 by lmharnisch

Dead Reckoning

Aug. 25, 1948: Lizabeth Scott tells veteran Hollywood columnist Bob Thomas of the Associated Press:

“I never did understand the character. Bogie was a baby. He was the only thing that made it possible to get through the picture.”

Also, Alan Ladd on “The Blue Dahlia,” Edmond O’Brien on “Powder Town,” Robert Ryan on “Trail Street,” James Stewart on “The Last Gangster” and Claire Trevor on “Bachelor’s Daughters.”

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Voices — Christine Collins, August 25, 1932

Posted on August 25, 2026 by lmharnisch

August 25, 1923: Christine Collins asks the warden if she can visit her late husband's grave.

Posted in #courts, 1932, Changeling, Film, Hollywood | Leave a comment

August 25, 1907: Death at the Lummis House Over a Garden Hose

Posted on August 25, 2026 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Aug. 25, 1907
Los Angeles

A 20-year-old Pueblo Indian from New Mexico was shot to death at the home of City Librarian Charles F. Lummis in a fight with a houseguest that began over a garden hose.

The gunman, Francisco Amante, 51, described as a Spanish minstrel who has been Lummis’ houseguest for two years, surrendered to police, but no charges were filed.

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August 24, 1947: Golfers Play Through as Fire Destroys Clubhouse at Inglewood

Posted on August 24, 2026 by lmharnisch

Aug. 25, 1947, Inglewood Fire, L.A. Times  

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

Fire which mushroomed early yesterday from the basement of the clubhouse at the Inglewood Country Club, 3424 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood, left the building and its furnishings a heap of charred or water-soaked debris but failed to deter golfers from enjoying their Sunday on the greens. For a score of golfers putted even while the clubhouse burned.

The cause undetermined, the fire swept through two locker rooms and the grill and then spread to the roof of the L-shaped building. Officially, damage was estimated at $50,000 ($473209.30 USD 2005).

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August 23, 1947: Sartre’s ‘No Exit’ Opens in L.A.

Posted on August 23, 2026 by lmharnisch

Aug. 22, 1947, Comics

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

Coronet Play
Has ‘No Exit’
BY PHILIP K. SCHEUER

Everyone is on his own at the Coronet Theatre, where Pelican Productions last night presented Jean-Paul Sartre’s play “No Exit.” This goes for the individual in the audience as well as on the stage. The setting is hell—represented by a dingy “living” room with sagging wallpaper and a few broken-down pieces of furniture—and so is the experience. In this respect “No Exit” is true to itself.

Any levity in what I have just said is incidental. The play, which runs continuously for an hour and a half, contains no laughs, no tears, no action and no changes of scene in the conventional meaning of those words. It does have cumulative shock, writing that at least reveals a keen enough sense of theater (it must have, to hold the attention without recourse to the usual devices) and performances that on the whole convey a great deal of intent which is behind that writing.

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Ladies in Black visit tomb of Valentino

Posted on August 23, 2026 by lmharnisch

Los Angeles Times file photo

Here’s the earliest photograph I could find of a Lady in Black mourning Rudolph Valentino, Aug. 23, 1937, 11 years after the movie star’s death. In the first few years, memorial services were held on the anniversary, although the services eventually ceased and the large crowds dwindled to about 50 mourners.

In 1934, The Times referred to a “mysterious veiled woman” who visited the tomb every year at what was then Hollywood Cemetery. One story notes that a Lady in Black also appeared on Christmas and Easter. Someone wrote on the back of this photo: “Not Ditra Flame.” Are those white shoes?! Continue reading →

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Aug. 22, 1947: 5 L.A. Women Doctors Honored at Medical Convention

Posted on August 22, 2026 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1947

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

Girls aspiring to careers should follow women physicians’ example—many have both satisfactory home and professional lives, Dr. E. Mae McCarroll of Newark, N.J., told National Medical Association delegates and women’s auxiliary members last night.

The evening session at Second Baptist Church, Griffith Avenue at East 24th Street, concluded the 52nd annual convention’s third-day sessions devoted to a public health program, particularly as it applies to medical and hospital facilities for Negroes.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood News and Gossip by Louella Parsons, Aug. 22, 1944

Posted on August 22, 2026 by lmharnisch

Aug. 22, 1944, Comics

Aug. 22, 1944

Danton Walker writes: High on a hilltop in Beverly Hills at the end of the Tower Road, a tortuous lane overlooking Benedict Canyon, is a hobgoblin castle straight out of a Walt Disney film; an edifice of scrambled architecture, so rambling and complex that it would take a full day to explore it, if one had the heart to do so. It is the home of the late John Barrymore, on which the Great Profile spent close onto a million dollars; unoccupied since his death and unoccupiable except by someone who does not object to living with a frozen nightmare.

Louella Parsons says: “Citizen Tom Paine” was bought by Frank Tuttle a long time ago, but he left his option lapse and it goes to Walter Wanger. Walter has bought it from the author, Howard Fast, and plans to make a story of the Revolution with all the famous characters.

But he will not go into Paine’s religious beliefs nor his tendency toward atheism. Rather, will he make a real saga of the Revolutionary period with four principal characters, Washington, Jefferson, Franklin and Paine. Well-known actors will be chosen to play these four men. We haven’t had a good story of the American Revolution in a long time and Walter plans to spend a considerable amount in making an authentic story.

LEO: The sort of day on which your talents should shine. Clean up odd little tasks, pay bills, make plans for future events. Study standard problems. Aim at completion.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer via Fultonhistory.org.

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Black L.A. 1947: Heavyweight Fighter George Godfrey, ‘The Black Shadow of Leiperville,’ Dies at 50

Posted on August 21, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 15, 1947, George Godfrey

August 21, 1947: In the newspapers, he was “The Black Shadow of Leiperville,” “The Black Baron of Leiperville,” “The Black Giant of Leiperville,” “The Black Shadow of Los Angeles,” or just “Giant Negro.”

Born in Mobile, Ala., Jan. 25, 1897, as Feab S. Williams, he fought under the name George Godfrey after a black heavyweight fighter of the 19th century.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood News and Gossip by Louella Parsons, August 19, 1944

Posted on August 19, 2026 by lmharnisch

Aug. 19, 1944, Comics

August 19, 1944

Really interesting news that Freddie March is ready to sign a contract to play Major Joppolo in “A Bell for Adano.” I don’t mean the movie, either. He is being signed by Leland Hayward for the stage play, which will reach New York before the movie is finished.

Little Joyce Reynolds has certainly won a place for herself on the Warner lot since “Janie.” Interesting that she will play the shrewish daughter in “Mildred Pearce,” a real departure from the wholesome schoolgirl in “Janie.”* Joan Crawford, who plays Mildred Pearce, is, I am told, negotiating with Edward Small for the lead in “Bella Donna.” That would give her one of the really dramatic parts of her career.

LEO: Stars offer fine scope for your talents and ability. Responsibility needed to fathom pitfalls and be able to combat same properly.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer via Fultonhistory.com.

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