Category Archives: Stage

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 →

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November 14, 1909: Nude Man Prances on Bunker Hill

Posted on November 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 14, 1909: Women call police to report a nude man prancing on Bunker Hill — around Angels Flight. But none of them got a good look at him (ahem) and can’t identify him. Continue reading →

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October 27, 1927: Follies Theater’s ‘Hot Mamma’ Show Led Court to Overturn Law on ‘Indecent Shows’

Posted on October 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

On Oct. 27, 1927, a campaign to “sweep Main Street clear of questionable shows” resulted in the arrest of 27 women of the “Hot Mamma” show. Police also arrested “12 chorus men, four tattooed women wearing their working clothes and last, but not least, Ill Ill, an untamed tree-climbing South African pygmy” 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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Los Angeles History — Stage

Posted on June 7, 2025 by lmharnisch

T.C. Jones, whom Philip Scheuer calls “the greatest female impersonator I have seen and heard since Julian Eltinge. Continue reading →

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Architectural Rambling: Julian Eltinge Home – 1921

Posted on June 5, 2025 by lmharnisch

A visit to the home of Julian Eltinge, in an encore post from 2011. Continue reading →

Posted in 1921, Architecture, Found on EBay, Interior Design, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Stage | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Architectural Rambling: Julian Eltinge Home – 1921

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Rose McClendon, First Lady of Black Theater

Posted on February 23, 2023 by lmharnisch

Rose McClendon, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, via the New York Public Library. The first lady of the early Black stage, largely forgotten today, Rose McClendon set a blazing example of how talent could offer opportunity, even in difficult, discriminatory … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Stage | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Hollywood Bowl Celebrates 100 Years

Posted on July 5, 2022 by lmharnisch

100 years ago, the Hollywood Bowl hosted its first official summer Symphonies Under the Stars concert, inaugurating a tradition that continues today. Constructed as a way to celebrate the arts in a magnificent outdoor setting, the Hollywood Bowl sprang to … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Julian Eltinge Says ‘I’m at Your Service, Girls’

Posted on June 6, 2022 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2016.   One of the most famous female impersonators of all time, but now also one of the most forgotten, Julian Eltinge stood as one of the most successful headliners of the early … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – the Photoplayer

Posted on September 6, 2021 by lmharnisch

Photo: Joe Rinaudo with his Fotoplayer.  Credit: Joe Rinaudo. Note: This is an encore post from 2011. For a short time in the 1920s, 8,000-10,000 photoplayers ruled the roost at medium-sized motion picture theaters. Basically organs with player piano rolls … Continue reading →

Posted in 1912, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Music, Stage, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on August 2, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1955 film The Big Knife, with Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen, Rod Steiger, Ilka Chase, Everett Sloane, Wesley Addy, Paul Langton, Nick Dennis, Bill Walker and Mike Winkelman. And Miss Shelley … Continue reading →

Posted in 1955, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 55 Comments

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – A Perfect Villain

Posted on April 12, 2021 by lmharnisch

Photo: “Rasputin and the Empress,” with Gustav von Seyffertitz, center, with Ethel Barrymore, Edward Arnold, John Barrymore, Tad Alexander and Lionel Barrymore. Photo listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $9.99. Note: This is an encore post from 2011. One of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Obituaries, Stage | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights — ‘Julius Caesar’

Posted on January 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

Photo: Beachwood Canyon in a panorama from the Library of Congress. Note: This is an encore post from 2012. Throughout history, people have come together to communally celebrate.  From groups worshipping at Stonehenge, rejoicing in Times Square at the end … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 4, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1931 MGM picture “The Sin of Madelon Claudet,” with Helen Hayes, Lewis Stone, Neil Hamilton, Cliff Edwards, Jean Hersholt, Marie Prevost, Robert Young,  Karen Morley, Charles Wininger, Alan Hale, Halliwell Hobbes, Lennox Pawle and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , | 58 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Ethel Barrymore Dons Blackface for ‘Scarlet Sister Mary’

Posted on September 7, 2020 by lmharnisch

Ethel Barrymore in “Sister Scarlet Mary” Stage legend Ethel Barrymore continually sought challenges to advance her craft through her many decades in the theater. In the late 1920s, she took on perhaps her biggest challenge, portraying the lead character in … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Samuel S. Hinds, Pasadena Playhouse Founder, Movie Actor

Posted on August 26, 2019 by lmharnisch

Samuel S. Hinds, courtesy of Mary Mallory. Note: This is an encore post from 2014. Some people are lucky enough to work in a profession doing something they love, offering both pleasure and satisfaction. Others work at jobs that allow … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Pasadena, Stage | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Remembering Herbert Berghof

Posted on July 7, 2019 by lmharnisch

Gary writes of Herbert Berghof, as seen in “5 Fingers.” In the mid late 1970’s I took some acting classes at HB Studios near my apartment in the West Village. For the most part we studied the Uta Hagen text … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Stage | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Julian Eltinge Says ‘I’m at Your Service, Girls’

Posted on June 10, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2016.   One of the most famous female impersonators of all time, but now also one of the most forgotten, Julian Eltinge stood as one of the most successful headliners of the early … Continue reading →

Posted in 1915, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on April 8, 2019 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1973 American Film Theatre production of “The Iceman Cometh,” with Lee Marvin, Fredric March, Robert Ryan, Jeff Bridges, Bradford Dillman, Sorrell Booke, Hildy Brooks, Nancy Juno Dawson,  Evans Evans, Martyn Green, Moses Gunn, Clifton … Continue reading →

Posted in 1973, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 41 Comments

December 1947: Igor Stravinsky at Work on ‘The Rake’s Progress’

Posted on December 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. In late November, composer Igor Stravinsky had a guest at his home in the Hollywood Hills (The Times is elusive as to its exact location). His … Continue reading →

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