Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Oscar Apfel, Paramount’s Forgotten Man

Posted on January 16, 2018 by lmharnisch

  Oscar Apfel in Motion Picture News. Multi-talented, smart, ambitious, hard-working, Oscar Apfel rose to the top of the early movie industry only to see evolving business practices, lack of luck, and bad choices push him down the ladder into … Continue reading →

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

Union Rescue Mission

Posted on January 16, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007.

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Black Dahlia: Today Is Jan. 15 — Trim Your Roses

Posted on January 15, 2018 by lmharnisch

Today is Jan. 15, and the Daily Mirror marks the anniversary of Elizabeth Short’s death by pruning back the roses.

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Meet Victor Segno — L.A. Mystic and Con Man

Posted on January 15, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Jan. 15, 2007 Los Angeles While making my daily check of EBay, I found another envelope from 1907, this one addressed to A. Victor Segno, 701 N. Belmont. A brief check of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1908, 1911, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Education, Found on EBay, LAPD, Streetcars | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 15, 2018 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1949 Columbia film “The Reckless Moment,” with James Mason, Joan Bennett, Geraldine Brooks, Henry O’Neill, Shepperd Strudwick, David Bair and Roy Roberts. The screenplay was by Henry Garson and Robert W. Sodeberg, adapted … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 51 Comments

At the Del

Posted on January 14, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007.

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Not in My Back Yard

Posted on January 13, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Jan. 13, 1907 Los Angeles The Times takes a light, humorous look at the destructive wanderings of Eaton Wash: a docile stream, if not entirely dry, most of the year, turned into … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Streetcars | 1 Comment

1907: Last Rites for an Early Church

Posted on January 12, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Jan. 12, 1907 El Monte For half a century, the Baptist Church of El Monte and the Mason’s Lexington Lodge No. 104 shared a clapboard building on Main Street, the worshipers on … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. Laura Bowman Cast in All-Black Production of ‘Anna Lucasta’

Posted on January 12, 2018 by lmharnisch

Jan. 9, 1947:  Laura Bowman, who died in 1957 after a long illness, is to appear in an all-black production of “Anna Lucasta” at the Biltmore Theater. ” Anna Lucasta,” written by Philip Yordan, was originally produced by the American … Continue reading →

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

Jan. 11, 1907: USC Medical School Cadavers Found in Garbage Dump

Posted on January 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Jan. 11, 1907 Los Angeles A woman living on a hog ranch near the Santa Fe railroad crossing over the Los Angeles River contacted police after seeing dismembered human bodies in the … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: ‘Who Is the Black Dahlia?’ Script on Craigslist

Posted on January 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Someone on Craigslist has listed a copy of the shooting script for “Who Is the Black Dahlia?” the TV movie that featured Lucie Arnaz as Elizabeth Short and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Detective Harry Hansen (with an amusing turn by … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, 1974, 1975, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, LAPD, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Black L.A. 1947: LAPD Detectives Cleared of Brutality Against Drunk Woman

Posted on January 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Jan. 9, 1947: The Sentinel reports on the ruling by the Los Angeles Police Commission in the case of Edythe L. Galloway, 434 E. 48th St. On Nov. 6, 1946, the Police Commission voted to investigate the allegations of brutality … Continue reading →

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The Floods

Posted on January 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Jan. 9-10, 1907 The worst storm in 23 years blew across Southern California with the force of a gale, dumping more than an inch of rain in Pasadena, killing an Orange County … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Downtown, LAPD, Pasadena, San Fernando Valley, Streetcars, Transportation | Comments Off on The Floods

Black L.A. 1947: Sentinel Refuses Ads From Central Avenue Club Over White Cashier

Posted on January 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

4201 S. Central, the location of the Downbeat Room, via Google Street View. Notice the Dunbar Hotel next door. The famous Club Alabam’ was nearby at 4215 S. Central.   Jan. 9, 1947: Mabel Scott and Gerald Wilson open the … Continue reading →

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Jan. 8, 1947: Judge Denies ‘Hollywood’ Divorce for Actress Virginia Engels ‘The Orchid Queen’

Posted on January 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2006 for the 1947project. Jan. 8, 1947: The apartment was so small that her husband, James Robert Dennis, asked her to go home to live with her parents. He said he’d call … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Art & Artists, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Black L.A. 1947: Meet the Honor Students of Jefferson High

Posted on January 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

Jan. 9, 1947: The Sentinel publishes the photos of four Jefferson High students on the front page: Florence Smith, Ivan Baldwin, Gen Lew and Walter Richard Lumpkin. Here we meet four young people — and a significant research challenge: What … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Education, Stage | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A Cold Dose of Reality

Posted on January 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Jan. 8, 1907 Los Angeles Perhaps Mayor Arthur C. Harper and the incoming slate of officials are focused on how they will divide the spoils of the city and assign patronage jobs, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Food and Drink, LAPD, Pasadena, Photography, Streetcars | Comments Off on A Cold Dose of Reality

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1951 Swedish film “Miss Julie,” from the play by August Strindberg, with Anita Bjork, Ulf Palme, Marta Dorff, Lissi Alandh, Anders Henrikson, Inga Gill, Ake Fridell, Kurt-Olof Sundstrom, Max Von Sydow, Margareta Krook, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 36 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Studio City Motels, Then and Now

Posted on January 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

  The Carlton Motor Lodge, via Google Street View. The evolution of a community can often be acknowledged through the types of businesses along its main streets. Simple buildings from its days as an unpretentious neighborhood or small town often … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Jan. 7, 1947: Man Uses Same Coffee Cup for 27 Years

Posted on January 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2006 for the 1947project. Same Coffee Cup Used 27 Years WHITTIER, Jan. 6—Truman B. Carl, a city employee, today rounded out 27 consecutive years of coffee drinking from the same oversized china … Continue reading →

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