Category Archives: Obituaries

Black L.A. 1947: Heavyweight Fighter George Godfrey, ‘The Black Shadow of Leiperville,’ Dies at 50

Posted on August 21, 2026 by lmharnisch

August 21, 1947: George Godfrey, a fighter known as the Black Shadow of Leiperville, dies in poverty in Los Angeles at the age of 50. Continue reading →

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August 2, 1907: Dr. Lucy Hall-Brown Dies

Posted on August 2, 2026 by lmharnisch

August 2, 1907: A brief look at the life of Dr. Lucy Hall-Brown, a prominent woman physician. Continue reading →

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June 24, 1947: Death in the Ring — Sugar Ray Robinson and Jimmy Doyle

Posted on June 24, 2026 by lmharnisch

June 24, 1947: Sugar Ray Robinson and the fatal fight in Cleveland with Jimmy Doyle. Continue reading →

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

Posted on June 3, 2026 by lmharnisch

June 3,1907: Dr. Harris Garcelon and Genevieve Smith dreaded the large, formal wedding her mother planned for them. After the rehearsal, the Rev. Baker P. Lee performed a small ceremony and the couple ran off to Salt Lake City, leaving Lee to inform Mrs. Smith of the couple’s flight. Continue reading →

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May 23, 1947: Lloyd Osbourne Dies; Inspired Stepfather Robert Louis Stevenson to Write ‘Treasure Island’

Posted on May 23, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 23, 1947, L.A. Times, Lloyd Osbourne, who as a boy inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write “Treasure Island,” dies in Glendale. Continue reading →

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November 12, 1960: Former Mirror Writer Beaten to Death – Update

Posted on March 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

Revisiting a cold case from 1960: The hammer murder of reporter/rewrite man Roby Heard. Continue reading →

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March 4, 1959: Lou Costello Dies!

Posted on March 4, 2026 by lmharnisch

March 4, 1959: Lou Costello, a partner in one of the greatest comedy duos, dies at the age of 52. Continue reading →

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February 28, 1959: Dodger Dome?

Posted on February 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

February 29, 1959: Could Dodger Stadium be renamed the Dodger Dome? Keith Thursby takes a look. Continue reading →

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February 28, 1959: Ex-Teamsters Boss Sentenced to Prison

Posted on February 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

February 28, 1959: Former Teamsters boss Dave Beck is sentenced to five years in prison. Beck died in 1993 at the age of 99. Continue reading →

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February 3, 1959: Rock Stars Die in Plane Crash

Posted on February 3, 2026 by lmharnisch

February 3, 1958: Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens are killed in a plane crash. Continue reading →

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January 28, 1907: Meet Gen. Homer Lea, L.A.’s Gift to China

Posted on January 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 28, 1907: Meet Gen. Homer Lea, whose life was the tale of a poor and badly handicapped boy’s adventures as a leader in an exotic foreign land. Continue reading →

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January 22, 1959: ‘Our Gang’ Star Carl ‘Alfalfa’ Switzer Dies in Fight Over $50

Posted on January 22, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 22, 1959: Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer dies in a fight over $50. Continue reading →

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January 19, 1942: Lombard’s Body Recovered From Crash

Posted on January 19, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 19, 1942: The bodies of actress Carole Lombard and eight other people are recovered from the wreckage of a DC-3 that crashed in Nevada. Continue reading →

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

Posted on January 7, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 7, 1947: Truman B. Carl of Whittier has used the same coffee cup for 27 years. That’s it. That’s the story. Really. Continue reading →

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December 25, 1947: The Times Christmas Poem

Posted on December 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 25, 1947: The Los Angeles Times publishes a front-page poem for Christmas by James Warnack, who called himself “a theoretical Christian but a practical pagan.” Continue reading →

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December 20, 1947: Pulp Author Rob Eden Dies | Author of ‘Short Skirts: A Story of Modern Youth’

Posted on December 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 20, 1947: Pulp writer Robert F. Burkhardt dies at the age of 55. Writing as Rob Eden, Burkhardt and his wife, Eve, produced dozens of novels and countless short stories. Continue reading →

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Voices — Bettie Page, 1923 – 2008

Posted on December 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 11, 2008: Bettie Page dies at the age of 85. An interview from 2006. Continue reading →

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November 19, 1941: Hollywood Model Dies of Botched Abortion

Posted on November 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 19, 1941: Angelka Rose Gogich was 18 when she died at Glendale Emergency Hospital after undergoing an abortion. She had be working as a model, hat check girl and dancer under the name Rose Ann Rae. Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Abortion, Art & Artists, Black Dahlia, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Medicine, Obituaries | Tagged | 1 Comment

November 17, 1941: Women Reporters

Posted on November 17, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 17, 1941: Reporter Mary Shaw Leader is posthumously honored for covering Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Leader walked 15 miles to cover Lincoln’s speech. Continue reading →

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November 16, 1947: Alvira Earp, Widow of Frontier Lawman Virgil Earp

Posted on November 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 16, 1947: Alvira Earp, widow of Virgil Earp and sister-in-law of U.S. Marshal Wyatt Earp, dies in Los Angeles at the age of 98. Continue reading →

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