Category Archives: 1963

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated) + + + +

This week’s mystery movie was the 1963 Paramount film Donovan’s Reef, with John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Elizabeth Allen, Jack Warden, Cesar Romero, Dick Foran, Dorothy Lamour, Marcel Dalio, Mike Mazurki, Jacqueline Malouf, Cherylene Lee, Tim Stafford, Edgar Buchanan and Jon … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Virtually everyone who writes about Raymond Chandler cites this book by Philip Durham, but very few people seem to have read it. Writing in 1963, four years after Chandler’s death, Durham produced … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, Books and Authors | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Virtually everyone who writes about Raymond Chandler cites this book by Philip Durham, but very few people seem to have read it. Writing in 1963, four years after Chandler’s death, Durham produced … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, Books and Authors | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

This week’s mystery movie was the 1963 Universal-International picture “For Love or Money,” with Kirk Douglas, Mitzi Gaynor, Gig Young,  Thelma Ritter, Julie Newmar, William Bendix, Leslie Parrish, Richard Sargent, Elizabeth MacRae, William Windom, Willard Sage, Ina Victor, Amy Moore, … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 54 Comments

Rose Parade Encounter Leads to Killing of Arcadia Woman

Note: This is an encore post from 2013 Aug. 9, 1963: “In Saigon, 400 miles to the south, police geared for trouble as a young, unidentified monk announced plans to burn himself to death in the continuing Buddhist struggle for … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Religion, Vietnam | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Virtually everyone who writes about Raymond Chandler cites this book by Philip Durham, but very few people seem to have read it. Writing in 1963, four years after Chandler’s death, Durham produced … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, Books and Authors | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Virtually everyone who writes about Raymond Chandler cites this book by Philip Durham, but very few people seem to have read it. Writing in 1963, four years after Chandler’s death, Durham produced a biography of Chandler as a writer rather … Continue reading

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Nov. 22, 1963: Remembering JFK, That Day in Dallas and Baby Boomer Nostalgia

Nov. 22, 1963: The Times publishes an extra. Note: In case you are wondering, this is a repost from 2013. I recently attended graduation exercises for a local college and the commencement speaker spent quite a while talking about how … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, History | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Nov. 22, 1963: Remembering JFK, That Day in Dallas and Baby Boomer Nostalgia

Nov. 22, 1963: The Times publishes an extra. I recently attended graduation exercises for a local college and the commencement speaker spent quite a while talking about how the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy was a watershed moment … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, History | Tagged , , | 17 Comments

Married Couple Held in Blackmail of Single Woman for $27,000

Sept. 27, 1963: I always thought blackmail was something that only occurred in old Perry Mason episodes, but here’s an actual case and it’s quite strange. It involves a married man blackmailing a single woman. No really! According to a … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, Animals, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Woman’s Body Found Behind Wall in Highland Park Home

Joseph and Anna Lewis, 2630 Johnston St., Highland Park, had been married for 42 when she disappeared. Not that Joseph, 72, a carpenter, was particularly concerned about her absence. Police were not informed of the disappearance until her daughter Shirley … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Suicide | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

War Hero Kills Rich Widow in Botched Burglary

Grant Edward Anderson was a war hero, a burglar and a killer. A paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne, Anderson served 19 months overseas, received two Purple Hearts,  and was awarded the Bronze Star for dragging four wounded men to safety … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Rose Parade Encounter Leads to Killing of Arcadia Woman

Aug. 9, 1963: “In Saigon, 400 miles to the south, police geared for trouble as a young, unidentified monk announced plans to burn himself to death in the continuing Buddhist struggle for what they consider their civil rights and religious … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Religion, Vietnam | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Pacoima Man Killed With Jack Handle in Gang Fight

Benito Mendivil Jr., 19, 10606 El Dorado Ave., had left his Pacoima gang for a rival one in San Fernando. On the night of Sunday, July 14, 1963, he had just driven away from his home in a car carrying … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, LAPD, Latinos, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Dead Man’ Killed in Fight Over a Penny

July 12, 1963: Curtiss A. Adams, the only man to survive the Jan. 31, 1957, crash of an F-89J and a DC-7B over Pacoima, testifies in a lawsuit between Douglas, which made the transport, and Northrop, which built the F-89J. … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, Columnists, Comics, LAPD, San Fernando Valley | Leave a comment

Dining With Jerry Lewis — Found on EBay

Longtime Daily Mirror readers may recall that Jerry Lewis briefly operated a restaurant on the Sunset Strip in the early 1960s. A menu from his business has been listed on EBay. Notice “Chili and Beans, Jerry Lewis” for $1.75. The … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, Film, Food and Drink | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Talking About the Onion Field

I was in a video chat yesterday with Joseph Wambaugh and Times City Editor Shelby Grad to talk about the the Onion Field case and the recent death of Gregory Powell.

Posted in 1963, Books and Authors, LAPD | 2 Comments

Carl and Jerry Get a Kindle Fire

Gort: Tannenbaum baringa! Futurism in 1958. I bought a Kindle Fire a few days ago and since it arrived I’ve been thinking about John T. Frye W9EGV. Unless you are an electronics geek of a certain age, it’s likely you … Continue reading

Posted in 1958, 1963, Books and Authors, Radio, Television | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Parole Rejected for ‘Onion Field’ Killer

The Board of Parole Hearings has recommended against releasing Gregory Powell, who was convicted in the 1963 “Onion Field” killing of Officer Ian Campbell. Powell, who has prostate cancer, was seeking a compassionate release, reserved for inmates with serious illnesses. … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Another Good Story Ruined – Mulholland and the Valley ‘Conspiracy’

My L.A. Times colleague Elaine Woo has a first-rate obituary on Catherine Mulholland, author of “William Mulholland and the Rise of Los Angeles.” One reason Mulholland took on the biography was to provide what she viewed as a more balanced … Continue reading

Posted in 1963, Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, Film, History, Hollywood, Obituaries, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment