September 1, 1949: Fatal Farewell for Actress’ Lover; L.A. and the Angels

Posted on September 1, 2009 by lmharnisch
Sept. 1, 1949, Cover

Sept. 1, 1949:  At Cannes, France, Italian Count Giorgio Cini is killed when his private plane crashes while circling back so he could wave farewell to actress Merle Oberon. “My life is finished. There’s no point in going on,” says the actress, who fainted after seeing the crash … And tourists don’t like L.A. drivers! How about that front page: 19 stories plus the index and the weather forecast.

 
Sept. 11949, Easy Living
Victor Mature in “Easy Living.”		 Sept. 1, 1949, Mickey Cohen

Above, Times’ cartoonist Bruce Russell’s take on Mickey Cohen’s round trips to jail.

Sept. 1, 1949, Angels When did The Times start campaigning for a major league baseball team?

An editorial blasting the Chicago Cubs for mismanaging the Los Angeles Angels could be seen as the first strike by a city and a newspaper wanting to reach the big time.

“We are a proud city in the forefront of all things–except baseball.” the editorial proclaimed.  “We are the tail-enders of a second-flight outfit.”

The Times said Los Angeles “is the only team in the league operating under foreign ownership” and compared dealing with the Cubs to “Russian diplomats at international sessions [who] must run to the Moscow phone to get the party line.”

Comparing the Cubs to commies was silly for a big-city editorial. Maybe L.A. wasn’t ready for the big leagues yet.

–Keith Thursby
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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times
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