Monthly Archives: March 2011

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 21, 1941

Posted on March 21, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 21, 1941: Tom Treanor says that the war has created a narcotics shortage in Los Angeles, so that many addicts are getting clean and sober or switching to liquor.  The evidence is mostly anecdotal, however, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1889, 1919, 1941, art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor | Comments Off on Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 21, 1941

Jim Murray, March 21, 1961

Posted on March 21, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 21, 1961:  Every time I pull up another Jim Murray column, I am reminded once again of what a breath of fresh air he was for The Times. Today’s installment is a particularly good example. … Continue reading →

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Man Paralyzed in Shooting Over a Can of Beer, March 21, 1981

Posted on March 21, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 21, 1981: Times reporter Bill Farr (d. 1987) has the story of Josephus Jackson, who was partially paralyzed from being shot in the back by a liquor store clerk over a 55-cent can of beer. … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1981, art and artists, Comics, Crime and Courts | 1 Comment

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 20, 1941

Posted on March 20, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 20, 1941: A girl who works in the Main Street Follies celebrated her day off by going to a high-priced Hollywood nightspot, but the show was so vulgar she couldn't stay through it, Lee Shippey … Continue reading →

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Jim Murray, March 20, 1961

Posted on March 20, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 20, 1961: Jim Murray has a terrific profile of Albert "Albie" Pearson, the Angels right fielder, who is 5-5 and weighs 140 pounds. "I'm in a big man's game and I've got to be a … Continue reading →

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Architectural Ramblings — The Sowden House

Posted on March 20, 2011 by lmharnisch

      Drawing by Charles Owens/Los Angeles Times   The Sowden House by architect Lloyd Wright at 5121 Franklin Ave. is on the market for $4.2 million. You may recall that this was the purported murder HQ of Dr. … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1947, Architecture, art and artists, books, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Nuestro Pueblo, Real Estate | 1 Comment

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 19, 1941

Posted on March 19, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 19, 1941: A couple of years ago Louis Bromfield told me he believed the country was waiting for a novel by someone who knew Hollywood and would play it straight. Authors who couldn't fit into … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor, Zombie Reading List | Comments Off on Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 19, 1941

Jim Murray, March 19, 1961

Posted on March 19, 2011 by lmharnisch

If any player was entitled to come into town with a chip on his shoulder it was Zeke Bratkowski. People have needed psychiatry for less symptoms of rejection. But Zeke wasn’t mad at anybody. He had just been to Mass and telephoned his wife back home when I saw him. Did he think he would be the No. 1 quarterback on the Rams, I asked him.
If any player was entitled to come into town with a chip on his shoulder it was Zeke Bratkowski. People have needed psychiatry for less symptoms of rejection. But Zeke wasn’t mad at anybody. He had just been to Mass and telephoned his wife back home when I saw him. Did he think he would be the No. 1 quarterback on the Rams, I asked him.
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Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on March 19, 2011 by lmharnisch

      Los Angeles Times file photo   Dec. 12, 1941: Crowds in Pershing Square joined in singing "America" and other patriotic songs during the entire period of the blackout last night. The sirens sounded for the lights out … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 43 Comments

Voices: Warren Christopher, 1925 — 2011

Posted on March 19, 2011 by lmharnisch

“When human beings are forcibly abducted from their homes, interrogated incessantly at the pleasure of their captors and prodded with electrodes or held under water to the point of drowning — when such things are happening around the world, as they are, all who truly value human rights must speak out.”
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Posted in Crime and Courts, LAPD, Obituaries, Politics | Comments Off on Voices: Warren Christopher, 1925 — 2011

The Funny Papers, 1931

Posted on March 19, 2011 by lmharnisch

      “Gasoline Alley” by Frank King   March 19, 1931: After wandering through the comics pages of 1941, I thought it would be interesting to roll the clock back to 1931. There are a few familiar faces, like … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, art and artists, Comics | 1 Comment

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 18, 1941

Posted on March 18, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 18, 1941: Lee Shippey has a letter from author Harlan Ware about attempts to deport Jan Valtin, who wrote “Out of the Night.”  This is the book that Tom Treanor mentioned recently. I never heard … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Zombie Reading List | Comments Off on Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 18, 1941

From the Vaults — ’13 Rue Madeleine’

Posted on March 18, 2011 by lmharnisch

        Robert “Bob” Sharkey (James Cagney) and Charles Gibson (Walter Abel) discuss the incoming class of American secret agents in “13 Rue Madeleine.”  One of their students is a Nazi spy! After a longwinded exposition, the 1947 … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | 1 Comment

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 17, 1941

Posted on March 17, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 17, 1941: Turn back the Hollywood clock about two years to the time when an ex-vaudevillian was struggling for radio recognition. After two or three broadcasts he found himself on the proverbial horns of a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, art and artists, broadcasting, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor | Comments Off on Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 17, 1941

Jim Murray, March 17, 1961

Posted on March 17, 2011 by lmharnisch

There have been a great many heroes of Irish ancestry in the world of sport. But I suppose the one who always comes to mind first is John L. Sullivan. John L., pounding on the bar with his great fist and shouting “When John L. Sullivan drinks, everybody drinks” and “I can lick any man in the house” has become part of the legend of sport, Jim Murray says.
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Posted in #Jim Murray, 1961, art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Sports | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Pages of History — ‘The Truth About Los Angeles’

Posted on March 17, 2011 by lmharnisch

    Thanks to the Huntington Library, I was able to obtain a photocopy of Louis Adamic’s “The Truth About Los Angeles,” one of hundreds of little pamphlets published by Emanuel Haldeman-Julius. I was vaguely aware of these pamphlets but … Continue reading →

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 16, 1941

Posted on March 16, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 16, 1941: In one of the famous tragedies of Hollywood lore, Christopher Quinn, the son of Anthony and Katherine De Mille Quinn, drowns in a fish pond on the estate of W.C. Fields, 2015 De … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor | Comments Off on Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 16, 1941

Jim Murray, March 16, 1961

Posted on March 16, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 16, 1961: Around the league, Elgin [Baylor] is known as "The Big Hurt." He's a four Band-Aid player. The man assigned to cover him usually stocks up with liniment and aspirin and approaches his task … Continue reading →

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Austrians Plan Worldwide War Against Judaism, March 16, 1921

Posted on March 16, 2011 by lmharnisch

          March 16, 1921: Edna Wallace Hopper, who about two wives ago was the wife of De Wolf Hopper, is in the city. She is reported as forming her own picture company and said yesterday that … Continue reading →

Posted in 1921, art and artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Religion | Comments Off on Austrians Plan Worldwide War Against Judaism, March 16, 1921

Chicken Boy

Posted on March 15, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photograph by Bruce Cox/Los Angeles Times Feb. 5, 1970: Behold the wonder of Chicken Boy on the roof of a restaurant on Broadway near 5th Street in downtown Los Angeles. In 1977, Art Seidenbaum looked at oversized signs as part … Continue reading →

Posted in 1970, 1977, Architecture, art and artists, Art Seidenbaum, Downtown, Food and Drink, Photography | 2 Comments