Category Archives: Columnists

December 18, 1941: Academy Awards Banquet Canceled; Oscars Postponed Due to War

Posted on December 18, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 18, 1941: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences cancels its annual banquet, due to the war. The awards will be given out later in some informal gathering, Edwin Schallert writes. Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, World War II | Tagged #Dumbo, #Gene Autry, Abbott and Costello | Leave a comment

December 17, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on December 17, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 17, 1959: Joseph Von Sternberg has sued Fox for $1 million, charging the 1959 version of “The Blue Angel” with May Britt and Curt Jurgens was made without his consent and was inferior to his 1929 version with Marlene Dietrich and Emil Jannings, thereby, he contended, decreasing the original’s value, Matt Weinstock says. Continue reading →

Posted in Columnists, Matt Weinstock | Leave a comment

December 17, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on December 17, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 17, 1959: Paul Coates looks at the estimated 3,000 members of the U.S. Armed Forces who are missing in the Korean War. Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Front Pages, Homicide, Paul Coates, Richard Nixon | Leave a comment

December 15, 1942: Stripper Discharged From Waacs Was Out of Uniform – and Everything Else

Posted on December 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 15, 1942: Kathryn Doris Gregory, a stripteuse who performs as Amber d’Georg, is out of the Waacs for going AWOL. The former chorus girl reported for training, then disappeared and was arrested after performing in a Thanksgiving matinee in Des Moines. Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Columnists, Comics, Food and Drink, Stage, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged #wwii, 1942, burlesque, Japanese internment | Leave a comment

December 15, 1941: Soldier Kills Civilian in Tragedy at Airport Checkpoint

Posted on December 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 15, 1941: Soldiers stop motorists on Sepulveda Boulevard to strip off blue cellophane illegally put over the headlights in the new wartime blackout. Dr. Harry Brandel, assuming the soldiers were hitchhiking, ignored the order to stop and Private Eugene I. Tuttle, 19, fired what he said was a warning shot. Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Jimmie Fidler, World War II | Tagged #Milton Caniff, #Yes, Virginia | 3 Comments

December 14, 1941: War Cancels Rose Parade

Posted on December 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 14, 1941: The Rose Parade is canceled and the Rose Bowl – between Duke and Oregon State – is moved to Durham, N.C. The streets of Pasadena were oddly quiet on New Year’s Day as millions reviewed memories of previous parades in all their glory, The Times said. Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Tom Treanor, World War II | Leave a comment

December 13, 1941: Roundup of Aliens Overwhelms L.A. Jails

Posted on December 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 13, 1941: So many alien Japanese, Germans and Italians are being taken into custody that Chief Jailer William Bright of the County Jail is being forced to send some of his other inmates to county prison farms. Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Fashion, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Nightclubs, Nuestro Pueblo, World War II | Tagged #Frank Capra, #Hugh Herbert | Leave a comment

December 12, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on December 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 12, 1959: In the days when the phone company had monopoly, getting a phone installed was a financial challenge, and Matt Weinstock has the story. Continue reading →

Posted in Columnists, Comics, Matt Weinstock | Leave a comment

December 12, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on December 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 12, 1959: With all the talk of payola, the first Christmas DJ Johnny Grant received was … a wallet. From a record company, Paul Coates says. Continue reading →

Posted in Columnists, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Paul Coates, Suicide | Leave a comment

December 11, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on December 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 11, 1959: Ida Gutierrez has a nightmare encounter with the legal system after a woman accuses her of “stealing” two sweaters that Gutierrez just bought. Why? “The police officer said derogatory things about Mexicans,” though she is from South America. Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Food and Drink, LAPD, Matt Weinstock | 1 Comment

December 11, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on December 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 11, 1959: George Bergeman Jr., 24, commits suicide because he lost so much money gambling on pinball and Paul Coates has the story. Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Paul Coates, Suicide | Leave a comment

December 9, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on December 9, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 9, 1959: A reporter for Ici Paris is assigned an interview with Caryl Chessman, and Matt Weinstock has the story. Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1959, art and artists, broadcasting, Caryl Chessman, Columnists, Comics, Matt Weinstock, Television | Leave a comment

December 9, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on December 9, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 9, 1959: A man calling himself Tony tells Paul Coates that he killed Jack “The Enforcer” Whalen, but Coates is skeptical. Continue reading →

Posted in Columnists, Mickey Cohen, Paul Coates | Leave a comment

FBI Rounds Up Japanese in Hunt for Subversives, Dec. 8, 1941

Posted on December 8, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 8, 1941: The FBI begins rounding up 200 “alien Japanese suspected of subversive activities.”
Several truckloads of Japanese were seen passing through Brea toward Pomona, Brea police reported, and orders to stop all cars bearing Japanese and to confiscate maps and binoculars or radios were given. Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Artists, Aviation, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Nuestro Pueblo, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged #Dumbo, #Hap Arnold, #Pearl Harbor | Leave a comment

December 4, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on December 4, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 4,1959: Matt Weinstock looks at the public relations industry’s attempts to improve its image. Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Comics, Matt Weinstock | Leave a comment

December 4, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on December 4, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 4, 1959: Paul Coates has the story of Roger “The Terrible” Touhy, Prohibition gangland boss who was finally released from prison. Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Countdown to Watts, Mickey Cohen, Paul Coates | Leave a comment

December 1, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on December 1, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 1, 1959: Matt Weinstock writes about Los Angeles Times columnist Lee Shippey and discusses Shippey’s blindness. Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Comics, Matt Weinstock | Comments Off

December 1, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on December 1, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 1, 1959: Jerry Lewis is a strange guy, Paul Coates writes, but this time the comedian is going to the aid of actor Jay Robinson, “Hollywood’s forgotten man.: Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, broadcasting, Columnists, Front Pages, Paul Coates, Television | Comments Off

November 30, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on November 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 30, 1959: The mother of a middle school student tells Matt Weinstock: “You would be surprised at the number of students at this school who are being tutored just to make a C.” One girl is taking tranquilizers because she can’t keep up. Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Education, Matt Weinstock, Sports | Comments Off

November 30, 1959: Paul Coates – Confidential File