Category Archives: Obituaries

West Point Cancels Football Season After Player Dies of Game Injuries

Posted on November 1, 2009 by lmharnisch

     Nov. 1, 1909: West Point cancels the remainder of the football season after the death of Eugene A. Byrne, whose neck was broken when players piled on him during a game with Harvard.

Posted in Obituaries, Sports | Comments Off on West Point Cancels Football Season After Player Dies of Game Injuries

Teen Hoped to Bear Errol Flynn’s Child

Posted on October 28, 2009 by lmharnisch

 Los Angeles Times file photo Errol Flynn and Beverly Aadland in a photo published Oct. 15, 1959. Oct. 28, 1959: Jack Smith interviews Errol Flynn’s teenage girlfriend Beverly Aadland (whom Smith describes as the actor’s “last playmate”)  and her attorney … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Film, Hollywood, Jack Smith, Obituaries | 1 Comment

Movie Star Bonus Mystery Photo

Posted on October 25, 2009 by lmharnisch

Photograph by Ray Graham / Los Angeles Times Here’s a little bonus: A certain film star’s funeral. See if you can identify the (not very) mysterious pallbearers. Update: As most people realized, this is Errol Flynn's funeral. Curiously enough, although … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Forest Lawn, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Obituaries | 9 Comments

Voices: Soupy Sales, 1926 – 2009

Posted on October 23, 2009 by lmharnisch

  May 22, 1985: TV critic Howard Rosenberg interviews Soupy Sales: Once, when Tom Snyder noted in an interview that some of his detractors regarded him as "the Soupy Sales of the newsroom," Soupy replied: "Let me add there is … Continue reading →

Posted in broadcasting, Obituaries, Television | Comments Off on Voices: Soupy Sales, 1926 – 2009

Voices: Jack Nelson, 1929 – 2009

Posted on October 21, 2009 by lmharnisch

March 4, 1965: Jack Nelson covers a memorial for a civil rights demonstrator. Nelson wrote: "Dr. King declared that 'the man who pulled the trigger is a sick, hate-filled man.' But he added that 'what killed Jimmie Lee Jackson' was more … Continue reading →

Posted in Obituaries, Religion | Comments Off on Voices: Jack Nelson, 1929 – 2009

Man Sues for Divorce, Claims Wife Had Affair With Stepson

Posted on October 20, 2009 by lmharnisch

  Above, the woman at the center of the divorce case, Helen Elwood Stokes, Oct. 25, 1919. Oct. 20, 1919: W.E.D. “Weddie” Stokes Jr. says he had an affair with his stepmother. She later brought a $1-million lawsuit against him … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Obituaries | Comments Off on Man Sues for Divorce, Claims Wife Had Affair With Stepson

Errol Flynn’s Body Arrives in Los Angeles

Posted on October 19, 2009 by lmharnisch

Oct. 19, 1959: Errol Flynn’s body arrives at Union Station. No mourners or crowds greeted the arrival of Errol Flynn’s body, just the folks from Forest Lawn and a few reporters. Beverly Aadland was groomed for show business starting at … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Obituaries | 1 Comment

Errol Flynn Called Teenage Lover ‘Little Wood Nymph’

Posted on October 17, 2009 by lmharnisch

Oct. 17, 1959: Florence Aadland releases Errol Flynn’s love letters to her teenage daughter, Beverly. Flynn called her his "little wood nymph” and “Woodsie.”

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Obituaries | Comments Off on Errol Flynn Called Teenage Lover ‘Little Wood Nymph’

Errol Flynn’s Body En Route to Los Angeles

Posted on October 17, 2009 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 17, 1959: Errol Flynn’s teenage girlfriend Beverly Aadland collapses in tears upon arriving in Los Angeles while Flynn’s secretary threatens reporters and photographers with a cane. 

