Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

Reminder: Don’t Dress Up Like the Black Dahlia for Halloween!

Posted on October 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

Reminder: Do not dress up like the Black Dahlia for Halloween. Don’t. Do. It. Continue reading →

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1944 on the Radio – NBC Symphony With Marian Anderson, October 15, 1944

Posted on October 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 15, 1944: Marian Anderson performs with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Continue reading →

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October 15, 1907: Fire Threatens Orpheum

Posted on October 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 15, 1907: Fire breaks out in the four-story building housing the Orpheum Theater and the Elks Hall. Entertainer Minnie Seligman made the smoke and sound of fire engines part of her act. Continue reading →

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October 14, 1957: Matt Weinstock

Posted on October 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 14, 1957: The Dodgers are coming, but there’s a reason to believe the Battle of Chavez Ravine is not quite over. Twelve families there are sitting tight, some of them on land their grandfathers bought and built homes on and they don’t think the city has done right by them, Matt Weinstock says. Continue reading →

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October 14, 1957: Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on October 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 14, 1957: Paul Coates has the story of Rosalee Cartwright, 14, who ran away five weeks ago and hasn’t been seen since. Continue reading →

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October 14, 1947: Capt. Chuck Yeager Breaks the Sound Barrier

Posted on October 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 14, 1947: Capt. Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager breaks the sound barrier. But the Los Angeles Times holds the story until June 1948 “in the interest of national security.” Continue reading →

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1944 in Print — Hollywood News and Gossip by Louella Parsons, October 14, 1944

Posted on October 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 14, 1944: Danton Walker says: David Sarnoff, RCA president, predicts a television gadget that will be worn on the wrist but contains a practical television screen. Continue reading →

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October 14, 1907: ‘In 9 cases out of 10, Where There Is a Shooting, There Is Also a Woman’

Posted on October 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 14, 1907: There was Oscar E. Otto, a young chauffeur with a hot temper and a gun. There was his 19-year-old wife, the former Irene E. Jester, “a silly little creature with futile tears and French heels.” And there was J.C. Henderson, another chauffeur with a gun and better aim or more luck. Continue reading →

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October 14, 1897: ‘La Boheme’ Receives American Premiere in Los Angeles

Posted on October 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 14, 1897: Puccini’s “La Boheme” receives its American premiere in Los Angeles, performed by the Del Conte Italian Grand Opera Company of Peru. Continue reading →

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October 13, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on October 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 13, 1959: The report that a mother was keeping her children out of school because they had no shoes or adequate clothing came into a child welfare and attendance office and Monty Minock, a worker, was assigned to investigate, Matt Weinstock says. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Elsa Lopez, Silent Film Art Director

Posted on October 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

In the silent era, art director Elsa Lopez provided creative elements to industry superstars at a time when few women of color offered important input, becoming one of the first Latino women to gain status in Hollywood. Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on October 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

For Monday, we have a mysterious fellow. Continue reading →

Posted in 1971, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Television | Tagged , , , , | 37 Comments

October 13, 1907: 2 Die in Tong War

Posted on October 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 13, 1907: Gunmen imported from out of town by the Hop Sing Tong entered the tailor shop of Lem Sing at 806 Juan St. in Chinatown and under the pretense of having some clothing made, wounded him and killed Wong Goon Kor. Continue reading →

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October 12, 1957: Matt Weinstock

Posted on October 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 12, 1957: Matt Weinstock profiles Burl Ives as he makes the transition from folk singing to acting. Continue reading →

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October 12, 1947: Father Charged With Beating Son, 2, for Talking During Movie

Posted on October 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 12, 1947: Sheppard W. King III is jailed on charges of child abuse after hitting his 2-year-old son in the lobby of the Pantages because the boy talked during the show. Continue reading →

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October 12, 1938: An early RV, Nuestro Pueblo

Posted on October 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 12, 1938: Reporter Joe Seewerker and artist Charles Owens visit a house on wheels in this installment of Nuestro Pueblo. Drawing of a broken-down truck with a house for a body. Continue reading →

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October 12, 1907: Contractor Leaves Dead Dogs in Street to Break Contract; A Foul Wind From Fertilizer Plant Blows Over Boyle Heights

Posted on October 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 12, 1907: After repeated complaints to police because half a dozen dead dogs had laid in the streets for two weeks, the health department tried to charge C.T. Hanson, who held the contract for removing carcasses. But according to the city attorney, Hanson was only guilty of not abiding by his contract and nothing more. Continue reading →

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October 11, 1957: Matt Weinstock

Posted on October 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 11, 1957: Just imagine if a few thousand people around L.A. decided all at once that they’d had it, that they wanted out of the rat race. And suppose they went down to the beach in a body and meditated upon the beautiful sunset or the elusive grunion and decided they just weren’t going to pay attention to anything that commanded their attention. Continue reading →

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October 11, 1957: Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on October 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 11, 1957: Paul Coates profiles Bert Whitson, a clown who used to perform at Pershing Square before it was uprooted for a parking structure and taken over at night by “hoodlums.” Continue reading →

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Col. John Bryson, 1819 – 1907 | Ex-Mayor Was Millionaire L.A. Developer

Posted on October 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 11, 1907: John Bryson, self-made millionaire and developer of the Bryson Block, dies. He had separated from his wife and was almost constantly in the company of his longtime nurse, Gladys Lamberton. He was hurriedly buried in a secret ceremony at Rosedale Cemetery. Continue reading →

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