Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Virgil Apger, MGM’S Classic Portrait Photographer

Posted on June 25, 2018 by lmharnisch

  Virgil Apger, photo courtesy of Mary Mallory Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios excelled in most areas of film production, including that of still portrait photography. Several of its head portrait photographers, like Ruth Harriet … Continue reading →

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June 24, 1947: Death in the Ring — Sugar Ray Robinson and Jimmy Doyle

Posted on June 24, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. For the rest of his life, Sugar Ray Robinson was haunted by that eighth round in Cleveland. Haunted by the hard left to the jaw of … Continue reading →

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June 23, 1947: Jim Tully, Hobo Novelist and Prizefighter, Dies at 56

Posted on June 23, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. For me, stumbling across Jim Tully is one of those wonderful accidental discoveries that are a byproduct of research. He’s as obscure and forgotten today as … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

June 23, 1907: Auto Club Begins Posting Road Signs Along Future Route 66

Posted on June 23, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. June 23, 1907 Los Angeles The Auto Club of Southern California has begun posting white enamel signs with blue lettering along Foothill Boulevard between Los Angeles and Riverside. Spending about half a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Pasadena, Transportation | 1 Comment

June 22, 1947: 21,000 Sign Petition for Federal Anti-Lynching Law

Posted on June 22, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. The son of slaves and a World War I veteran, Edgar G. Brown was a frequent visitor to Los Angeles gathering support for various issues, such … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Crime and Courts | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

June 22, 1907: She Wanted Sweetheart’s Picture — So He Gave Her a Wanted Poster

Posted on June 22, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. June 22, 1907 Los Angeles Let’s suppose for a moment that you are a handsome former Army sergeant who has served in the Philippines. Let’s further suppose that you get into a … Continue reading →

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Writing on 1940s L.A. That’s Worth a Look: Beth Hahn’s ‘A Girl Like You’

Posted on June 21, 2018 by lmharnisch

Is it possible to write fiction about Los Angeles in the 1940s without falling into one of the common traps? I believe Beth Hahn has done it. I have read many works of fiction set in Southern California of the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Black L.A. 1947: When Hollywood ‘Toned Down’ Black Actors

Posted on June 21, 2018 by lmharnisch

Nina Mae McKinney, above, was “toned down” for MGM’s movie cameras in filming “Hallelujah,” Harry Levette said. June 19, 1947: Harry Levette, a longtime Sentinel columnist, sports editor and publicist, reflects on the Lafayette Players. The Lafayette Players was established … Continue reading →

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June 21, 1947: ‘The Drunkard,’ L.A.’s Favorite Melodrama

Posted on June 21, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. In the summer of 1933, expecting nothing but a brief run and modest ticket sales, two theater people from Carmel, Preston Shobe and Galt Bell, hatched … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Food and Drink, Hollywood, Stage, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Black L.A. 1947: Lottie Grady, Pioneering Black Actress in Theater and Film, Visits Los Angeles

Posted on June 20, 2018 by lmharnisch

“Dat Lovin’ Rag,” courtesy of the University of Colorado Boulder Music Library. June 19, 1947: Lottie Grady, one of the first African American actors to perform on Broadway, visits Los Angeles and is interviewed by the Sentinel. Grady performed on … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1947, African Americans, Film, Hollywood, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jan. 20, 1947: ‘Good Night. Sleep Peacefully With Compliments of Jacks’

Posted on June 20, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. I was talking with Siegel about seven o’clock on the Friday evening of his death. He called me at the office of Hollywood’s Daily Variety, for … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

June 20, 1947: Dinner at Jacks at the Beach

Posted on June 20, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Good evening, Mr. Siegel. Welcome to Jacks at the Beach. I’ll be your waiter tonight. Would you like to start off with a drink? Here’s a … Continue reading →

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June 20, 1907: Salesclerks Fight to Keep Shortened Work Hours on Saturdays

Posted on June 20, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. June 20, 1907 Los Angeles The salesclerks of Los Angeles are steaming—and not over the warming temperatures. Beginning last summer, all the department stores agreed that instead of closing at 10 p.m. … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: ‘Why Negro Girls Stay Single’ by Pauli Murray

Posted on June 19, 2018 by lmharnisch

Update, March 28, 2023: Pauli Murray’s essay in Negro Digest is online at Archive.org. June 19, 1947: The Sentinel publishes a few paragraphs on Pauli Murray’s essay, which appeared in the July 1947 issue of “Negro Digest.” Murray’s essay is frequently … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Education | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

June 19, 1907: Soothing Music Helps Cures Insanity, Doctor Says

Posted on June 19, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. June 19, 1907 Los Angeles What shall we do with the insane? Don’t give them drugs… give them music! (Well, some music). Dr. E.C. Dent of the hospital for women on Ward’s … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Food and Drink, Medicine, Music, Streetcars | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Napoleon

Posted on June 18, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on June 18, 2018 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1932 Warner Bros. film “The Mouthpiece,” by Frank Collins, directed by James Flood and Elliott Nugent. The film features Warren William, Sidney Fox, Aline MacMahon, John Wray, Mae Madison, Ralph Ince, Morgan Wallace, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 31 Comments

June 18, 1947: Actor Jon Hall Says Tale of Being Shot Down in Plane Was a Hoax

Posted on June 18, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. The day before, The Times reported a curious incident in which a bullet tore into the propeller of the plane shortly after it took off for … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Aviation, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

June 18, 1907: Immigration Agent Accused of Poisoning Neighbor’s Dog

Posted on June 18, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. June 18, 1907 Los Angeles The victim: A collie named Baby The plaintiff: Hazel G. (or Ella M.) Schurger, 1156 S. Flower. The suspect: J.J. Brady of the Immigration Bureau, a next-door … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Animals, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Fashions, Immigration, LAPD, Streetcars | Tagged , , | Comments Off on June 18, 1907: Immigration Agent Accused of Poisoning Neighbor’s Dog

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Mary Andrews Clark Home Provides Affordable Housing

Posted on June 18, 2018 by lmharnisch

306 Loma Drive, via Google Street View. Long a beautiful site at 306 Loma Drive in Los Angeles, the Mary Andrews Clark Memorial Home has been a site of affordable housing for more than 100 years. Built by Sen. William … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments