Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

Celebrity Politicians: Hollywood’s Honorary Mayors, Part I

Posted on June 4, 2018 by lmharnisch

Photo: Hugh Herbert, honorary mayor of Studio City, courtesy of Mary Mallory. Note: This is an encore post from 2012. Tomorrow is election day. Elections and politics are important to everyone, be they Joe Citizen or Joseph Kennedy. Over the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Politics, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo

Posted on June 4, 2018 by lmharnisch

Eve Golden sends along this picture to see if anybody in the Brain Trust can help the Library of Congress identify our mystery woman.

Posted in Mystery Photo | Tagged | 6 Comments

June 4, 1907: ‘Tiger Fat’ and ‘Nerve Balls’: State Medical Board Charges Chinese Herbalists

Posted on June 4, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. June 4, 1907 Los Angeles After months of inquiries that involved undercover investigators posing as patients, the State Board of Medical Examiners has taken action against Chinese herbalists in Los Angeles. In … Continue reading →

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June 3, 1947: Soldiers Fight Army’s Ban on Japanese Brides

Posted on June 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

 Note: This is an encore post from 2005 that originally appeared on the 1947project. It was a tough problem for the armed services. In March, an Air Forces lieutenant at Tachikawa Air Base and “a beautiful Japanese girl” killed themselves … Continue reading →

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June 3, 1907: Runaway Couple, Aided by Minister, Leave Parents at the Altar

Posted on June 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. June 3, 1907 Los Angeles It was to be one of the grandest society weddings of the season: An orchestra was hired, a caterer had been selected after lengthy interviews, gowns for … Continue reading →

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June 2, 1947: Erwin Walker Pleads Insanity in ‘He Walked by Night’ Killing of CHP Officer

Posted on June 2, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. The Erwin Walker case is the crossroads of several important stories. The victim was Loren Roosevelt, fired in the 1930s as Arcadia’s police chief in an … Continue reading →

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A Theater Rises on Broadway

Posted on June 2, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. June 2, 1907 Los Angeles The Hamburger Department Store announces plans for a theater just south of its new building on South Broadway at 8th Street, designed by the architecture firm of … Continue reading →

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June 1, 1947: Sea Monster Overpowers Troops, Destroys Tokyo! L.A. Men Celebrate Armed Forces Radio’s 5th Anniversary With Hoax

Posted on June 1, 2018 by lmharnisch

Was “Godzilla” inspired by a 1947 radio hoax?

Posted in 1947, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

June 1, 1907: Former L.A. Councilman Charged With Running Bordello

Posted on June 1, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. June 1, 1907 Los Angeles Voir dire, in which lawyers question prospective jurors, is a rough and tumble affair, especially when the case involves prostitution. The matter at hand involves Tom Savage, … Continue reading →

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May 31, 1947: Los Angeles Marks First Memorial Day Without a Civil War Veteran at Ceremony

Posted on May 31, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Memorial Day, 1947, was a spectacle marked with a parade from Westwood to the veterans cemetery, services for Spanish-American veterans in Pershing Square and even a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Civil War | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

May 10, 1943: Heartbreaking Story of ‘Punky,’ 14, Who Succeeded in Killing Herself on 7th Try

Posted on May 31, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 that originally appeared on the 1947project. You can’t help but notice in going through old newspapers that suicides and divorces (especially in the days before no-fault divorces) were treated as daily “brites,” … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Obituaries, Suicide | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Black L.A. 1947: DAR Reaffirms Ban on Black Performers at Constitution Hall

Posted on May 31, 2018 by lmharnisch

May 29, 1947:  The Daughters of the American Revolution, holding its annual convention in Washington, affirms its ban on African American performers at Constitution Hall. A story by the Associated Negro Press notes that Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the DAR … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

May 31, 1907: Memorial Day

Posted on May 31, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. May 31, 1907 Los Angeles In one Memorial Day observance, Col. James H. Davidson of Pasadena addresses the crowd at Memorial Hall. He says, in part: “Another decade or two and taps … Continue reading →

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May 30, 1907: Hop Chung, Chinese Laundryman, Presses Zoning Case in Court

Posted on May 31, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. May 30, 1907 Los Angeles Hop Chung is in trouble again. Chung, it seems, is no stranger to the legal system, with a police record going back to 1883. Ten years later, … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: NAACP to Protest Not-Guilty Verdicts in South Carolina Lynching

Posted on May 30, 2018 by lmharnisch

May 29, 1947: You may recall that the Los Angeles Times devoted two paragraphs on Page 6 to the acquittal of 28 men in the lynching of Willie Earle. In contrast to the disinterest of The Times, the Sentinel published … Continue reading →

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May 29, 1947: Richard Nixon to Summon Movie Figures to Testify on Communist Influences in Hollywood

Posted on May 29, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. WASHINGTON—A full-dress investigation to learn the extent of Communist infiltration of the Hollywood film industry and whether Federal officials or agencies encouraged production of motion pictures … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on May 28, 2018 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1932 RKO picture “The Age of Consent,” with Dorothy Wilson, Arline Judge, Richard Cromwell, Eric Linden, John Halliday, Aileen Pringle and Reginald Barlow. The screenplay was by Sarah Y. Mason and Francis Cockrell … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 40 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Mary Pickford Dances Into Screen Adulthood in ‘Rosita’

Posted on May 28, 2018 by lmharnisch

  Above, a clip of “Restoring a Lost Silent Film: How to See “Rosita” by Dave Kehr from the Museum of Modern Art. In 1922, legendary German film director Ernst Lubitsch and “America’s Sweetheart” Mary Pickford searched for new challenges … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, San Francisco | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

May 28, 1947: Billie Holiday Sentenced to Prison on Drug Charge

Posted on May 28, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. On June 17, while Holiday was in prison, the film “New Orleans” opened in Los Angeles at the four Music Hall theaters: 8th and Broadway downtown; … Continue reading →

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Shorthand

Posted on May 28, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

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