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Obituaries | Comments Off on Errol Flynn’s Body En Route to Los Angeles

Fight Over Errol Flynn’s Body

Posted on October 16, 2009 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 16, 1959: Errol Flynn’s teenage companion, Beverly Aadland, says he hated Los Angeles and wanted to be buried in Jamaica, but his wife, Patrice Wymore, wins the dispute and has him buried at Forest Lawn. 

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Obituaries | Comments Off on Fight Over Errol Flynn’s Body

Errol Flynn Dies in Canada

Posted on October 15, 2009 by lmharnisch

Oct. 15, 1959: The Mirror isn’t quite so dainty about calling Beverly Aadland a “protege.”  Aug. 19, 1979: Beverly Aadland writes to The Times and says she's living in the Antelope Valley.

Posted in Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Obituaries | Comments Off on Errol Flynn Dies in Canada

Errol Flynn Dies!

Posted on October 15, 2009 by lmharnisch

  Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn in “The Adventures of Robin Hood.” Oct. 15, 1959: Errol Flynn collapses and dies in a Vancouver apartment where he had stopped for a drink. Mrs. George Caldough, who was accompanying the star … Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Film, Hollywood, Obituaries | 2 Comments

The Strange, Terrible Saga of Mario Lanza

Posted on October 8, 2009 by lmharnisch

Oct. 8, 1959: Columnist Dick Williams on Mario Lanza. Oct. 8, 1959: “The Best of Everything” starts tomorrow at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

Posted in classical music, Columnists, Film, Hollywood, Music, Obituaries | Comments Off on The Strange, Terrible Saga of Mario Lanza

Sox Favored Over Dodgers in Game 6 of Series

Posted on October 8, 2009 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 8, 1959: The Dodgers lead the page in the final edition, with the death of Mario Lanza and President Eisenhower taking action in a weeklong strike at ports on the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico.

Posted in classical music, Dodgers, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Obituaries, Sports, Stage | Comments Off on Sox Favored Over Dodgers in Game 6 of Series

Mario Lanzo Dies!

Posted on October 7, 2009 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 7, 1959: Singer Mario Lanza dies of a heart attack. He was 38. Iraqi leader Abdel Karim Kassem survives an attempted assassination.

Posted in classical music, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Obituaries | Comments Off on Mario Lanzo Dies!

October 7, 1909: Jurors Convict Man, Take Up a Collection for Him

Posted on October 7, 2009 by lmharnisch

October 7, 1909: Pedro Vasquez was arrested by Detective Talamantes for stealing two pairs of trousers. After the jurors convicted Vasquez,  they took up a collection so he could buy a shirt since he didn’t have one. 

Posted in #courts, Fashion, LAPD, Obituaries | Comments Off on October 7, 1909: Jurors Convict Man, Take Up a Collection for Him

October 5, 1909: Dies on Gold in a Filthy Cot

Posted on October 5, 2009 by lmharnisch

October 5, 1909: Richard Johnson Proctor, a penniless old character in Santa Ana, dies on a cot in a filthy room. Investigators discover he was wealthy man with a fortune in gold.

Posted in Obituaries | Comments Off on October 5, 1909: Dies on Gold in a Filthy Cot

Movie Star Mystery Photo

Posted on October 2, 2009 by lmharnisch

Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Richard Quine and first his wife, Susan Paley, 1942. Richard Quine, 68, Film Director, Dies of Gunshot Wound June 13, 1989By EDWARD J. BOYER, Times Staff Writer Film director Richard Quine, whose string of … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Obituaries | 58 Comments

Egghead Prof. Doesn’t Want Babies, Wife Sobs

Posted on September 28, 2009 by lmharnisch

Sept. 28, 1909: Prof. Zorn doesn't want babies! The secret life of John Fitzgerald is finally revealed.

Posted in #courts, Obituaries | 1 Comment

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movies

Posted on September 26, 2009 by lmharnisch

California gets 16,000 Nazi POWs as farm workers. Spencer Tracy in "The Seventh Cross." Funeral services are planned for Harry Chandler, who died Sept. 23, 1944, at the age of 80. "Until a few days before his death he had … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Obituaries | 1 Comment