Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

January 1972: Andrew Wyeth Will Do Nixon Portrait. Wait, No He Won’t.

Posted on January 16, 2019 by lmharnisch

January 1972: A fun little contretemps about whether Andrew Wyeth would paint a portrait of then-President Nixon. The original post appeared on latimes.com in 2009 and is available via Archive.org.

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January 1939: Vivien Leigh Cast in ‘Gone With the Wind’ (Hedda Hopper Does Not Approve)

Posted on January 16, 2019 by lmharnisch

January 1939: Vivien Leigh is cast as Scarlett O’Hara. Hedda Hopper does not approve. Boy does she not approve. Frankly, was there anybody who was ever worse at casting than Hedda Hopper? She would shamelessly use her column to campaign … Continue reading →

Posted in 1939, Columnists, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Black Dahlia: Trim Your Roses on Jan. 15 to Remember Elizabeth Short

Posted on January 14, 2019 by lmharnisch

Today is Jan. 15, the anniversary of Elizabeth Short’s death. As is the custom, the Daily Mirror will be dark. Trim your roses in her memory.

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Black Dahlia: Dr. George Hodel, Janice Knowlton and the Black Dahlia Case

Posted on January 14, 2019 by lmharnisch

Aug. 8, 1998: A post on the old usenet alt.news-media by Janice Knowton was the first to publicly link Dr. George Hodel and the Black Dahlia case. At this point, George Hodel was alive but would die in a bit … Continue reading →

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Jan. 14, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Capricious Electron’

Posted on January 14, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan 14, 1959: Matt Weinstock has an eccentric visitor with a theory about the electron. Funny things that kids say, a poem and some bullet items. Weinstock ends the day with a light touch. The column originally appeared in the … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Did George Hodel Kill Jeanne French? No

Posted on January 14, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jeanne French was found beaten and stomped to death Feb. 10 1947, almost a month after Elizabeth Short was killed. French died from a broken rib that punctured her heart. Heel prints were found on her chest and near her … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jan. 14, 1959: Paul Coates on Three Boys Who Killed Their Father as He Slept

Posted on January 14, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 14, 1959: Paul Coates has the amazing story of three boys, ages 7, 9 and 10, who shot their father to death as he slept. Coates says that the mother (and the boys planned to kill her as well … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: How Low Can You Go in Merchandising the Black Dahlia?

Posted on January 14, 2019 by lmharnisch

I occasionally scan the Web to see what’s out on the distant fringes of the Black Dahlia case. And wow. This is fringe. Here we have a portrait of Elizabeth Short – post-mutilation – painted in the artist’s blood. Listed … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, 2019, Art & Artists, Black Dahlia | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 14, 2019 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1933 film “A Study in Scarlet,” with Reginald Owen, Anna May Wong, June Clyde, Allan Dinehart, John Warburton, Alan Mowbray, Warburton Gamble, J.M. Kerrigan, Doris Lloyd, Billy Bevan, Leila Bennett, Wyndham Standing and Halliwell … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 33 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights – Campo de Cahuenga, California’s Birthplace

Posted on January 14, 2019 by lmharnisch

A photo of the original museum at Campo de Cahuenga, courtesy of Mary Mallory. Note: This is an encore from 2012. Driving south down Lankershim Boulevard from Toluca Lake into Universal City, it’s hard to miss the skyscrapers, soundstages, and … Continue reading →

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Jan. 14, 1959: State Supreme Court Upholds L.A.’s Deal for Dodger Stadium

Posted on January 14, 2019 by lmharnisch

Keith Thursby writes: The state Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the Dodgers and City Hall, moving plans for a baseball stadium in Chavez Ravine one huge step closer to reality. The Times’ coverage was breathless, no surprise since … Continue reading →

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Jan. 14, 1939: Thousands at St. Vibiana’s Hold Vigil for World Peace

Posted on January 14, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 13, 1939: About 4,000 worshipers attend a Perpetual Novena for Our Sorrowful Mother at St. Vibiana’s Cathedral. People knelt in the aisles, in the doorways and outside praying for peace and for relief of the poor, The Times says.. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1939, Books and Authors, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Religion, Sports, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Jan. 14, 1939: Thousands at St. Vibiana’s Hold Vigil for World Peace

Black Dahlia: ‘Definitely Not Betty’ Elizabeth Short’s Family Refutes Hodel Photos of ‘Black Dahlia’

Posted on January 13, 2019 by lmharnisch

  The Short family rarely speaks on the record, but in 2003, they were so incensed by Steve Hodel’s “Black Dahlia Avenger” and his bogus claims of photos purportedly showing Elizabeth Short that they issued a public statement through me. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Black Dahlia: ‘Definitely Not Betty’ Elizabeth Short’s Family Refutes Hodel Photos of ‘Black Dahlia’

Jan. 13, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on January 13, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 13, 1959: Horseracing, Al Capone, a poem, a couple of funny stories, and we have another Matt Weinstock column. Weinstock perfected the art of the light touch. Rarely anything controversial and he never swung for the fence, like Coates … Continue reading →

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Jan. 13, 1959: Paul Coates Interviews Soviet Leader Mikoyan

Posted on January 13, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 13, 1959: Paul Coates worked himself into an early grave. In addition to writing six columns a week for the L.A. Mirror, he also had a show on KTTV-TV Channel 11. It was definitely another era. In this piece, … Continue reading →

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Voices: Recalling Times Sports Columnist Ned Cronin

Posted on January 13, 2019 by lmharnisch

Keith Thursby writes: Ned Cronin was a columnist at The Times until his death in 1958 and his work has been featured often in the Daily Mirror. His son, Jerry, recently discovered the blog and we started an e-mail conversation. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1958, 1959, Keith Thursby, Obituaries, Sports | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Voices: Recalling Times Sports Columnist Ned Cronin

Jan. 13, 1969: Jets and Broadway Joe Namath Win Super Bowl

Posted on January 13, 2019 by lmharnisch

    Jan. 13, 1969: The first Super Bowl – and it doesn’t make Page 1 of the Los Angeles Times. Kicked back to sports. I would love to have been sitting in the news meeting that day… Jim Murray … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: A Warning About Hollywood and the Black Dahlia

Posted on January 12, 2019 by lmharnisch

Lucie Arnaz in “Who Is the Black Dahlia?” “Inspired by a true story?” A painful lesson about Hollywood and the Black Dahlia. In 1975, the murder of Elizabeth Short was the basis for the TV movie “Who Is the Black … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, 1975, Black Dahlia, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Television | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Jan. 12, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Taxing Times’

Posted on January 12, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 12, 1959: Matt Weinstock offers a light way to end the day. A little story about a taxpayer’s travails with the IRS, a poem, an honest panhandler asking for a dime for a bottle of wine. And yes, he … Continue reading →

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Jan. 12, 1959: Paul Coates Confidential File — East L.A. War Hero Plotted to Kill Batista

Posted on January 12, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 12, 1959: Paul Coates has the story of Guy Louis Gabaldon, a war hero raised in East L.A. who claimed to have plotted to assassinate Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista. Gabaldon was raised by the parents of a Japanese American … Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Film, Hollywood, Paul Coates, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment